Chapter 10 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to turn Darcy’s rule on Darcy. At the writing-table Miss Bingley praises his hand, his lines and the length of his letter, and the narrator notes “the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received”. To “You write uncommonly fast.” he answers, “You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.” To her offer to mend his pen: “Thank you--but I always mend my own.” Of his “charming long letters” he says, “whether always charming, it is not for me to determine.” Bingley adds that Darcy “studies too much for words of four syllables”, and Darcy answers, “My style of writing is very different from yours.” A little later Darcy says, “Nothing is more deceitful,” “than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” The student decides what that rule makes of his answers to Miss Bingley. The card must not make Darcy simply cold: his answers are exact, and some of them are witty.

One reading

Carelessness of opinion. Darcy does not care what Miss Bingley thinks of his letter, so he corrects her praise as flatly as he would correct a wrong date. He wants nothing from her, and his short answers say so. By his own rule this is not humility at all. It is unconcern that happens to sound modest.

• with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received
• Thank you--but I always mend my own.

Another reading

An indirect boast. Writing slowly is how a careful man writes, and Darcy is proud of care as Bingley is proud of speed. Bingley names it, and Darcy does not deny it: he says only that his style is “very different”. When he goes on to attack the pride men take in quickness, he is praising, by contrast, his own slow way.

• He studies too much for words of four syllables.
• My style of writing is very different from yours.

Listen for

• Notices that Darcy’s rule names two faults, and tests each answer to Miss Bingley against both.
• Hears “perfect unconcern”: the narrator’s word for how he takes her praise.
• Weighs whether correcting false praise is humble at all, or only exact.
• Notices that Darcy speaks the rule to Bingley with Miss Bingley still in the room.

If stuck

• What does Miss Bingley praise, and how does Darcy answer?
• What two things does Darcy say humility often is?
• When you turn down a compliment, what might you be saying about yourself?

A strong answer A strong response tests Darcy’s answers against his own rule and argues from the writing-table. One reader finds carelessness of opinion: the narrator gives his “perfect unconcern”, and his answers want nothing from her. Another finds an indirect boast: slowness is care, Bingley says he studies for long words, and Darcy calls his style “very different” without a word of regret. The best answers notice that the man who sets the test may fail it, allow that he may simply be exact rather than humble, and do not make him only cold.

What it asks It asks how well Bingley reads his friend. Darcy has called Bingley’s boast that he “should be gone in five minutes” “a precipitance which must leave very necessary business undone”, and says that a friend’s word as he mounts his horse might keep him “a month.” Elizabeth hears a compliment to Bingley’s temper in that. Bingley answers that he is “afraid you are giving it a turn which that gentleman did by no means intend; for he would certainly think the better of me if, under such a circumstance, I were to give a flat denial, and ride off as fast as I could.” Elizabeth asks, “Would Mr. Darcy then consider the rashness of your original intention as atoned for by your obstinacy in adhering to it?” Bingley hands it back: “Darcy must speak for himself.” Darcy calls these “opinions which you choose to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged”, and then argues the case “according to your representation”. The student decides how well Bingley knows what Darcy would think of him. The card must not say what Bingley will really do: his five minutes and Darcy’s month are both untested.

One reading

Well enough. Darcy’s charge is that Bingley’s conduct is “dependent on chance”, and his case all through is that a man should not give way without a reason. A man who said no at the horse and kept to his plan would at least be acting on his own judgment, which is what Darcy prizes. Darcy does not deny Bingley’s account. He says only that he never owned it, and then argues the case as it was put to him.

• Your conduct would be quite as dependent on chance as that of any man I know;
• Allowing the case, however, to stand according to your representation,

Another reading

Not well. What Darcy found fault with was haste: a “precipitance” that leaves business undone. A flat denial and a ride off “as fast as I could” is the same haste again. Elizabeth sees the gap at once, and asks whether Darcy would think rashness made good by obstinacy. Darcy will not own the view Bingley gives him.

• Would Mr. Darcy then consider the rashness of your original intention as atoned for by your obstinacy in adhering to it?
• You expect me to account for opinions which you choose to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged.

