“Lord! how I laughed!”
- Exclamatory tone is frequent within Lydia’s speech.
“High animal spirits”
- Description of Lydia
“Neglect and mistake indulgence”-
- Suggestions for her wild behaviour.
- Also suggests the flaws of how irresponsible her parents are.
“We talked and laughed so loud, that anybody might have heard us ten miles off!”-
rowdy behaviour.
“Two of the silliest girls in the country”-
Mr Bennet referring to Lydia and Kitty.
“Can’t be expected to have the sense of their father”-
Mrs Bennet. Ironic because she encourages them to be silly.
“Lydia was a stout, well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured countenance” - Lydia, ch9
- Description
“And we mean to treat you all…but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours” - Lydia, ch39
- Impertinence, not really treating if someone else is paying
“I have bought this bonnet, I do not think it very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not.” - Lydia, ch39
- Her extravagant buying habits - for no reason at all
“Have you seen any pleasant men? Have you had any good flirting?” - Lydia, ch39
- Her head is only filled with men, yet also reminds us of women’s duty to marry
“Lord, how ashamed I should be of not being married before three-and-twenty!” - Lydia, ch39
- Impropriety, lack of manners, snubbing Jane
“Lord, how ashamed I should be of not being married before three-and-twenty!” - Lydia, ch39
- Impropriety, lack of manners, snubbing Jane
“the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia’s character” - Lydia, ch41
- Another description of Lydia and her impulsive nature
“when I write to them and sign my name ‘Lydia Wickham.’ What a good joke it will be!” - Lydia, ch47
- Doesn’t understand severity of the impacts to reputation of her scandalous elopement
“Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless.” - Lydia, ch51
- Not impacted by what she did
“I ought not to have said a word about it. I promised them so faithfully!” - Lydia, ch51
- Key as by her telling, did E find out D’s role in this, helps plot. Also irony of ‘faithfully’
“she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey to anybody” - Mr Bennet about Lydia, ch41
- Irony that poor is positive
“She has no money, no connections, nothing that can tempt him to - she is lost for ever.” - Elizabeth about Lydia, ch46
- With lack of assets, L is worthless so E says W would never marry her
“Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman.” - Lydia, ch1
- Marriage elevates family standing and importance
“I am sure my sisters must all envy me. I only hope they may have half my good luck.” - Lydia, ch1
- Ridiculous, she calls it luck yet she’s disgraced her whole family
“Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia’s character.” - Elizabeth to Mr Bennet
- Individual’s actions impact reputation of family as a whole, so Lydia ridicules family by her flirting
“Their conduct has been such…as neither you, nor I, nor anybody can ever forget. It is useless to talk about it.” - Elizabeth, ch49
- Permanent damage Lydia’s conduct has on their reputation
