Chapter 24 — Teaching Companion

This chapter's big question

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?

The tension Elizabeth declares that every day confirms “the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense”; in the last paragraphs Wickham’s grievance is “publicly canvassed”, everyone is “pleased to think how much they had always disliked Mr. Darcy before they had known anything of the matter”, and Jane alone pleads for “extenuating circumstances”.

Today's focus

The morning Jane’s hope ends, a long talk between the sisters about Charlotte and Bingley, and the season in which Wickham’s grievance becomes the whole town’s opinion.

The shape at a glance

Miss Bingley’s letter arrives and ends Jane’s hope: the party is settled in London for the winter, and Bingley sends his regret at not having said goodbye. The rest of the letter praises Miss Darcy, boasts of Caroline’s growing closeness to her, predicts that Caroline’s wishes will come true, and mentions Mr. Darcy’s plans for new furniture. Elizabeth hears it in silent anger. She does not believe Bingley prefers Miss Darcy, and is sure he loved Jane, but she is angry at the weakness that, as she sees it, lets his friends rule him. She turns over whether his love died or was held down, and whether he knew Jane’s feelings, and sees that Jane’s pain is the same either way. After a day or two, Jane speaks. She wishes their mother had more self-command, says Bingley will be forgotten, and breaks off mid-sentence; then, more firmly, she takes comfort that it was only her own mistake. Elizabeth calls her too good. Elizabeth says she loves few people and thinks well of fewer, that the world disappoints her more every day, and that she has two recent instances, one she will not name, and Charlotte’s marriage. Jane asks her to make allowance for Charlotte’s situation and to believe she may feel regard for Mr. Collins. Elizabeth refuses: Mr. Collins is a conceited, silly man, and no principle can make his wife’s choice right. Jane thinks her language too strong. She then names the other instance herself and asks Elizabeth not to blame Bingley: women fancy admiration means more than it does. Elizabeth answers that men take care it should, but charges Bingley with want of resolution, not design, and his sisters and his friend with influence. Jane will not believe they would part a brother from the woman he loved, and asks to take it all in the best light. Elizabeth gives way, and the sisters rarely mention Bingley again. Mrs. Bennet goes on wondering why he does not return, and hopes for the summer. Mr. Bennet congratulates Jane, through Elizabeth, on being crossed in love, and suggests Wickham as Elizabeth’s turn: a pleasant fellow who would jilt her creditably. Elizabeth declines with a joke, and he ends with one about her mother. Wickham’s company lifts the gloom at Longbourn. His grievance against Mr. Darcy is now told openly and discussed everywhere, and everyone is pleased to think they always disliked Mr. Darcy. Only Jane suggests there may be facts no one in Hertfordshire knows; everyone else condemns Mr. Darcy as the worst of men.

A way in

Start with Jane’s last line in the long talk, read aloud: “Let me take it in the best light, in the light in which it may be understood.” Ask what the second half adds to the first. Leave it there; which sister sees more truly is the last written question, and the earlier questions build toward it. As they read, have students mark every judgment of a person in the chapter, from Elizabeth’s anger at Bingley to the town’s verdict on Mr. Darcy, and note who makes it and on what grounds. Keep to the chapter. Elizabeth lists both possibilities about Bingley, that his love died or that his friends held it down, and the chapter does not choose, so no answer may say either is so. Mr. Darcy enters only as Bingley’s host and in Elizabeth’s suspicion of “his friend”; no answer may say he has acted against Jane. The town’s verdict on Wickham’s story is given with open irony, but the chapter does not test the facts, so no answer should treat Wickham as the honest party. Jane says Bingley will be forgotten, but her sentence breaks off; no answer may say she has stopped loving him. Do not make Elizabeth the realist and Jane the dreamer: Jane is the one who names “our own vanity” and keeps an open mind about Mr. Darcy. Do not skip the last two paragraphs, which turn Elizabeth’s speech about appearances against the town. Treat Elizabeth’s attack on Charlotte as a strong speech that Jane answers point by point, not as settled truth. And ask what “jilt you creditably” says about how seriously Mr. Bennet takes his daughters’ hearts, rather than reading his jokes as harmless.

