The female bildungsroman, also known as bildungsromane, is known as a subgenre of the novel in which the subject of the novel is " the development of the mind and character of the protagonist, as he moves from childhood through varied experiences…to maturity and recognition of [his] identity and role in the world” (Abrams 112 -113).The character Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen's famous novel Pride and Prejudice is one of these bildungsroman heroines. The reader gets a glimpse of psychological development as she matures over the course of the novel. Esther Kleinbord Labovitz, some important thematic elements of the bildungsroman genre are: “it describes the process of development and education of a single protagonist…leaving him on the threshold of maturity…Throughout the novel the inner life of the. protagonist and his personal realization become an important element with the development of the person as a whole” (3-4). Elizabeth Bennet fits many of these traditional characteristics of the bildungsroman. She begins the novel as an intelligent, but somewhat immature, protagonist. While she initially delights in her powers of discernment, she later learns that she has allowed prejudice and her own pride to blind herself to reality. His “education” and his “maturity” are at the center of the novel. Unfortunately, her journey toward self-realization is often overlooked in favor of focusing on the romance between her and Mr. Darcy. This romance, however, would not have been as powerful without recognizing Elizabeth Bennet's intellectual growth and emerging maturity. Elizabeth, in Austen's novel, finds her way to her adult identity by questioning her own assumptions and submitting to a philosophy class...... middle of paper...... Queen: Or, Elizabeth Bennet has a thought. "Eighteenth-Century Studies 39.3 (2006): 337-50. Project Muse Web. April 10, 2011. Labovitz, Esther Kleinbord: The Female Bildungsroman in the Twentieth Century New York: Lang, 1988. Print. Leitch, Thomas M. L Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From Gone with the Wind to The Passion of the Christ. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2009. Print. Leitch, Thomas M. “Twelve Errors in Contemporary Adaptation Theory.” MUSE project. Johns Hopkins UP, Spring 2003. Web. February 2, 2011. Pride and Prejudice. Real. Joe Wright. Perf. Keira Knightly, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone. Studio Canal, 2005. DVD. Zacharek, Stephanie. “Pride and Prejudice”. Reverend from Pride and Prejudice (Salon 2005), November 11, 2005. Web.. 2011. .