"She was looked at, however, and with some admiration; for, in her own hearing, two gentlemen pronounced her to be a pretty girl. Such words had their due effect; she immediately thought the evening pleasanter than she had found it before— her humble vanity was contented— she felt more obliged to the two young men for this simple praise than a true-quality heroine would have been for fifteen sonnets in celebration of her charms, and went to her chair in good humour with everybody, and perfectly satisfied with her share of public attention" (Austen, 20).
This paragraph reveals a lot about Catherine's character, detailing her desire to be liked, perhaps even wanted. It's such a small thing, to be called pretty by a couple of strangers, yet Catherine has had so little exposure to being complimented or admired in a real sense that it completely makes her night. The phrase "humble vanity" describes this personality trait perfectly, this oxymoron smoothly conveys what she is feeling to the reader, the joy she receives from compliments on her looks after not finding a man to dance with in conjunction with her belief that she is barely worthy of that compliment in the first place. She is not confident, and therefore seeks reassurance perhaps even more than she would if a man had asked her to dance that night or if she had more pride in herself to begin with. It will be interesting to see how Catherine's character develops over the next volume and in what ways she grows into the heroine we were promised at the very beginning of the novel.
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