Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 2

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

Teaching Companion Print Adapt for your student

Copywork

Mr. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid she had no knowledge of it.

I honour your circumspection. A fortnight’s acquaintance is certainly very little. One cannot know what a man really is by the end of a fortnight. But if _we_ do not venture, somebody else will; and after all, Mrs. Long and her nieces must stand their chance; and, therefore, as she will think it an act of kindness, if you decline the office, I will take it on myself.

Read both passages aloud. In the second, he talks to his wife as if he had not called on Bingley at all. Which line comes closest to giving him away?

For the educator Two passages, six sentences: the narrator’s first two sentences, then Mr. Bennet’s answer to his wife’s “how can you be so teasing?” The first passage gives away the secret before the scene begins. “waited on” means paid a formal call. The second sentence is built on a repeat, “always intended” against “always assuring”, so the plan and the pretence run side by side for the same length of time, and “to the last” says the pretence was kept up to the very end. A semicolon then turns to his wife, and the sentence closes on her: “she had no knowledge of it.” The next sentence, not copied, promises a performance: “It was then disclosed in the following manner.” The second passage is a mock argument. It opens with praise (“I honour your circumspection”), grants a point (“certainly very little”), states a rule as if from a book of maxims, and then turns on “But”. Its last sentence piles up the words of careful reasoning, “and after all”, “and, therefore”, “as”, “if”, and holds its main clause, “I will take it on myself”, to the very end, the way a periodic sentence does. Here “the office” means the duty or task, the introduction. The edition sets “we” in italic, which puts the stress on the word. Each clause can pass with his wife, and each rings false to a reader who knows the secret: he has already ventured, and he has met Bingley that very morning. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who picks “I will take it on myself”, since only a man who knows Bingley could introduce him; for one who picks “if we do not venture, somebody else will”, said by a man who has ventured already; and for one who picks the line about a fortnight, a warning he has not followed himself.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from the first paragraph to the guessing about dinner. Then choose the one sentence you think matters most, and say why you chose it.

The narrator tells us about the visit before the family knows. Whose side does that put us on when he says “I hope Mr. Bingley will like it, Lizzy”? Author's choice
When he offers to introduce Bingley himself, the girls stare at him, but their mother says only “Nonsense, nonsense!” Why do they hear his speech so differently? Inference
Mr. Bennet asks Mary what she thinks, then moves on “While Mary is adjusting her ideas.” What was the question to Mary for? Character
He tells the news as bad luck: “we cannot escape the acquaintance now.” Why make good news sound like a complaint? Tone
Near the start, Kitty is scolded for coughing when her mother will not answer Mr. Bennet. Why does he leave the room saying, “Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you choose”? Character
“What an excellent father you have, girls,” she says, but only “when the door was shut.” What does the shut door change about that praise? Tone

Make a Connection Think of a time someone held back good news so they could tell it their own way. Who enjoyed the wait most?

Vocabulary

circumspection: I honour your circumspection. Caution that looks all round before it acts (from Latin circum, around, and specere, to look, as in inspect and spectator). Mr. Bennet says “I honour your circumspection” when his wife refuses to introduce a man she has never met. The praise is mock: she is careful only because she cannot do otherwise, and he has already thrown caution off himself by calling on Bingley that morning. The long, grave word dresses up a joke.
honour: I honour your circumspection. As a verb, to show formal respect for something, to treat it as worthy of praise (the edition keeps the British spelling). “I honour your circumspection” is the language of a public tribute, and Mr. Bennet uses it to salute a caution his wife has no choice about. The grand verb is half the joke: he speaks as if bowing to her good sense, when he has already done the very thing she calls “impossible”.

Critical thinking

“I knew I should persuade you at last,” Mrs. Bennet tells him. What part, if any, did her begging play in what he did?
Mr. Bennet does the very thing his wife begged for, but he hides it so he can enjoy her surprise. Is the visit a kindness to the family or a joke played on them?