Esteem

Respect for someone’s character, abilities and judgement. Austen presents esteem as an important foundation for lasting marital happiness.

Respect for someone based on a considered judgement of their character and qualities. Austen presents esteem as an important foundation for lasting marital affection.

Austen explores the tension between choosing someone you love and securing a home, income and respected position. Her contrasting couples suggest that neither wealth nor strong feeling alone guarantees happiness: lasting affection needs knowledge of a partner’s character and genuine esteem.

The narrator recalls Mr Bennet being “captivated by youth and beauty”; lasting affection subsequently disappeared, and “Respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever”. Attraction had not been supported by a sound understanding of character.

Respect and admiration for someone’s character or abilities; Austen presents this as an important foundation for lasting marital happiness.

Once he recognised his wife’s limitations, “Respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever”. The three abstract nouns identify what their marriage lacks; “for ever” makes that loss seem permanent.

Respect for someone’s character and qualities, rather than attraction to their appearance or wealth alone.

Austen compares couples whose marriages grow from convenience, attraction or genuine esteem. The central distinction is not simply between marrying for love and marrying for money: it is between obtaining a husband and choosing someone with whom a lasting, fulfilling partnership is possible.

Definition

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

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OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720