Listen for

• Notices that a flat denial and a fast ride away is the same haste Darcy has just called “precipitance”.
• Hears Elizabeth’s question about “rashness” and “obstinacy”: she is testing Bingley’s account of Darcy, not only Darcy.
• Weighs Darcy’s reply: he will not own the view, and he does not deny it either.
• Notices that Bingley is in the room while his own temper is the case, and keeps to the chapter: neither the five minutes nor the month is ever tested.

If stuck

• What does Bingley say Darcy would think better of?
• What did Darcy find wrong with the boast about leaving in five minutes?
• Can a friend know you well and still get your opinion wrong?

A strong answer A strong response says how well Bingley reads Darcy and argues from the exchange. One reader says he knows him well enough: Darcy calls Bingley’s conduct “dependent on chance”, a man who kept to his plan would be acting on his own judgment, and Darcy never denies the account, only that he owned it. Another says he does not: Darcy faulted the haste, and a flat denial with a ride off “as fast as I could” is the same haste, as Elizabeth’s question about “rashness” and “obstinacy” shows. The best answers notice that Bingley is talking about his own temper with his friend sitting by, and claim nothing about what he will actually do.

What it asks It asks the student to judge Darcy’s next move in the argument. Elizabeth sets aside the case of Bingley and asks about “general and ordinary cases, between friend and friend, where one of them is desired by the other to change a resolution of no very great moment”: should one “think ill of that person for complying with the desire, without waiting to be argued into it?” Darcy answers with a question: “Will it not be advisable, before we proceed on this subject, to arrange with rather more precision the degree of importance which is to appertain to this request, as well as the degree of intimacy subsisting between the parties?” Bingley breaks in at once: “let us hear all the particulars, not forgetting their comparative height and size”. To appertain to something is to belong to it. The student decides why Darcy asks for more precision when Elizabeth has already given some. The card must not say Darcy will ever persuade Bingley of anything: the case is imagined.

One reading

To keep from answering. Elizabeth has asked a plain question that wants a yes or a no. Darcy answers it with a longer question, in longer words, about degrees. Bingley hears it at once as a way to drag things out, and makes fun of it. A man sure of his ground could have simply said what he thought.

• should you think ill of that person for complying with the desire, without waiting to be argued into it?
• not forgetting their comparative height and size

Another reading

Because the answer turns on it. Her terms, “of no very great moment” and “friend and friend”, are loose, and his whole view is that how far one should give way depends on how much is asked and who is asking. He takes her question seriously enough to want it exact, the way one asks an equal to state her terms.

• the degree of importance which is to appertain to this request, as well as the degree of intimacy subsisting between the parties
• between friend and friend,

Listen for

• Notices that Elizabeth has already narrowed the case to a small request between friends.
• Hears the length of Darcy’s question beside the plainness of hers.
• Notices that Bingley’s joke about height mocks the call for precision.
• Asks whether one question can be a fair point and a way to win time.

If stuck

• What exactly does Elizabeth ask Darcy?
• What does he want settled before he answers?
• Does it matter how big a favour is, or who is asking for it?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for Darcy’s call for precision and argues from the exchange. One reader finds him fencing: Elizabeth asked a plain question, he answers with a long one, and Bingley mocks it at once. Another finds him taking her seriously: her terms are loose, and his view is that giving way depends on how much is asked and by whom. The best answers notice that either way the two are now arguing about the terms of the argument, and claim nothing about Darcy ever persuading Bingley.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh one short line. Darcy asks, “Do you not feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel?” She smiles and makes no answer, and he repeats the question “with some surprise at her silence.” She tells him, “You wanted me, I know, to say ‘Yes,’ that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste”, and ends, “now despise me if you dare.” He answers, “Indeed I do not dare.” The narrator says that Elizabeth, “having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry”. Gallantry is a gentleman’s polite, flattering attention to a lady. Then the narrator adds that “Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her”, and that “were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.” The student decides what the line is: play, a compliment, the plain truth, or more than one at once. The card must not say Darcy means to court her: he thinks himself only “in some danger”, and her connections hold him back.

