Lydia, Elizabeth's younger sister, "received an invitation from Mrs. Forster, the wife of the colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton." Elizabeth wholeheartedly opposed this trip, and she expressed her opinion to her father. She told him that it would be a "'great disadvantage to [the family] which must arise from the public notice of Lydia's unguarded and imprudent manner.'" Mr. Bennet brushed off Elizabeth's fears. He did not seem overly concerned about Lydia's embarrassing behavior in public.
Again, Elizabeth implored her father. She told him that the family's "'respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which [marked] Lydia's character.'" Elizabeth cautioned her father about Lydia's behavior, telling him that if he did not teach her how to behave properly, "'she [would] soon be beyond the reach of amendment.'" She went on to say that Lydia was a flirt, and that she was full of "'ignorance and emptiness of... mind.'" She warned that Kitty, who was a devoted follower of Lydia, could also follow the same path and bring further disgrace upon the family.
Mr. Bennet took his daughter's hand and tried to reassure her. He told her that she and Jane were "'respected and valued'" despite their "'very silly sisters.'" He also explained that he would not stop Lydia from going, because they would "'have no peace at Longbourn if [she did] not go to Brighton.'"
Elizabeth knew that her father was not going to change his mind on the matter, and she "left him disappointed and sorry." She had expressed her opinion to her father, and there was nothing more that she could do.
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