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Pride and Prejudice
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
Darcy says that where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will always be kept under control. Is that a wise distinction, or is it pride talking?
The tension Miss Bingley's whole performance (the chosen book, the yawn, the walk about the room) cannot make Darcy look up; the moment Elizabeth joins her, “Mr. Darcy looked up” and “unconsciously closed his book.”
A conversation in which two clever people take turns examining each other, and one rival who cannot get into it.
After dinner Elizabeth brings Jane, well wrapped, down to the drawing-room, where for an hour Bingley’s sisters are more agreeable than Elizabeth has ever seen them. When the gentlemen come in, Miss Bingley turns at once to Darcy. Darcy congratulates Jane politely and Mr. Hurst bows, but Bingley is full of joy: he builds up the fire, moves her farther from the door, and sits by her talking scarcely to anyone else, while Elizabeth watches with delight. Miss Bingley, who has learned that Darcy does not want cards, refuses Mr. Hurst a game, and he falls asleep. Darcy reads; Miss Bingley reads the second volume of his book, watching his page. At last she yawns, praises reading, and hints to her brother that a ball would punish some of the party; Bingley says the ball is settled. She says balls would be more rational with conversation in place of dancing. She walks about the room, and Darcy reads on. She invites Elizabeth to walk with her, and at once Darcy looks up and closes his book without noticing. He will not join them: they must walk either to share secrets or to show their figures, and he could admire them better from the fire. Miss Bingley asks how to punish him. Elizabeth says to tease him and laugh at him; Miss Bingley says he cannot be teased. Elizabeth says she loves a laugh. Darcy answers that the wisest may be made ridiculous by someone who lives for a joke; Elizabeth says she hopes never to ridicule what is wise or good, only follies, which she supposes he is without. He says he has tried all his life to avoid the weaknesses that expose a strong mind to ridicule. She names vanity and pride; he calls vanity a weakness, but says pride, where there is real superiority of mind, will always be under good regulation. Elizabeth hides a smile. He owns faults, though not of understanding: a temper too little yielding, a slow forgetting of offences, and a good opinion that once lost is lost for ever. She says he has chosen his fault well. He says every disposition has a natural defect; she says his is a propensity to hate everybody, and he answers, with a smile, that hers is wilfully to misunderstand them. Miss Bingley, tired of a talk she has no share in, calls for music. Darcy, after a moment’s thought, is not sorry: he has begun to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.
Begin with the first paragraph and the gentlemen’s entrance, and ask the student to keep two notes through the chapter: each move Miss Bingley makes to win Darcy’s notice, with the narrator’s reason for it, and each claim anyone makes about a character, their own or another’s. Read Miss Bingley’s evening, from the cards to the walk, in one stretch, and stop at “Mr. Darcy looked up.” Then read the talk from “How shall we punish him for such a speech?” to “wilfully to misunderstand them” in two voices, slowly, pausing at the hidden smile. End on the last two sentences, and set them beside Bingley at the fire. Keep to what the chapter gives: it states Darcy’s account of himself, not a verdict on it; it does not decide whether either charge at the end is true; it says only that Darcy began to feel a danger, and nothing of love; and it does not say that Elizabeth’s view of him has changed: she turns away to hide a smile, and tells him “You are safe from me.” Whether Darcy’s distinction about pride is wise belongs to the last written question.
Retell The student retells the chapter in four movements: the drawing-room before and after the gentlemen come in, ending with Bingley at the fire; Miss Bingley’s evening, from the cards to her walk; the turn about the room, from Darcy looking up to his two motives; and the talk of laughter and faults, from how to punish him to the pianoforte. Look for whether the retelling keeps the narrator’s reasons for Miss Bingley’s moves, and gives both Elizabeth and Darcy their best lines.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes two short pieces in the same builds. First, one sentence whose subject is two pairs of nouns, each pair joined by “and” (“Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies”), with an emphatic “do” before the verb, a short admission set off by commas (“I own”), and a second clause added with “and”. Second, one long sentence in the build of Darcy’s: a hedge set between commas (“I believe”), a phrase restated in apposition (“a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect”), and a relative clause that keeps its strongest words for the end.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. One side argues that Darcy’s distinction is wise, and gathers “Perhaps that is not possible for anyone”, his grant that vanity is a weakness, and the real fault he names in his temper. The other argues that it is pride talking, and gathers the condition “where there is a real superiority of mind”, his faults kept clear of his understanding, Elizabeth’s hidden smile, and “you have chosen your fault well.” Each side must answer the other’s best line. Neither may say that Darcy’s account of himself is proved true or false, or that Elizabeth’s smile shows a change in her view of him.
