Q. Compare and contrast the two proposals and Elizabeth's reaction to them.A. In Pride and Prejudice, the main female character, Elizabeth, shows extreme pride towards the main male character, Darcy. This is because in their first meeting Elizabeth's pride is wounded by Darcy as he says, "She is tolerable, but not beautiful enough to tempt me, and I am not in the mood to make much of young women who are despised by other men." This thoughtless and prideful comment causes Elizabeth to take an immediate dislike to Darcy. It also clouds his judgment of Darcy's true nature. After everyone leaves at Rosings, Elizabeth is still furious over the news that Darcy was the cause of Jane and Bingley's breakup. Elizabeth is then surprised by Darcy's arrival. After a few minutes of silence, Darcy shocks Elizabeth with a sudden declaration of love for her and a marriage proposal. At first Elizabeth is flattered despite her deeply held prejudices against Darcy. Elizabeth's feelings soon turn to anger as Darcy lists all the reasons why he didn't act on his feelings sooner. These reasons include his lower social class and family obstacles. In retaliation Elizabeth stuns Darcy by rejecting his proposal very harshly by stating "I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world I could ever be." prevailed to marry." This shows the extent of her prejudices against Darcy as she states that from the beginning she did not like him. She condemns him for his arrogant way in which he proposed his actions to separate Jane and Bingley and his actions of injustice to Wickham. She accepts these accusations without apology, even with contempt. However, he flinches when she accuses him of not behaving like a gentleman and when Elizabeth finishes denouncing him, Darcy leaves angrily Elizabeth's boldness and her disdain for considerations of rank shine through in her reaction to Darcy's proposal. Her pride is also evident, as the lack of civility in her refusal is mainly due to the wounded pride resulting from Darcy's frank explanation. Darcy about her reservations about the marriage proposal due to her inferior knowledge. Overwhelmed with emotion, Elizabeth cries for half an hour afterwards and retreats to her room when everyone returns home. Elizabeth breaks down and cries in weakness because of what has happened.