One reading

A compliment made as a joke. She has dared him in play, and he answers in play, giving way at once where she expected a fight. That is what she hears: “gallantry”, the polite move a gentleman makes to a lady. Nothing in the words goes past good manners, and she is amazed, not suspicious.

• Indeed I do not dare.
• was amazed at his gallantry;

Another reading

The plain truth, said lightly. The narrator tells us he is bewitched, so he could not despise her if he tried. A joke lets him say something true where it is safe: she will hear only gallantry, and he believes only her connections stand between him and “some danger”.

• Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her.
• He really believed that, were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.

Listen for

• Hears him answer her dare in her own word: “dare” for “dare”.
• Notices that Elizabeth hears “gallantry”, while the reader is told “bewitched”.
• Weighs whether one line can be a joke and the plain truth at once.
• Keeps to the chapter: he thinks himself “in some danger”, her connections hold him back, and nothing here is a courtship.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth dare Darcy to do?
• What did she expect him to feel, and what does she find instead?
• Have you ever told the truth by making it sound like a joke?

A strong answer A strong response decides what Darcy’s line is and argues from the reel and the narrator’s sentences after it. One reader hears a compliment made as a joke: he answers her playful dare in its own key, and Elizabeth, who expected to affront him, hears “gallantry” and nothing more. Another hears the plain truth said lightly: the narrator says he is bewitched, so he does not dare despise her, and a joke is the safe way to say so. The best answers see the dramatic irony, Elizabeth expecting contempt and meeting gallantry, and keep to “some danger” without making it a courtship.

What it asks It asks the student to aim Elizabeth’s parting joke. Walking with Darcy, Miss Bingley proposes that the portraits of “your uncle and aunt Philips” hang “next to your great-uncle the judge. They are in the same profession, you know, only in different lines.” Darcy answers that Elizabeth’s eyes would be hard to catch, “but their colour and shape, and the eyelashes, so remarkably fine, might be copied.” Then Mrs. Hurst and Elizabeth appear, and Miss Bingley is “in some confusion, lest they had been overheard.” Mrs. Hurst takes “the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy” and leaves Elizabeth “to walk by herself. The path just admitted three.” Darcy “felt their rudeness” and says, “This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.” Elizabeth answers, “No, no; stay where you are. You are charmingly grouped, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a fourth. Good-bye.” The student decides which of the three her parting joke is aimed at. The card must not say whether Elizabeth overheard the talk of portraits: the chapter does not say.

One reading

The sisters, and Mrs. Hurst first. She has just left Elizabeth to walk alone on a path made for three. Elizabeth’s joke names exactly what they have done: made a group that shuts her out. Calling the rudeness a pretty picture lets everyone see it and leaves them no answer. Darcy had tried to make room, so the joke passes him by.

• she left Elizabeth to walk by herself.
• This walk is not wide enough for our party.

Another reading

Darcy. He is the centre of the group, with a lady on each arm, and “uncommon advantage” is a joke about how he looks there. His offer of the avenue does not change her answer. She would not stay with any of them, and she runs off glad. He is the one who offered to make room, so he is the one her refusal answers.

• But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain with them,
• She then ran gaily off, rejoicing,

Listen for

• Notices that Darcy is the only one of the three who tries to make room.
• Hears “picturesque” a minute after Miss Bingley’s talk of portraits, and leaves open whether Elizabeth heard it.
• Weighs a joke that turns rudeness into a compliment, so that no one can answer it.
• Notices that the chapter leaves Elizabeth running off glad, not stung.

If stuck

• What does Mrs. Hurst do when Elizabeth joins them?
• What does Darcy say, and what does Elizabeth answer?
• When someone leaves you out, what can a joke do that a complaint cannot?

A strong answer A strong response names the one the joke is aimed at and argues from the walk. One reader names the sisters: Mrs. Hurst left Elizabeth alone on a path for three, and calling them a pretty group makes the rudeness plain without a complaint. Another names Darcy: he stands at the centre with a lady on each arm, he alone offers to make room, and she turns him down and runs off. The best answers notice the echo between Miss Bingley’s portraits and Elizabeth’s “picturesque” without deciding whether she overheard, and keep to what she says and does.