Lesson plan

Retell The student retells the chapter in order: Miss Bingley’s letter and what it says; Elizabeth’s silent anger and her guesses about Bingley; Jane’s first attempt to speak of him; Elizabeth’s speech about the world and Charlotte; Jane’s defence of Charlotte; the exchange about vanity and design; Jane’s plea to take it in the best light; Mrs. Bennet’s wondering; Mr. Bennet’s jokes; and Wickham’s grievance becoming the town’s opinion. Look for a retelling that keeps Elizabeth’s guesses about Bingley as guesses.

Imitate the author After copying, the student writes two sentences about an invented quarrel between friends. First, a long sentence on the model of the second sentence of the first passage: a clause that comes before its verb (“That he was really fond of Jane, she doubted”), a semicolon, a “much as” clause, a phrase that corrects itself upward (“without anger, hardly without contempt”), two matching phrases that begin with the same word, and a “which” clause with two verbs. Second, one sentence on the model of the last passage: one person set apart from a crowd, then a colon, then what that person’s habit of mind does in two verbs, then a semicolon and a turn with “but by everybody else”.

Debate Take sides on the last written question. One side argues that Elizabeth sees the heartbreak more truly, and gathers “The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it”, “there may be error and there may be misery”, “Your first position is false”, and her list of what Bingley’s sisters may wish. The other argues for Jane, and gathers “our own vanity”, “I must think your language too strong”, “Let me take it in the best light”, and the last paragraph, where Jane alone pleads for allowances. Each side must answer the other’s best line. Neither may say why Bingley stays away, that Jane has stopped loving him, that Mr. Darcy has acted against her, or that Wickham is honest.

Purpose Close on the chapter’s shape. It opens with a letter that ends a hope, centres on a long talk in which Elizabeth gives way not to Jane’s reasons but to her wish (“Elizabeth could not oppose such a wish”), then widens to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and at last to the whole neighbourhood. It ends with Jane alone against “everybody else”. Ask what ending on the town does to Elizabeth’s speech about appearances, and whether the chapter leaves either sister with the last word.

Three levels

Easier Read aloud from “Nay,” said Elizabeth to “the light in which it may be understood”, then the last two paragraphs. Make two columns, one for what Elizabeth says about people and one for what Jane says, and add the town’s verdict at the bottom. Talk through the questions on Jane’s “that pain” and on Mr. Bennet’s jokes, then answer the last written question aloud before writing it.

On level Talk through all six discussion questions in order, then write both 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 whether Austen favours Elizabeth’s distrust or Jane’s charity in this chapter, weighing the debate about Charlotte, the exchange about “design”, and the town’s verdict on Mr. Darcy. The essay should meet the objection that Jane’s charity costs her nothing but her own hope, while Elizabeth’s distrust at least names a wrong, and must not say why Bingley stays away or that Wickham is honest.

Discussion

1. 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

What it asks It asks the student to read the letter for its writer’s motive. “The very first sentence conveyed the assurance of their being all settled in London for the winter”. Then: “Miss Darcy’s praise occupied the chief of it. Her many attractions were again dwelt on; and Caroline boasted joyfully of their increasing intimacy, and ventured to predict the accomplishment of the wishes which had been unfolded in her former letter.” She writes “with great pleasure” of her brother staying in Mr. Darcy’s house, and mentions “with raptures” his plans for “new furniture”. Jane finds little comfort “except the professed affection of the writer”. The student decides why Caroline writes all this to Jane. The card must not say that Bingley has stopped loving Jane, that his friends have talked him out of it, or that Mr. Darcy has acted against her.

A strong answer A strong response gives Caroline a motive and points to the letter’s words. One reader finds a purpose: she predicts that her wishes will come true, fills the letter with Miss Darcy, and paints a household in which Jane has no place. Another finds carelessness: she is full of her own joy, and her “raptures” over furniture show a writer who has not stopped to think of her reader. The best answers notice that the letter can be read both ways, and that the sisters will argue the same point later in the chapter: whether hurt like Jane’s comes by plan or without one.

2. Jane says, “Thank God I have not _that_ pain.” Why would that pain be worse than the one she has?Character

What it asks It asks the student to name the pain Jane is glad to be spared, and to say why it would be worse than losing Bingley. She has waited “A day or two” for the courage to speak, and when Elizabeth looks at her “with incredulous solicitude”, she says: “He may live in my memory as the most amiable man of my acquaintance but that is all. I have nothing either to hope or fear, and nothing to reproach him with. Thank God I have not _that_ pain. A little time, therefore--I shall certainly try to get the better----”. “That pain” is the pain of having something to reproach him with: of having been wronged by him. Then, “With a stronger voice”, she adds: “I have this comfort immediately, that it has not been more than an error of fancy on my side, and that it has done no harm to anyone but myself.” Later in the talk she says that being mistaken “is nothing in comparison of what I should feel in thinking ill of him or his sisters.” The student decides why being wronged would hurt her more than being mistaken, or whether it would. The card must not say that Jane has stopped loving Bingley, or why he stays away.

