Mary Bennet : The most contradictory girl in the neighbourhood

Sammanfattning: Critics of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice often tend to focus on the central characters but focus in this essay will be on the middle sister Mary Bennet. Author Alex Woloch claims in his book The One vs. the Many that Mary’s main function in the novel is to be a contrast to Elizabeth in order to fulfill her as a character. The purpose of this essay is then to show that Mary is an important character and what it is that makes Mary’s character different from her sisters’. A close reading of the novel has been applied in order to analyze Mary’s character and her function in the novel. The essay will show that Mary could be read as a representation of the women of her time who had more faith in themselves than to rely on men in order to have a secure future.