Purpose Close on the chapter’s two contests. Miss Bingley works all evening for Darcy’s notice, and the narrator shows every move; Elizabeth wins it without trying, and then she and Darcy name each other’s faults to their faces. Ask what Austen gains by letting the reader watch the manoeuvre in full while the two talkers state their own characters plainly, so that the reader, like Elizabeth, is left to judge a self-portrait offered without apology.
Easier Read aloud the first two paragraphs, Miss Bingley’s evening from the book to the walk, and the talk from “Tease him--laugh at him.” to the end. Make a two-column chart: each thing Miss Bingley does to get Darcy’s notice, and what Darcy does in answer. Talk through the questions on Miss Bingley’s evening, on why she has no share in the talk, and on Darcy’s “puffed about”, then answer the last written question aloud before writing it.
On level Talk through all four discussion questions in order, then write all three written questions as a thesis, the strongest objection and a revised thesis, each with lines from the chapter.
Harder Ask for one argued essay on what Darcy reveals in defending himself that he may not mean to reveal. Treat the drawing-room as a trial in which each speaker examines the other, and use the two motives, the talk of laughter, the distinction between vanity and pride, the list of faults and the last two sentences as evidence. The essay should meet the objection that Darcy reveals nothing he does not intend, since he offers his faults plainly and without apology, and decide what, if anything, the chapter lets the reader see in him that his own words do not say. It must not claim that his account of himself is true or false.
1. The narrator follows Miss Bingley’s evening move by move, down to “the desperation of her feelings”. How sorry are we meant to feel for her?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear the narrator’s voice on Miss Bingley. The narrator gives a reason for each of her moves. She had “obtained private intelligence that Mr. Darcy did not wish for cards”. Her book was one “she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his”. She yawns, and says, “I declare, after all, there is no enjoyment like reading!” “No one made any reply.” She walks about the room, and “Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious. In the desperation of her feelings, she resolved on one effort more”. The student decides how much sympathy that account allows her. The card must not make Miss Bingley only a joke: the narrator grants that she “walked well”, and that she was “quite exhausted by the attempt”.
Very little. The narrator is laughing and lets us in on the joke. She praises reading in the middle of a yawn, and chose her book to match his. Even her walk has a target, and the narrator names it. The word “desperation” is far too big for a woman trying to make a man look up from a book, and that is the joke.
I declare, after all, there is no enjoyment like reading!
Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious.
A good deal. The narrator watches her as closely as she watches Darcy, and sees how hard she works. She is “quite exhausted”, and her praise of reading wins no reply at all. The narrator even grants that “she walked well”, and still Darcy does not look up. Feelings that reach desperation are real feelings, even when they are spent on a book and a walk.
In the desperation of her feelings, she resolved on one effort more;
Her figure was elegant, and she walked well;
A strong answer A strong response weighs the narrator’s account of Miss Bingley and argues from it. One reader finds little room for pity: the narrator gives every motive, and the yawn, the second volume and the walk, all “aimed” at Darcy, turn her evening into comedy. Another finds real room: she is “quite exhausted”, she makes “one effort more”, and the narrator grants that “she walked well”. The best answers notice that the narrator tracks her as closely as she tracks Darcy, and do not make her only a joke.
2. Darcy tells the two women he can admire them “much better as I sit by the fire.” How should that line sound when you read it aloud?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to choose a voice for Darcy’s answer. Miss Bingley asks him to join the walk, and he declines, “observing that he could imagine but two motives for their choosing to walk up and down the room together, with either of which motives his joining them would interfere.” Elizabeth guesses that “he means to be severe on us”, and advises asking nothing. Miss Bingley asks anyway. He explains that they either “have secret affairs to discuss”, or are “conscious that your figures appear to the greatest advantage in walking: if the first, I should be completely in your way; and if the second, I can admire you much better as I sit by the fire.” A few lines before, the narrator said of Miss Bingley’s walk that “Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious.” Miss Bingley answers, “Oh, shocking!” and “How shall we punish him for such a speech?” The student decides whether the line is severe, gallant, or both at once. The card must not say what Darcy feels for either woman: the chapter gives only that he looked up, and, at its end, a danger he begins to feel.
Dry, and severe, as Elizabeth guessed. His second motive names exactly what the narrator told us the walk was for. He says it aloud, to the woman who aimed it at him, and turns down the invitation. The sting is in “admire”: he will watch from his chair as if at a show, and not join in.
he means to be severe on us,
because you are conscious that your figures appear to the greatest advantage in walking:
Light, with a compliment inside the joke. To say he admires them is to say there is something to admire. Miss Bingley does not sound hurt. She cries “shocking” and turns at once to how they should punish him, as if he had started a game. He has made a joke, and the women take it as one.
