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Does Elizabeth ever love as puppy-love?
Written by Tracy W
(6/8/2007 1:33 a.m.)
in consequence of the missive, More mature love., penned by BrendaB
We know Elizabeth is interested in Wickham, but she never says she loves him, instead she says the opposite:
JA later on in the same chapter says:
Elizabeth's defence of Jane's behaviour to Bingley also strikes me as a rather mature concept
This speech strikes me as Elizabeth saying that it is important to understand a man's character, that one's regard for a man may be reasonable or unreasonable. She's also saying that it takes time to work out the degree of one's regard for a man, not just its reasonableness, and that one should understand a man's character (which I think covers your respect and esteem concepts). Elizabeth was fooled by Wickham, but I don't think her being fooled was based on having a immature concept of love in itself, rather on over-confidence in her judgment of others and Wickham's looks and social skills overwhelming her critical thinking. And I think it's noticable that even at the height of her feelings for him she can say that she's not in love with him. So to summarise, I don't think Elizabeth's concept of love changes during the novel. Presumably she got some good lessons from her father's library. |

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