Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 23

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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Copywork

Nothing less than the complaisance of a courtier could have borne without anger such treatment: but Sir William’s good-breeding carried him through it all; and though he begged leave to be positive as to the truth of his information, he listened to all their impertinence with the most forbearing courtesy. Elizabeth, feeling it incumbent on her to relieve him from so unpleasant a situation, now put herself forward to confirm his account, by mentioning her prior knowledge of it from Charlotte herself; and endeavoured to put a stop to the exclamations of her mother and sisters, by the earnestness of her congratulations to Sir William, in which she was readily joined by Jane, and by making a variety of remarks on the happiness that might be expected from the match, the excellent character of Mr. Collins, and the convenient distance of Hunsford from London.

“Indeed, Mr. Bennet,” said she, “it is very hard to think that Charlotte Lucas should ever be mistress of this house, that I should be forced to make way for her, and live to see her take my place in it!” “My dear, do not give way to such gloomy thoughts. Let us hope for better things. Let us flatter ourselves that I may be the survivor.”

Read both passages aloud. In each one, someone meets a hard moment with calm words. Who do Elizabeth’s words protect, and who do Mr. Bennet’s?

For the educator Two passages, six sentences: the first moments of the chapter and the first exchange of its last scene. The first passage is two long sentences. The first opens on a negative, “Nothing less than”, and holds its object, “such treatment”, to the end of the clause. A colon turns to “but”, a semicolon brings in a “though” clause, and the main clause comes last. The word “complaisance” means an obliging wish to please, a “courtier” is someone who attends at a royal court, and to beg “leave to be positive” is to ask politely to be allowed to insist; “impertinence” is rudeness. The second sentence keeps its subject, “Elizabeth”, waiting through a participial phrase, “feeling it incumbent on her”, where “incumbent” means resting on her as a duty. Then come two “by” phrases, the second ending on a list of three remarks that runs down from “happiness” to “the convenient distance of Hunsford from London”; hear the joke in that last item. The second passage is four sentences. The first is Mrs. Bennet’s, its speech broken by the tag “said she”, with the verb first in the older order, and then three linked clauses that climb toward “take my place in it!” The underscores are this edition’s mark for italics, so “_I_” and “_her_” carry the stress. The other three sentences are Mr. Bennet’s one speech, so the quotation mark opens before “My dear” and closes only after “survivor”. The first is a command, and the next two begin “Let us”, like a sermon. To “flatter ourselves” is to let ourselves believe something pleasant, and the “survivor” is the one of a married pair who outlives the other, so the “better things” he hopes for are that he outlives her; his “_I_” answers hers. For mechanics, notice the hyphen in “good-breeding”, the British spelling “endeavoured”, the colon and semicolons that divide the first sentence, the comma inside the closing mark after “Indeed, Mr. Bennet”, the exclamation mark inside the mark that ends her speech, and the underscores, which are copied as they stand. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who finds that Elizabeth’s words protect Sir William from her family’s rudeness, and the family from itself. Listen for one who finds that Mr. Bennet’s words protect him from a talk he does not want, and one who hears an odd comfort in them, since while he lives the house is still theirs. A student may also ask whether Elizabeth believes her own praise of “the excellent character of Mr. Collins”, given her “disappointment in Charlotte” later on. No answer may say that Charlotte and Mr. Collins are plotting against the Bennets.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order, from Sir William’s visit to the last talk between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

Mrs. Bennet stops scolding Elizabeth after a week, but she needs “many months” to forgive Charlotte at all. Why is Charlotte the hardest to forgive? Character
Mr. Bennet meets the news with a joke that ranks three women by how foolish they are. Why does the joke say nothing about Charlotte one day running his house? Inference
Elizabeth feels she can never really trust Charlotte again, so she turns to Jane. But Jane hides her worry about Bingley, and the sisters never speak of it. Is there anyone Elizabeth can really talk to now? Character
Mrs. Bennet calls the Meryton report “a most scandalous falsehood”, and Elizabeth will not think Bingley “indifferent”. Is Elizabeth any wiser about bad news than her mother? Character

Make a Connection Think of a time someone answered a real worry of yours with a joke. What did the joke do for you?

Vocabulary

complaisance: Nothing less than the complaisance of a courtier could have borne without anger such treatment: A wish to please; easy, obliging politeness (from French complaire, to please, from Latin complacere). The narrator says that only “the complaisance of a courtier”, someone trained to please at court, could bear the rudeness of Mrs. Bennet and Lydia without anger. Sir William bears it, so the word praises him and smiles at him at once.
endeavoured: and endeavoured to put a stop to the exclamations of her mother and sisters, Tried hard; made an earnest effort (from Middle English endeveren, to make it one’s duty, from French devoir, duty). Elizabeth “endeavoured to put a stop to the exclamations” of her mother and sisters. The word allows that she may not quite succeed, and her mother is in fact quiet only “while Sir William remained”.
elapsed: A week elapsed before she could see Elizabeth without scolding her: Passed, of time (from Latin elabi, to slip away). “A week elapsed before she could see Elizabeth without scolding her”: the narrator measures Mrs. Bennet’s anger by how long it takes to wear down, a week, then a month, then many months.
dishonourable: Unwilling as she was to admit an idea so destructive to Jane’s happiness, and so dishonourable to the stability of her lover, Bringing shame; unworthy of respect (from dis-, not, and honourable, from Latin honor). Elizabeth fears an idea “so dishonourable to the stability of her lover”: if his sisters can keep Bingley away, his love was too weak to hold. Even the kinder of her fears lays a fault on him.
tranquillity: It needed all Jane’s steady mildness to bear these attacks with tolerable tranquillity. Calm; a quiet, untroubled state of mind (from Latin tranquillus, calm). It takes “all Jane’s steady mildness” to bear her mother’s talk of Bingley “with tolerable tranquillity”, a calm that is only just enough and is kept up by effort. Earlier Mr. Bennet’s emotions are “much more tranquil”, a calm that costs him nothing.
abhorrence: As her successor in that house, she regarded her with jealous abhorrence. A feeling of deep hatred and disgust (from Latin abhorrere, to shrink back from in horror). Mrs. Bennet regards Charlotte with “jealous abhorrence”: jealous because Charlotte will one day have the house she has now, and abhorrence because, in the sentence before, the sight of her is “odious”.

Critical thinking

Mrs. Bennet first blames Elizabeth as “the real cause of all the mischief”, and by the last page she blames the entail. Which is closer to the truth?
Mrs. Bennet dreads the day Charlotte takes her place, and Mr. Bennet answers her with jokes. Is her fear foolish, or is she the one person at Longbourn taking the entail seriously?