Lola and Lydia

It seems that even after two hundred years and even in two very different cultures, one act is still unacceptable: a young girl running off with a man of questionable reputation. I’ve been thinking about Pride and Prejudice a lot because of my critical essay, and I realized that the situation surrounding Lydia’s running off with Wickham bears some resemblance to the circumstances surrounding Lola’s running away to be with Aldo.

Lola’s and Lydia’s trips both have to do with their mothers. Lola runs away to Wildwood get away from – and possibly spite – Belí: “All my life I’d been swearing that one day I would just disappear. And one day I did” (Díaz 61). Lydia, on the other hand, goes to Brighton to obtain “every possibility of earthly happiness” (Austen 153) and knows that the trip is “the delight of Mrs. Bennet” (150). Indeed, Mrs. Bennet sees Lydia’s vacation as an opportunity to live vicariously through her daughter: “Lydia's going to Brighton was all that consoled her for the melancholy conviction of her husband's never intending to go there himself” (152). Thus Mrs. Bennet and Belí see their daughters’ journeys in totally different lights. Mrs. Bennet is thrilled for Lydia, but Belí probably wants to keep Lola from going through the same abuses that she herself has experienced.

Both families end up going after their wayward daughters. Mr. Bennet and Lydia’s uncle Mr. Gardiner try to track down Lydia and Wickham. Oscar comes to meet Lola and ends up bringing Belí, an aunt, and an uncle with him – much to Lola’s chagrin. The Bennets want to protect their reputation. In addition to wanting to protect Lola in her own inimitable way, Belí is probably motivated by the desire to control her daughter: “Ya te tengo [I have you], she said, jumping triumphantly to her feet. Te tengo” (Díaz 70).

And both girls are in need of money from their families. Lola asks Oscar for it (“Just bring me the money, Oscar” [Díaz 68]); she probably doesn’t earn enough money from her job at the boardwalk. Lydia is entitled to a tiny inheritance from her father, but she doesn’t have nearly enough money to pay for a wedding and to pay off her careless lover’s debts. Neither Mr. Bennet nor Mr. Gardiner can afford to pay off Wickham, but Mr. Darcy - Lydia's future brother-in-law - steps in. Although Lydia and Lola have tried to make breaks for independence, ultimately both girls are still dependent on their families for protection and financial support.