What it asks It asks the student to name the contest the drawing-room has just heard. Bingley jokes that if Darcy were not “such a great tall fellow” he would pay him less deference, and says he knows no more “awful object” than Darcy at home on a Sunday evening. “Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended, and therefore checked her laugh.” Miss Bingley “warmly resented the indignity he had received”. Darcy says, “I see your design, Bingley,” and, “You dislike an argument, and want to silence this.” Bingley answers, “Perhaps I do. Arguments are too much like disputes. If you and Miss Bennet will defer yours till I am out of the room, I shall be very thankful; and then you may say whatever you like of me.” Elizabeth replies, “What you ask,” “is no sacrifice on my side; and Mr. Darcy had much better finish his letter.” A dispute, in Bingley’s sense, is a quarrel. An argument can be a contest of reasons that both sides enjoy. The student builds a thesis on which this was, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not make Darcy cold and Elizabeth warm: each argues well, and neither is the one who ends it.

One reading

Arguing. Darcy himself calls it “an argument”, and he names Bingley’s design without heat. When Elizabeth thinks Darcy is hurt by the joke, she stops laughing, which is not what one does to an enemy. Both of them stop the moment their host asks. A quarrel does not end so easily.

• You dislike an argument, and want to silence this.
• and therefore checked her laugh.

Another reading

Quarrelling. The talk was about Bingley, and he was sitting there. It had turned personal: she said Darcy allows nothing for friendship, and he said she called opinions his that he never owned. Bingley’s joke is meant to ease things, and by Elizabeth’s reading it leaves Darcy offended. Miss Bingley takes it as an insult to Darcy. Bingley, who knows the room, wants it over.

• If you and Miss Bennet will defer yours till I am out of the room,
• Miss Bingley warmly resented the indignity he had received,

Listen for

• Notices that Darcy calls it “an argument”, and Bingley says arguments are “too much like disputes”.
• Hears “Elizabeth thought she could perceive”: her reading of Darcy’s face, not the narrator’s.
• Weighs that both of them stop the moment Bingley asks.
• Keeps both arguers strong: neither is the cold one, and neither ends it.

If stuck

• Who is the argument about, and where is he while it goes on?
• What does Darcy call it, and what does Bingley say arguments are like?
• What is the difference between a good argument and a quarrel?

A strong answer A strong thesis names the contest and argues from how it ends. A student might argue that they were arguing: Darcy calls it “an argument”, Elizabeth spares him a laugh when she thinks him hurt, and both stop at a word from their host. The strongest objection is that the subject was Bingley, sitting in the room, that the talk had turned to what each of them would allow, and that the joke meant to ease it left Darcy “rather offended” in Elizabeth’s eyes and Miss Bingley resentful. A good revision might hold that it was an argument to the two who were having it and a quarrel to the man it was about, and that the chapter lets each of them name it from where they sit.

What it asks It asks the student to look hard at how Elizabeth reasons her way to an answer. While the sisters sing, “Elizabeth could not help observing, as she turned over some music-books that lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy’s eyes were fixed on her. She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man, and yet that he should look at her because he disliked her was still more strange. She could only imagine, however, at last, that she drew his notice because there was something about her more wrong and reprehensible, according to his ideas of right, than in any other person present. The supposition did not pain her. She liked him too little to care for his approbation.” Approbation is approval. The answer she settles on sits close to the one she called “still more strange”: a man who stares to find fault is not far from a man who dislikes. A few lines on, the narrator says that “Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her.” The student builds a thesis on why she can believe the second answer when she could not believe the first, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say she is warming to him: she likes him “too little to care”.

One reading

Because the two are not the same. Dislike would be a feeling about her, and she can find no cause for it in herself. A fault “according to his ideas of right” is a judgment by his rule, and it says as much about his rule as about her. That is why the thought does not hurt. She has put the trouble in his standard, not in herself.

• according to his ideas of right,
• The supposition did not pain her.

