Lydia is definietly a wild and annoying young person, but she’s not the sole author of her fate in Pride & Prejudice, no matter what you read online. The narrator in the novel itself spreads the blame for her actions pretty liberally. Lydia was failed, primarily by her parents, and what happened to her followed from their actions. I don’t think the narrator means for us to hate Lydia, but instead to pity her, as both Elizabeth and Jane do.
In fact, the most vicious takedown of Lydia is put in the mouth (letter) of a character we should not respect: Mr. Collins. We already know that his morality is skewed, as he seems to view the collection of tithes and sucking up to Lady Catherine as his primary duties as a clergyman. He writes this of Lydia, “I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad, or she could not be guilty of such an enormity, at so early an age.” (Ch 48). However, even he mentions the real cause, “a faulty degree of indulgence”.
Elizabeth feels this strongly, and lays out a good argument for her father on why Lydia should not go to Brighton, “She represented to him all the improprieties of Lydia’s general behaviour, the little advantage she could derive from the friendship of such a woman as Mrs. Forster, and the probability of her being yet more imprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where the temptations must be greater than at home.” (Ch 41). Mr. Bennet dismisses all these great arguments because he is too lazy to deal with Lydia’s disappointment. He is fundementally a lazy parent and does nothing to restrain Lydia, as he has done for a very long time:
Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest daughters; and her mother, with manners so far from right herself, was entirely insensible of the evil. Elizabeth had frequently united with Jane in an endeavour to check the imprudence of Catherine and Lydia; but while they were supported by their mother’s indulgence, what chance could there be of improvement?
Mr. Bennet does take responsibility for what happened: ““Who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to feel it… No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame.” (Ch 50). Lydia has been allowed to run around flirting with officers for months, without any check on her conduct. She does not act within the rules of society, and while Elizabeth and Jane have tried to correct her, Lydia knew they had no real authority. She needed parents and neither of them did their duty. She shouldn’t have been “out” in the first place!
Mrs. Bennet shares the guilt, little as she will accept it: Mrs. Bennet, to whose apartment they all repaired, after a few minutes’ conversation together, received them exactly as might be expected; with tears and lamentations of regret, invectives against the villainous conduct of Wickham, and complaints of her own sufferings and ill-usage; blaming everybody but the person to whose ill-judging indulgence the errors of her daughter must principally be owing. (Ch 47)
Lydia was also failed by Mr. Darcy, who talks about his share of the blame here: “Wickham’s worthlessness had not been so well known as to make it impossible for any young woman of character to love or confide in him. He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride, and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world.” (Ch 52). We see in Sense & Sensibility Elinor asking everyone who knows him about Willoughby’s character. Character references were important, that is how women knew they were safe in a man’s presence. Darcy knew the truth and he left Meryton and the Bennets in danger, probably because he thought the young women were too poor to be objects of prey to Wickham.
Lydia did make a choice (and certainly the wrong one), but she does not deserve all the blame for what happened. The narrator makes it clear that no one should be surprised by the outcome. Even Lady Catherine said Lydia was likely too young to be out and she hadn’t even met her! Lydia was not taught was what right, she was not taught to control her impulses, and she was put out in the world too young, as Colonel Brandon said in Sense & Sensibility, “But can we wonder that… without a friend to advise or restrain her… she should fall?”
And for those who say that Lydia should have thought about the fates of her sisters before running off with Wickham, I will remind you that sixteen-year-olds are not typically known for their rational decision making. Hence, why Lydia shouldn’t have been out in the first place!
More about Pride & Prejudice:
It’s Not “Modern” to Call Mr. Bennet a Terrible Father
Could Mr. Bennet have Saved Enough for Decent Fortunes on his Income?
Did Mr. Darcy want his Friend Bingley to Marry His Sister?
Darcy Smiles a Lot Actually (even before Pemberley)
Imagining the Regency Era: Mr. Darcy Looks Rich
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