A strong answer A strong response names “that pain” as having something to reproach Bingley with, and says why it would be worse. One reader finds that a wrong would take more than the hope: it would spoil the man she means to keep in memory as “the most amiable” she knows, and some of her trust in people with him. Another hears effort: her sentence breaks off just after, and a mistake of her own is one time can mend, so she holds to it with a stronger voice. The best answers link the line to her later plea to take it all “in the best light”, and leave open whether her thanks are felt or chosen.

3. Jane asks Elizabeth to believe, “for everybody’s sake”, that Charlotte may care for Mr. Collins. Who would that belief help?Moral reasoning

What it asks It asks the student to weigh the sisters’ quarrel over Charlotte’s marriage. Jane says: “You do not make allowance enough for difference of situation and temper. Consider Mr. Collins’s respectability, and Charlotte’s prudent, steady character. Remember that she is one of a large family; that as to fortune it is a most eligible match; and be ready to believe, for everybody’s sake, that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our cousin.” Elizabeth answers: “To oblige you, I would try to believe almost anything, but no one else could be benefited by such a belief as this; for were I persuaded that Charlotte had any regard for him, I should only think worse of her understanding than I now do of her heart.” Here “understanding” means mind, and “eligible” means suitable. The student decides whom the belief would help, if anyone. The card should treat Elizabeth’s attack on Charlotte as a strong speech that Jane answers, not as the chapter’s settled verdict.

A strong answer A strong response names who would be helped, or argues that no one would, and stays with the two speeches. One reader finds that the belief helps Charlotte, Jane and Elizabeth herself: it lets a friend be judged with allowance, spares Jane pain, and keeps Elizabeth from thinking worse of a friend. Another agrees with Elizabeth that a belief held to oblige someone is not honest, and notes that her logic would turn even Charlotte’s regard into a fault. The best answers notice that Elizabeth’s speech leaves Charlotte no way to be right, and ask whether that comes from principle or from anger.

4. 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

What it asks It asks the student to read the quickest exchange in the sisters’ talk. Jane has just said: “We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does.” Elizabeth: “And men take care that they should.” Jane: “If it is designedly done, they cannot be justified; but I have no idea of there being so much design in the world as some persons imagine.” Then Elizabeth: “I am far from attributing any part of Mr. Bingley’s conduct to design”, and she names instead “Thoughtlessness, want of attention to other people’s feelings, and want of resolution”. The student decides what Elizabeth’s reply defends. The card must not say that Bingley has stopped loving Jane or that his friends have talked him out of it.

A strong answer A strong response names what the reply defends and follows the talk a few lines further. One reader finds that it defends Jane: Elizabeth will not let her sister blame her own vanity, and she then charges Bingley with weakness, not a plan. Another finds that it defends Elizabeth’s view of the world, which Jane answers at once with “some persons”. The best answers notice that the line is sharper than anything Elizabeth will say about Bingley himself, and ask whom else, in this chapter, it might fit.

5. Mr. Bennet says Wickham is “a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.” How seriously does he take his daughters’ hearts?Character

What it asks It asks the student to judge what Mr. Bennet’s joke shows about him. Mrs. Bennet still wonders daily at Bingley’s “returning no more”, but “Mr. Bennet treated the matter differently.” To Elizabeth he says: “your sister is crossed in love, I find. I congratulate her. Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions.” Then: “Let Wickham be your man. He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.” To jilt is to drop someone after leading them on, and “creditably” means in a way that brings no shame. Elizabeth answers that “a less agreeable man would satisfy me” and that “We must not all expect Jane’s good fortune.” He ends: “it is a comfort to think that, whatever of that kind may befall you, you have an affectionate mother who will always make the most of it.” The student decides how seriously he takes his daughters’ hearts. The card must not treat Wickham as the honest party, or say anything of Wickham beyond the joke.