Another reading

Because it is dislike under a better name, and it fits what she already thinks of him. She will not suppose that “so great a man” admires her, and she wants no answer that would make her care. A man who stares to find fault is a man she need not please. The answer is chosen to suit a mind already made up.

• She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man,
• She liked him too little to care for his approbation.

Listen for

• Follows her three steps: admiration hard to suppose, dislike “still more strange”, and at last a fault by his standard.
• Hears “could only imagine” and “at last”: the answer comes after a search, by ruling the others out.
• Weighs whether being judged by someone’s rule is different from being disliked, and which one she would mind.
• Notices that the narrator lets the reader see what she cannot, a few lines later, and keeps to the chapter: she likes him “too little to care”, and nothing here is warming.

If stuck

• What three reasons for his looking does Elizabeth try?
• Which one does she settle on, and how does she feel about it?
• Is it worse to be disliked, or to be judged by someone’s rules?

A strong answer A strong thesis explains why Elizabeth can believe in a fault-finding Darcy but not a disliking one, and argues from the paragraph at the pianoforte. A student might argue that the two really differ: dislike would need a cause in her, while a fault “according to his ideas of right” puts the trouble in his rule, so “The supposition did not pain her.” The strongest objection is that this is dislike under a kinder name, chosen because it fits her view of him: she likes him “too little to care for his approbation”, and a man who stares to find fault is a man she need not please. A good revision might hold that she picks the one answer that asks nothing of her, neither vanity nor hurt, and that the narrator’s next lines show how far a quick, honest reasoner can go wrong when her starting point about the other person is wrong.

What it asks It asks the whole question of the debate. Darcy says that the friend who asks Bingley to stay “has merely desired it, asked it without offering one argument in favour of its propriety.” Elizabeth: “To yield readily--easily--to the _persuasion_ of a friend is no merit with you.” Darcy: “To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either.” Elizabeth: “You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection. A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.” Darcy asks for “more precision” about how much is asked and how close the friends are, and Bingley ends it. Then Elizabeth gives way at once to Bingley’s request (“What you ask,” said Elizabeth, “is no sacrifice on my side”), and “Mr. Darcy took her advice, and did finish his letter.” The student builds a thesis on which of them describes the better friend, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say Darcy will ever persuade Bingley of anything, must not read the debate as Elizabeth warming to Darcy, and must not take Bingley’s five minutes as what he will do.

One reading

Darcy. A friend who gives way without a reason has honoured the person asking, not the request. To ask for a reason treats a friend as someone who can be reasoned with. To give way only when convinced respects the friend’s judgment and one’s own. The friend in his example offers nothing but a wish, and Darcy will not call it a compliment to either mind to obey a bare wish.

• To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either.
• asked it without offering one argument in favour of its propriety.

Another reading

Elizabeth. Friendship is a reason of its own: a regard for the person asking. To demand arguments for every small favour is to treat a friend like an opponent in a debate. Her case is about ordinary requests of no great weight, and there, giving way is a kindness. She does it herself a minute later, when Bingley asks them to stop.

• A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.
• to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection.

Listen for

• Notices that the man whose temper is the case is in the room, and that he is the one who ends the argument.
• Weighs whether a request with no reason is a small thing, or a test of trust.
• Notices that both of them give way at the end: Elizabeth to Bingley, and Darcy to her advice about the letter.
• Keeps to the chapter: the case is imagined, nothing is tested, and Elizabeth here likes Darcy “too little to care”.

If stuck

• What does Darcy say a friend should wait for before giving way?
• What does Elizabeth say can be reason enough?
• When a friend asks you a small favour and gives no reason, what makes you say yes?

A strong answer A strong thesis says which of them describes the better friend and argues from the debate. A student might take Darcy’s side: a friend who asks should give a reason, and to give way “without conviction” flatters neither mind. The strongest objection is Elizabeth’s: in small things between friends, regard for “the requester” is reason enough, and to wait for arguments is to treat a friend as an opponent. A good revision might weigh the case sitting in the room, a man who by Darcy’s account might stay a month at a word, and notice that at the end both arguers give way without being argued into it: Elizabeth to Bingley’s wish, and Darcy to her advice about his letter.