I can admire you much better as I sit by the fire.
How shall we punish him for such a speech?
A strong answer A strong response chooses a voice for the line and argues from the exchange. One reader hears it dry and severe, as Elizabeth guessed: the second motive names the aim the narrator gave Miss Bingley’s walk, and “admire” keeps him a watcher by the fire. Another hears it light, a compliment inside a joke, and points to Miss Bingley, who turns at once to how to “punish him”, as if a game had begun. The best answers notice that the line answers two women at once, only one of whom had aimed the walk at him, and claim nothing about what he feels for either.
3. Miss Bingley wishes balls had conversation in place of dancing, and later that evening she gets something close to it. Why does she have no share in the talk?Character
What it asks It asks the student to explain why Miss Bingley has no part in the kind of evening she said she wanted. After her brother calls the ball “quite a settled thing”, she says, “It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day.” Bingley answers that it “would not be near so much like a ball.” Later she and Elizabeth walk up and down the room together, and the talk that follows is the evening’s real conversation. When Darcy explains his two motives, Miss Bingley asks how to punish him. Elizabeth: “Tease him--laugh at him. Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.” Miss Bingley: “But upon my honour I do _not_.” And: “we will not expose ourselves, if you please, by attempting to laugh without a subject.” From there the talk belongs to Elizabeth and Darcy, until Miss Bingley, “tired of a conversation in which she had no share”, calls for music. The student explains why she has no share in it, whether she keeps herself out or the talk is one she cannot join. The card must not treat the talk as flirtation that shuts her out: both speakers make serious claims about character, and the chapter says nothing of love.
She will not do what the talk asks. The talk Elizabeth starts runs on teasing, and Miss Bingley will not laugh at Darcy. The narrator has already said she is unable to disappoint him in anything. To talk with him the way Elizabeth does, she would have to risk his displeasure. She calls laughing at him laughing “without a subject”, and so she has nothing to say.
Miss Bingley, however, was incapable of disappointing Mr. Darcy in anything,
we will not expose ourselves, if you please, by attempting to laugh without a subject.
She never wanted that kind of talk for its own sake. Her complaint about balls comes straight after a hint her brother takes to mean Darcy, so, like her book, it is chosen with him in mind. The talk that comes asks each speaker to hold views of their own and to test the other’s. All she can do is watch it and then ask for the verdict: she calls it Elizabeth’s “examination” of Darcy and wants to know “the result”.
If you mean Darcy,
Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume,
A strong answer A strong response explains why Miss Bingley has no share in the talk and argues from the chapter. One reader says she will not do what the talk asks: it runs on teasing, she will not “laugh without a subject”, and the narrator says she “was incapable of disappointing Mr. Darcy in anything”. Another says she never wanted such a talk for its own sake: her complaint about balls follows a hint her brother reads as meaning Darcy, and when the real talk comes she can only ask for “the result” of an “examination” she watched. The best answers notice that the turn about the room comes close to the ball she described, treat the talk as a serious contest of characters rather than flirtation alone, and claim nothing about love.
4. Darcy says his feelings are not “puffed about with every attempt to move them”, and he has just sat through an evening of attempts. How far does the evening prove him right?Character
What it asks It asks the student to test Darcy’s account of himself against the scene he is sitting in. In his list of faults he says, “My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them.” All evening Miss Bingley has made such attempts. She watches his page and asks him questions, and “he merely answered her question and read on.” She praises reading, talks of balls, and walks about the room, and he stays “inflexibly studious.” Then she asks Elizabeth to walk with her: “Miss Bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility: Mr. Darcy looked up. He was as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book.” Elizabeth, for her part, “was surprised, but agreed to it immediately.” The student decides how far the evening proves him right. The card must not say whether his account of himself is true or false in general: the chapter gives the claim and one evening, not a verdict.
Most of the way. The questions, the yawn, the talk of balls and the walk all fail. The last move, the invitation to Elizabeth, does make him look up, as the narrator says it was meant to. But his eyes move and he does not. He declines to join them, and explains why he will stay where he is. Looking up is not the same as being moved.
he merely answered her question and read on.
He was directly invited to join their party, but he declined it,
Not as far as it seems. Miss Bingley’s invitation is one more attempt. The narrator says it had a “real object”, and that it worked. He looks up, and closes his book without knowing he has done it. The narrator’s word is “unconsciously”: he is moved before he knows it, by a move someone planned.
