For all you English lit buffs, why was such a potential disaster when Lydia ran off with Wickham in P & P?

Question

So I"ve been reading Pride and Prejudice and falling in love with the book but I still don't really understand why Wickham would run off with Lydia (is it because he knew that Darcy would step in since he's partial to Elizabeth and therefore her family?) and what's the worst that could happen if she did? I don't understand... Your comments and clarifications would be most appreciated.

Answer 1

It's been awhile since I read it, but I remember a little. For one, I think the way they got married was frowned on-- didn't they run away to Scotland? I remember that the place they got married was known back then for quick and disreputable marriages. Also, issues of wealth and social rank played a part. Today, we think of wealth and social rank together, but back then, you could have a title and be poor or be rich and not have a title. The people of "new money" were considered a different class than the old money. For instance, Lydia and Elizabeth were supposed to come from a respectable family, but they were pretty poor. I don't remember Wickham's background that much, but he had spent all his money, and her family expected her to marry a wealthy man.
I'm sorry, I can't clarify that much. I hope I helped a little.

Answer 2

The potential disaster is that it isn't clear, at the beginning, that they are actually married. If Lydia (who is, after all, the silliest of girls) had run off with Wickham and not been married, it would have been a scandal that would have ruined the chances of a good match for her sisters, in the society of the early 1800s. That's the dread that hangs over them all -- the loss of any possibility of future happiness for the rest of the sisters, not to mention scandal and shame for the whole family.

As to why Wickham would run off with Lydia... I can't remember the sequence of events and disclosures well enough to give you the answer without a potential spoiler. So let's just say that it becomes clear, at some point, that Wickham has a history of running off with young girls from fine families, as a way of blackmailing the families into paying off his gambling debts. Wickham is something between a rotter and a sexual predator; his decision to take Lydia to London is mostly mercenary, as he knows (from previous experience -- and I can't tell enough about where you are in the book to remember whether you would know all the details of this experience yet, so I won't elaborate) that the family will try to buy him off to prevent a scandal.

As for knowing that Darcy would intervene, I'm not sure that's clear to Wickham when he starts off for London with Lydia; I think he's not too concerned with where the money comes from, he merely wants someone to pay him off; if it's Darcy, so much the better, because of their history of enmity. Wickham's eventual discomfiture with the final resolution is an indication that he, perhaps, did NOT anticipate Darcy's involvement.

Answer 3

_Why_ Wickham would run off with Lydia: he was a young man with hormones.
The _worst_ that could happen: he was a young man with hormones.
Enough said, perhaps? Perhaps not. On a more serious note, the previous answers are indeed informative and correct. It's been a while since I've read the book, but this is my best shot...Adding to the "why": Lydia was naive and young and just as crazy about finding a husband as her mother was. (You remember how her mother tried to set all her daughters up with everyone and their uncle...) Wickham, apparently (it is never exactly spelled out, as I recall), promised to marry her as soon as they were a decent distance away, but in actuality, the man was a scamp and the only union he was thinking of was the one that young men with hormones usually think of. The disgrace of Lydia and therefore of her family is almost inevitable.
Anything else I say will indeed only repeat what the others have said, so I will say no more.

Answer 4

Because of the reputation of the family - nothing else!
A family was not known by its members, but by their behaviour. If she had run off - without marriage - then the whole family was 'tainted'!
The opening words of "P+P" are about a man + his money needing a wife. If the Bennett family, all girls, was tainted by an illegitimate relationship, then all the other daughters' futures were affected.
As I recall, Jane (?) was due to marry Mr Bingham, at the time. His - obnoxious - sisters, as well as "Society", would have either made that impossible, or rendered them unacceptable afterwards.
And any hopes the other daughters of the family had for good marriages would have been totally ruined.
Remember the scene when "Mr + Mrs Wickham" come home for a visit! She immediately 'out-ranked' her older sisters, by being married! Because she'd "done the decent thing", all was forgiven and she was a married woman, whereas her older sisters were not1

Answer 5

You have to remember at that time an unmarried woman running off with an unmarried man was a more serious event then now a days. A woman was supposed to remain pure and chaste. When Lydia ran of with Wickham she put herself and her entire family out for gossip and ruin.

Answer 6

she engaged in "illicit activities" with Wickham and if word had gotten around that she'd done things with Wickham it would have ruined the Bennets' reputation entirely. Wickham just wanted a good time, I believe. He wasn't planning on marrying Lydia at all, but was forced to.

Answer 7

your question is very interesting, well, I asked that myself... Wickham wants money - from Darcy, then from his sister... He knows that Bennets are poor - so why does he do what he does? He can't be sure that Darcy will support the Bennets, cause as to his knowledge - Lizzy hates Darcy, so I think Wickham doesn;t imagine such a marriage... Maybe he is sick of innocent, rich girls and wants "sth" easier.....