Lydia and Wickham

The marriage shared between Lydia Bennett and George Wickham is far from the other picturesque love stories present in the novel. In fact, Austen uses their relationship as an anti-parallel to Elizabeth and Darcy or Jane and Bingley’s marriages. Lydia and Wickham engage in a marriage based on lust, ignorance, and greed. Although the family’s name and reputation is salvaged by the charity of Darcy, Lydia and Wickham’s marriage is still a devastating blow to the Bennett family. As a result of the foundation of their relationship, the virtues of two people involved, and the disgrace it caused to the family, their marriage is an overwhelming failure. When Lydia first meets Mr. George Wickham, she is instantly enthralled by him. However, her inability to hold her attention on one object for more than a little while applies to men as well. Although Lydia and Kitty are uncontrollably excited to see Wickham at the Netherfield ball, “The happiness anticipated by Catherine and Lydia depended less on any single event, or any particular person, for though they each, like Elizabeth, meant to dance half the evening with Mr. Wickham, he was by no means the only partner who could satisfy them…” (76). This instance serves as foreshadowing to the rest of Lydia and Wickham’s relationship. It shows that if Lydia is unable to be content with having only one dance partner, despite the fact that Wickham is the object of her constant affections, there is no way she could be happy in a marriage of any type at this level of maturity. Austen uses irony in this scene to prove Lydia’s incompatibility for a serious relationship. The reader would think Lydia would be thrilled to have Wickham to herself for the entire ball, but in fact Lydia would feel restricted and needs constant variety in every aspect of her life. As Wickham and Lydia’s relationship progresses, it becomes more clear to the reader that nothing good will come of it. When Lydia begs Mr. Bennett to allow her to go to Brighton with the Forsters, Elizabeth strongly believes it is a terrible idea. Elizabeth tries to convince her father of this, saying that if he allows Lydia to go, “Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous,” (195). As it turns out, Elizabeth’s suspicions were correct. When Lydia and Wickham run away together, the Bennett family is overcome with panic. Austen’s choice of diction in Elizabeth’s prediction is accurate. Every member of the family knows their name and reputation are on the line because of Lydia’s “ridiculous” irresponsibility. When Darcy pays Wickham off to marry Lydia and saves the Bennett name, the true characters of Wickham and Lydia are revealed. Lydia marries Wickham because he is a good looking soldier, and Wickham marries Lydia because he is making money off their relationship. The lack of a true connection between the two characters dooms their marriage. Lydia and Wickham share no real feelings for each other. In the end of the novel, the fate of Lydia and Wickham proves to be what was expected of their marriage. With Jane and Elizabeth out of the Bennett house and happily married, Lydia spends a good deal of time with her two oldest sisters. Despite the tension between Darcy and Wickham, Lydia still visits Elizabeth and is, “…occasionally a visitor there, when her husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath,” (325). This shows that Wickham often takes extended trips to the city away from his wife, implying that their relationship is far from the happy marriage a newly wedded couple should have. The lack of an emotional connection between Lydia and Wickham has left both characters unsatisfied and unhappy. Lydia hangs around her older sisters’ houses to insert herself into a happy home filled with love, something she knows she will never have with Wickham in her own life. Lydia and Wickham’s relationship, from start to finish, is a failure that threatens to leave the entire Bennett family in destruction, and also destroys Lydia and Wickham’s own happiness.