Miss Bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility: Mr. Darcy looked up.
and unconsciously closed his book.
A strong answer A strong response tests Darcy’s claim against the evening and argues from it. One reader says the evening proves him right most of the way: Miss Bingley’s questions, yawn and walk all fail, and when the “novelty” of her civility to Elizabeth makes him look up, he still declines to join them. Another says it proves less than it seems: her invitation is “one effort more”, the narrator says it “succeeded”, and he closes his book “unconsciously”. The best answers notice that the evening tests his words in the very room where he speaks them, and do not turn one evening into a verdict on his whole character.
1. Bingley’s sisters “laugh at their acquaintance with spirit”, and later Elizabeth says she hopes never to laugh at “what is wise or good.” Is her laughter really different from theirs?
What it asks It asks the student to test the line Elizabeth draws between kinds of laughter. The chapter opens on Bingley’s sisters with Jane and Elizabeth after dinner: “Elizabeth had never seen them so agreeable as they were during the hour which passed before the gentlemen appeared. Their powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an entertainment with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh at their acquaintance with spirit.” Later Elizabeth says, “I dearly love a laugh.” Darcy answers that “The wisest and best of men,--nay, the wisest and best of their actions,--may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.” Elizabeth: “Certainly,” “there are such people, but I hope I am not one of _them_. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies, _do_ divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.” To ridicule is to make fun of. The student builds a thesis on whether her laughter differs from the sisters’, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not settle whether her line holds true of her: the chapter gives her claim and her hope, not a verdict.
Really different. The sisters laugh at their acquaintance, which is to say at people. Elizabeth names follies, whims and inconsistencies: what people do wrong, not who they are. She draws a line and says what lies past it, “what is wise or good”. The sisters’ laughter, as the narrator gives it, has no such line. It is one of their “powers of conversation”, a skill for an evening.
I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good.
Their powers of conversation were considerable.
Not really, or not in any way she can show. Every person has follies, and the one who laughs decides what counts as one. Darcy says as much: the best of men can be made ridiculous by someone whose first aim is a joke. Elizabeth only hopes she is not that person. And the one she wants laughed at in this chapter is a man, Darcy, not a folly in the abstract.
may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.
but I hope I am not one of them.
A strong answer A strong thesis says whether Elizabeth’s laughter differs from the sisters’ and argues from the chapter. A student might argue that it does: the sisters laugh at “their acquaintance”, while Elizabeth names follies and nonsense and sets “what is wise or good” out of bounds. The strongest objection is Darcy’s: even the wisest can be “rendered ridiculous” by someone set on a joke, the one who laughs decides what counts as folly, and Elizabeth only says “I hope”. A good revision might hold that her line is real as a rule and untested as a practice, and notice that she states the rule to the very man she has just told Miss Bingley to laugh at.
2. Bingley sits down by Jane and talks “scarcely to anyone else”, yet at the end Darcy begins to feel “the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.” Why does one man give his attention freely, while the other feels it as a danger?
What it asks It asks the student to set the chapter’s first scene beside its last line. When the gentlemen come in, Darcy “addressed himself directly to Miss Bennet with a polite congratulation”, and Mr. Hurst said he was “very glad;” but “diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley’s salutation. He was full of joy and attention. The first half hour was spent in piling up the fire, lest she should suffer from the change of room”, and she is moved farther from the door. “He then sat down by her, and talked scarcely to anyone else. Elizabeth, at work in the opposite corner, saw it all with great delight.” All evening Miss Bingley watches Darcy: she was “perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page.” At the end, “Darcy, after a few moments’ recollection, was not sorry for it. He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.” Recollection here means gathering one’s thoughts. The student builds a thesis on why Bingley gives his attention freely while Darcy feels it as a danger, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Darcy is in love or will act on what he feels: the last line says only that he “began to feel the danger”.
The danger lies in the two men. Bingley gives his feeling room: he is “full of joy and attention”, he moves Jane by the fire, and he sits down by her. Darcy stops to think first, and only then is “not sorry” for the music. One man lets himself go where his notice takes him. The other checks himself, and the danger he feels is to his own control.
He was full of joy and attention.
Darcy, after a few moments’ recollection, was not sorry for it.
The danger lies in the room. Bingley’s attention has a reason anyone can see: Jane has been ill, and he is the host keeping her warm. Darcy’s would have no such cover, and it would be watched. Miss Bingley has followed his every page all evening. Attention that is paid is attention other people see.
lest she should suffer from the change of room;
she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page.
