Jane Bennet: A Woman Revealed Through Others Anonymous College

Jane, the eldest Bennet sister who so many adore, is revealed to readers in a different way than the other main characters. Throughout the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen typically reveals her characters’ personalities through their speech, their actions, and external characterization. For example, readers become quickly familiar with Mrs. Bennet’s character through her antagonizing Mr. Bennet in the first chapter, and in the same way, readers quickly understand a lot about Wickham by just knowing he is a military man. These three elements of characterization typically present readers with a plethora of information about Austen’s characters; however, with Jane, it is different. Unveiling Jane’s characterization is much more complicated because Jane often does not speak or act in conjunction with her actual thoughts and feelings; therefore, Austen more complexly defines Jane’s character by displacing her speech and actions onto other characters, especially Elizabeth.

Although readers see Jane’s letter to Elizabeth about Lydia eloping with Wickham verbatim, Jane’s true feelings are revealed through Elizabeth in the following chapter. In her letter on pages 260-261, Jane states that all are well; however, the truth is that...