Lydia's Problem...

*Lydia Bennet: she is the wild card in the story and in the Bennet family. What, exactly, is her flaw? Do you think she serves as a warning of some sort? What would that be? Is it fair to see her as such? What, really, distinguishes her from Elizabeth? How do the movies treat her? How do the values associated with her differ or parallel our societal norms today?  

            Lydia’s character reminds me of the time when I played a game with my competitive little brother. He doesn’t quite understand the objective on the game, but he always insists that he’s the winner no matter what. I remember one time, we played golf together and he insisted on going first, and then raced ahead hitting his ball, what seemed like a hundred times, till he finally got it in the hole. He declared himself the winner because his ball reached the hole first. My brother is adorable, but he’s no golf player.

            This is exactly how I view Lydia getting married first. She thinks that she is doing her family a great service, and that by getting married first she is the best daughter. Her biggest flaw is that she is so naïve that she doesn’t seem to comprehend the shame that she almost brought onto her family had it not been for Mr. Darcy intervening on the matter. Let’s not forget the fact that marrying Wickham wouldn’t have saved her mother and sisters from living on the street anyway because he has no substantial wealth to support them. Not to mention he is looking for a fortune himself.

            I don’t really see her as serving as a warning, rather I see her as a victim of circumstance. The biggest difference between her and Elizabeth is their age. She is only fifth-teen. That being said she is going to do dumb things, I know I got into a lot of trouble at that age. When a fifth-teen year old does something wrong today, it is more of a reflection of the parents. I believe this to still be the case in this circumstance. Would Lydia have wanted to get married so bad if her mother wasn’t constantly priming her for marriage? It’s hard to say, but it certainly didn’t help matters. There is a reason that we don’t let or encourage fifth-teen year old girls to get married today, and that’s because they are not mature enough to make that decision.

            I decided to look at some of the Lydia Bennet Diaries on YouTube. I have to say, the girl does seem to portray an accurate depiction of a modern Lydia. She is narcissistic, raves about hot guys, and makes dumb decisions. In the episode below, she rents out the attic to a random stranger to help make money to support her family. While completely looking over the dangers she is putting her family in by doing so. I would definitely expect Lydia, out of all the sisters, to have a journal broadcast on YouTube. I would also expect her to have Facebook with a thousand pictures of herself, along with a thousand friends that she doesn’t even know.

           

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