A strong answer A strong thesis explains why Bingley gives his attention freely while Darcy feels it as a danger, and argues from the first scene and the last line. A student might argue that the danger lies in Darcy himself: Bingley is “full of joy and attention” and gives way to it, while Darcy stops for “a few moments’ recollection” and checks himself. The strongest objection is that the danger lies in the room: Bingley’s care for a guest who has been ill has a reason anyone can see, Darcy’s would not, and Miss Bingley has watched his every page. A good revision might hold that the chapter is framed by two men’s attention, one open and one guarded, and that Darcy’s fear may be both of himself and of being seen, without saying what the danger will lead to.
3. Darcy says that where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will always be kept under control. Is that a wise distinction, or is it pride talking?
What it asks It asks the student to judge Darcy’s distinction between vanity and pride. Elizabeth has said she laughs at follies, and adds, “But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.” Darcy: “Perhaps that is not possible for anyone. But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule.” Elizabeth: “Such as vanity and pride.” Darcy: “Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride--where there is a real superiority of mind--pride will be always under good regulation.” “Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile.” When she tells Miss Bingley that he “has no defect”, he answers, “I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding.” He calls his temper “too little yielding”, and ends, “My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.” Elizabeth: “But you have chosen your fault well. I really cannot _laugh_ at it.” To be under good regulation is to be kept in good order. The student builds a thesis on whether the distinction is wise or is pride talking, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Darcy’s account of himself is accurate or that it is false, must not say that Elizabeth’s view of him has changed, and must not read “lost for ever” as a fault he is ashamed of: he offers it plainly and without apology.
A wise distinction. Vanity is a weakness that leaves a mind open to ridicule. Pride kept in order is only a true sense of one’s own worth, and a mind that sees clearly will see its own limits too. Darcy does not claim to be faultless. He grants that freedom from follies may not be possible for anyone, and he goes on to name a real fault in his temper. A man simply boasting would not list his faults.
Perhaps that is not possible for anyone.
I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding.
Pride talking. The test he sets, “a real superiority of mind”, is one only he can judge in himself, and he passes it in the same breath. When he lists his faults, he keeps every one of them away from his understanding, and the one he names sounds like firmness. Elizabeth turns away to hide a smile, and she says what she hears: he has “chosen your fault well.”
pride will be always under good regulation.
But you have chosen your fault well.
A strong answer A strong thesis judges Darcy’s distinction and argues from the talk of laughter and faults. A student might argue that it is wise: Darcy grants that no one may be free of follies, calls vanity a weakness, and goes on to name a real fault in his temper. The strongest objection is that the test, “a real superiority of mind”, is one he alone judges in himself, that he keeps all his faults outside his understanding, and that Elizabeth meets the claim with a hidden smile and the remark that he has “chosen your fault well.” A good revision might hold that a distinction can be sound and still serve the man who draws it, and that the chapter sets his self-portrait before the reader plainly, without apology, and without a verdict.
He addressed himself directly to Miss Bennet with a polite congratulation; Mr. Hurst also made her a slight bow, and said he was “very glad;” but diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley’s salutation.A free, overflowing spread, as of words or feeling poured out at length (from Latin diffundere, to pour out, the root of diffuse). Darcy gives Jane “a polite congratulation” and Mr. Hurst a bow and “very glad”; “diffuseness and warmth” are left for Bingley. The word measures his welcome by how far it spills past the polite minimum.
“I should like balls infinitely better,” she replied, “if they were carried on in a different manner; but there is something insufferably tedious in the usual process of such a meeting.So much that it cannot be borne (from Latin in-, not, and sufferre, to bear, the root of suffer). Miss Bingley finds “something insufferably tedious” in an ordinary ball. The strong word suits the hint she has just dropped, which her brother takes to mean Darcy, that for some of the party a ball would be “rather a punishment than a pleasure”.
Her figure was elegant, and she walked well; but Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious.In a way that will not bend or give way (from Latin in-, not, and flectere, to bend, the root of flexible). Through Miss Bingley’s whole walk Darcy stays “inflexibly studious”. A little later he calls his own temper “too little yielding”, and the reader can set the narrator’s word beside his.
“And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.”A natural leaning toward some way of acting (from Latin propendere, to hang forward, to lean). Darcy has just said every disposition has “a natural defect”, and Elizabeth hands him his: “a propensity to hate everybody”. The weighty word makes her tease sound like a diagnosis.
“And yours,” he replied, with a smile, “is wilfully to misunderstand them.”On purpose; by one’s own choice, knowing what one does (from will, in its old sense of wish or purpose). Darcy does not say Elizabeth misunderstands people. He says she does it “wilfully”. The one word turns a mistake into a decision, which is a harder charge to answer.