- "'But you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.' Then shewing her purchases: 'Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not.' ... Her sisters abused it as ugly, she added, with perfect unconcern, 'Oh! but there were two or three much uglier in the shop.'" (p. 148)
Pride and Prejudice includes the importance of wealth and drastic measures women will go through in order to make social advancements to obtain that money. Jane Austen illustrates irony in this passage where Lydia recently purchased a bonnet. She raves how ugly the bonnet is, yet she still felt the need to buy it. The Bennet family is considered part of the middle class, and through the entire novel, they struggle and strive to associate with the upper class of society. Lydia's senseless buying proves how careless she is with her money. Instead of buying something that doesn't appeal to her in the first place, saving that money would assist succeeding the family's goal of becoming part of higher society.
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