Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 24

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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Copywork

To Caroline’s assertion of her brother’s being partial to Miss Darcy, she paid no credit. That he was really fond of Jane, she doubted no more than she had ever done; and much as she had always been disposed to like him, she could not think without anger, hardly without contempt, on that easiness of temper, that want of proper resolution, which now made him the slave of his designing friends, and led him to sacrifice his own happiness to the caprice of their inclinations. Had his own happiness, however, been the only sacrifice, he might have been allowed to sport with it in whatever manner he thought best; but her sister’s was involved in it, as she thought he must be sensible himself.

Miss Bennet was the only creature who could suppose there might be any extenuating circumstances in the case unknown to the society of Hertfordshire: her mild and steady candour always pleaded for allowances, and urged the possibility of mistakes; but by everybody else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worst of men.

Read both passages aloud. The narrator tells them both, but other voices slip into the words. Whose voices do you hear, and where?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences: Elizabeth’s anger at Bingley near the start of the chapter, and the chapter’s last sentence. Both are the narrator’s, and both lean toward a character’s way of seeing. The first sentence turns the usual order round: the phrase that names what she disbelieved, “To Caroline’s assertion”, comes before its subject and verb, “she paid no credit”, where to pay no credit is to give no belief and “partial to” means fond of. The second sentence does the same with a whole clause, “That he was really fond of Jane”, placed before “she doubted”. After the semicolon, “much as” means although, and the phrase “without anger, hardly without contempt” corrects itself upward. Then come two matching phrases that both begin with “that”, “that easiness of temper, that want of proper resolution”, and a “which” clause with two verbs, “made” and “led”. Notice that the friends are “designing” and their wishes a “caprice”, a plan and a whim in one sentence. The third sentence opens with an inverted condition, “Had his own happiness, however, been the only sacrifice”, which means if his happiness alone had been at stake; “however” is set off by commas, “sport with” means play with, and “sensible” is Austen’s word for aware, not wise. The last passage is one sentence in three parts: a colon, then a semicolon, then “but”. The phrase “extenuating circumstances” means facts that lessen blame, and “candour” here is the older sense, a readiness to judge kindly. For mechanics, notice the curly apostrophes in “Caroline’s” and “sister’s”, the British spelling “candour”, the commas around “however”, and the colon and semicolons that divide the long sentences. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who hears Elizabeth in the first passage, in “the slave of his designing friends” and “the caprice of their inclinations”, which are her opinion reported by the narrator, not the narrator’s verdict. Listen for one who hears the neighbourhood in “the worst of men”, and the narrator’s own warmth in “mild and steady candour”. A student may argue that the narrator agrees with Elizabeth; ask what in the sentence shows it. No answer may say that Bingley’s friends have in fact talked him out of loving Jane, or that Mr. Darcy has acted against her.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order, from Miss Bingley’s letter to the town’s talk about Mr. Darcy.

Caroline’s letter ends Jane’s hope in its first sentence, then runs on about Miss Darcy and Mr. Darcy’s “new furniture”. Why does Caroline tell Jane all that? Character
Jane says, “Thank God I have not _that_ pain.” Why would that pain be worse than the one she has? Character
Jane asks Elizabeth to believe, “for everybody’s sake”, that Charlotte may care for Mr. Collins. Who would that belief help? Moral reasoning
When Jane says, “Women fancy admiration means more than it does”, Elizabeth fires back, “And men take care that they should.” What is Elizabeth defending with that reply? Inference
Mr. Bennet says Wickham is “a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.” How seriously does he take his daughters’ hearts? Character
The neighbourhood is “pleased to think how much they had always disliked Mr. Darcy before they had known anything of the matter.” What is the pleasure in that? Tone

Make a Connection Think of a time when someone let you down and you could not tell if they meant to. How did you decide what to believe?

Vocabulary

caprice: and led him to sacrifice his own happiness to the caprice of their inclinations. A sudden change of mind or mood with no good reason behind it; a whim (from French caprice, from Italian capriccio). In Elizabeth’s angry view, Bingley gives up his happiness to “the caprice of their inclinations”, the passing wishes of his sisters and friend. The same sentence calls those friends “designing”, so her anger holds both a plan and a whim at once.
candour: her mild and steady candour always pleaded for allowances, In Austen’s time, a readiness to judge others kindly and fairly, to think the best of them until shown otherwise; today the word usually means frankness (from Latin candor, whiteness, purity). Jane’s “mild and steady candour” is the older sense: it “pleaded for allowances, and urged the possibility of mistakes”, and the narrator gives it to her alone.
solicitude: Elizabeth looked at her sister with incredulous solicitude, but said nothing. Anxious care for someone (from Latin sollicitus, troubled). Elizabeth looks at Jane with “incredulous solicitude”: she is worried for her and does not believe her calm. She says nothing, and Jane reads the look at once: “You doubt me”.
designedly: If it is designedly done, they cannot be justified; On purpose; by a plan (from design, a plan, from Latin designare, to mark out). Jane grants that men who mislead women “designedly” cannot be excused. Her quarrel with Elizabeth is over how often that happens, not over whether it is wrong.
consequence: they may wish his increase of wealth and consequence; In Austen’s sense, social importance or standing, as when someone is called a person of consequence; not a result. Elizabeth says Bingley’s sisters may want his “increase of wealth and consequence”, a marriage that would raise the family in the world, and so may wish for more than his happiness.
creditably: He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably. In a way that brings credit, or at least no shame (from credit, good name, from Latin credere, to believe). Mr. Bennet says Wickham would “jilt you creditably”: to be dropped by so pleasant a man would be no disgrace. The joke treats a broken heart as a matter of how it looks to others.
unreserve: and to his other recommendations was now added that of general unreserve. Openness; speaking freely and holding nothing back (un-, not, and reserve, the habit of keeping one’s thoughts to oneself). Wickham now tells his grievance to everyone, and the neighbourhood counts his “general unreserve” among his “recommendations”. The word names a manner of speaking; it does not settle whether what he says is true.

Critical thinking

Elizabeth tells Jane that every day shows how little we can trust “the appearance of either merit or sense”. Does she keep to that rule by the end of the chapter?
Elizabeth says the world disappoints her more each day, and Jane asks to see it in the best light. Which sister sees this heartbreak more truly?