Character Analysis
That Lucy Steele is certainly a tricky one. She's clever, manipulative, and self-serving – basically, everything you need to be to climb the social ladder to material success in Austen's world. Her success, however, comes at the expense of her own character. Though Lucy is pretty and outwardly sweet, she's no Dashwood; compared to genuinely good-hearted Elinor or Marianne, Lucy comes off as cold, sneaky, and more than a little mean in comparison. Her treachery is made all the worse by the fact that she looks so nice and kind on the outside – so much so that she basically tricks all the other characters into liking her. Her deeds, however, are pretty despicable. Through the course of the novel, she manages to break poor Elinor's heart, plague Edward's life for a number of years, then dump him for his own brother in the pursuit of financial fortune and social standing. In other words, she's a low down, dirty deceiver, and we don't like her one bit.
Lucy Steele Timeline