The Shameless Little Sister : A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Conduct of Lydia Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Sammanfattning: In Jane Austen’s renowned Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, the reader encounters love and marriage in the British middle-class during the nineteenth century. While the main focus of the novel is the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, the reader also encounters the youngest Bennet sister, Lydia. Lydia is depicted as loud, vain, rude and ignorant and even though this is a correct description of Lydia’s behavior, there are underlying reasons for that foolish and naïve behavior. Thus, the aim of this essay is to examine and explain the underlying reasons as to why Lydia behaves as recklessly and selfishly as she does. By close reading of the novel and by using psychoanalysis and relevant Freudian concepts, mainly the id, the ego and the super-ego, the analysis concludes that there is an evident connection between Lydia’s unruly behavior and her dysfunctional relationship to her parents. Due to the lack of parental guidance, Lydia has been left uncontrolled and heavily ruled by her id. Moreover, this essay will demonstrate that there is a shift in Lydia’s behavior as the novel progresses. As a result of certain events in the novel, Lydia’s behavior shifts even further towards her being driven by the pleasure principle and her id.