A strong answer A strong response judges how seriously he takes his daughters’ hearts and rests on the word “creditably”. One reader finds that he does not take them seriously: he congratulates Jane on her loss, and in his joke being jilted is a matter of how it looks. Another finds that he mocks the show people make of heartbreak, and turns his last joke on the mother who keeps Jane’s loss raw. The best answers notice that Elizabeth answers him in his own joking key, and that his joke takes for granted that a pleasant officer may disappoint a girl, a doubt about pleasant manners that the town has forgotten by the chapter’s end. No answer needs to say whether Wickham’s story is true.

6. 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

What it asks It asks the student to read the narrator’s sentence about the town. “Mr. Wickham’s society was of material service in dispelling the gloom which the late perverse occurrences had thrown on many of the Longbourn family. They saw him often”. His grievance against Mr. Darcy “was now openly acknowledged and publicly canvassed; and everybody was pleased to think how much they had always disliked Mr. Darcy before they had known anything of the matter.” Here “canvassed” means discussed in detail, and “perverse” means going wrong. The student decides what the pleasure is. The card must not say whether Wickham’s account is true; the chapter does not test it.

A strong answer A strong response names the pleasure and hears the narrator’s tone. One reader finds the pleasure of having been right: the town disliked Mr. Darcy first and found its reasons later, and enjoys the proof. Another finds a social pleasure: a shared grievance lifts the gloom and gives everyone something to say. The best answers notice that the narrator mocks the town’s certainty without telling us whether Wickham’s story is true.

Critical thinking

1. 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?

What it asks It asks the student to test Elizabeth’s rule against the chapter’s ending. She tells Jane: “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.” Her two instances are Charlotte’s marriage and one she “will not mention”. In the last paragraphs, Wickham comes often to Longbourn, “and to his other recommendations was now added that of general unreserve”. “The whole of what Elizabeth had already heard” is now told to everyone. Then: “Miss Bennet was the only creature who could suppose there might be any extenuating circumstances in the case unknown to the society of Hertfordshire”, and “by everybody else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worst of men.” The student builds a thesis on whether Elizabeth keeps her rule, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Wickham’s account is true or false, or that Mr. Darcy has acted against Jane.

A strong answer A strong thesis says whether Elizabeth keeps her rule and argues from both ends of the chapter. A student might argue that she breaks it: the narrator sets Jane apart as “the only creature” who allows for what is unknown, so Elizabeth stands with the neighbourhood, won over by a pleasing man’s openness. The strongest objection is that the chapter gives her no words of her own about Mr. Darcy at the end, and she turns down her father’s “pleasant fellow”, if only in jest. A good revision might hold that her rule teaches her to doubt merit but never to doubt a charge, so her distrust runs only one way. The best revisions notice that Jane, whom Elizabeth calls too good, is the one who acts on the rule Elizabeth stated.

2. 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?

What it asks It asks the student to weigh the two sisters’ ways of seeing the same loss. Elizabeth: “The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it”. Jane answers: “My dear Lizzy, do not give way to such feelings as these. They will ruin your happiness.” Elizabeth holds that “without scheming to do wrong, or to make others unhappy, there may be error and there may be misery.” Jane ends: “I am not ashamed of having been mistaken--or, at least, it is slight, it is nothing in comparison of what I should feel in thinking ill of him or his sisters. Let me take it in the best light, in the light in which it may be understood.” “Elizabeth could not oppose such a wish”. At the end, Jane’s “mild and steady candour always pleaded for allowances”, while “by everybody else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worst of men.” The student builds a thesis on which sister sees more truly, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Bingley has stopped loving Jane or that his friends have talked him out of it, that Jane has stopped loving him, that Mr. Darcy has acted against her, or that Wickham is the honest party.

A strong answer A strong thesis says which sister sees more truly, and what seeing truly means here. A student might argue for Elizabeth: harm needs no plan, and her charge of weak resolution names Jane’s pain where Jane will blame only herself. The strongest objection comes from the chapter’s end, where Elizabeth’s distrust does not keep her from the neighbourhood’s easy verdict on Mr. Darcy, while Jane alone pleads for allowances. A good revision might hold that Elizabeth sees the wound more truly and Jane sees the people more fairly, or that Jane’s mildness, which looks like blindness about Bingley, is the clearer sight about Mr. Darcy. The best revisions keep the question about Bingley open, since Elizabeth herself lists the possibilities and the chapter does not choose.

Vocabulary definitions