Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 26

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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Copywork

Elizabeth soon heard from her friend, and their correspondence was as regular and frequent as it ever had been: that it should be equally unreserved was impossible. Elizabeth could never address her without feeling that all the comfort of intimacy was over; and, though determined not to slacken as a correspondent, it was for the sake of what had been rather than what was.

The sudden acquisition of ten thousand pounds was the most remarkable charm of the young lady to whom he was now rendering himself agreeable; but Elizabeth, less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte’s, did not quarrel with him for his wish of independence. Nothing, on the contrary, could be more natural; and, while able to suppose that it cost him a few struggles to relinquish her, she was ready to allow it a wise and desirable measure for both, and could very sincerely wish him happy.

Read both passages aloud. The first is about Elizabeth and Charlotte after the wedding. The second is about Elizabeth and Wickham. Which one sounds warmer to you?

For the educator Two passages from the narrator: the letters after Charlotte’s wedding, and Elizabeth’s view of Wickham’s new courtship near the chapter’s end. The first passage turns on its colon. Before it, the plain news: the letters came “as regular and frequent as it ever had been”. After it, the loss, in a sentence whose subject is a whole clause: “that it should be equally unreserved” is the thing that “was impossible”. Here “unreserved” means open, and “correspondence” is the exchange of letters. The second sentence balances on a semicolon: what Elizabeth felt, “all the comfort of intimacy was over”, and then why she kept writing anyway, ending on the pair “what had been rather than what was”. The phrase “though determined not to slacken as a correspondent” is a shortened clause (though she was determined), and “slacken” means to grow slower or slacker. The second passage opens with a sentence held in two by “; but”. Its first half names Miss King only as “the young lady” and makes money her “most remarkable charm”; “rendering himself agreeable” means making himself pleasant to her. In the second half a comparison, set off by commas, breaks in between the subject and its verb: “Elizabeth, less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte’s, did not quarrel”. “Charlotte’s” stands for Charlotte’s case, and “his wish of independence” means his wish to have enough money to live on. The last sentence is the narrator speaking in Elizabeth’s voice: “Nothing, on the contrary, could be more natural” is what Elizabeth thinks, set down as if it were plain fact. To “relinquish” means to give up, and “measure” here means a step or course of action, not an amount. For mechanics, notice the colon, the semicolons, the commas around “on the contrary” and around the comparison, and the hyphen in “clear-sighted”. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who hears the cool, measured “for the sake of what had been” against the open “could very sincerely wish him happy”. Listen for one who notices that the warmer passage is about the person who has left Elizabeth, not the one who keeps writing. A student may hear the first passage as the warmer one, because Elizabeth keeps faith with an old friendship; ask what the word “determined” says about how easy that is. No answer may say that Charlotte is unhappy, or that Wickham never cared for Elizabeth: the first passage says nothing of Charlotte’s feelings, and the second gives only what Elizabeth is “able to suppose”.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order, from Mrs. Gardiner’s warning to Elizabeth’s letter about Miss King.

Elizabeth asks her aunt, “how am I even to know that it would be wiser to resist?” Does she want an answer? Character
Charlotte asks, “Will you come and see me?” Elizabeth answers, “We shall often meet, I hope, in Hertfordshire.” What does Charlotte hear in that answer? Inference
Charlotte’s letters from Kent praise the house, the roads and Lady Catherine. Still, Elizabeth must wait for her own visit “to know the rest.” What could Charlotte have written that Elizabeth would believe? Inference
Jane writes, “If I were not afraid of judging harshly, I should be almost tempted to say, that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this.” She is afraid of judging too harshly, yet she still writes the word “duplicity”. Why does she write it at all? Tone
After Jane’s letter, Elizabeth “seriously hoped” Bingley would marry Miss Darcy. From what Wickham has said of her, Miss Darcy would make Bingley regret what he threw away. How serious is that hope? Tone
Elizabeth tells her aunt she was never much in love, since she cannot hate Miss King at all. The narrator gives a reason her letter leaves out: her “vanity was satisfied”. Which reason better explains her calm? Character

Make a Connection Think of a time someone gave you advice you did not want, and you took it without feeling hurt. What made it easy to hear?

Vocabulary

unreserved: that it should be equally unreserved was impossible. Open and frank, holding nothing back (un-, not, and reserved, kept back, from Latin reservare, to keep back). The letters between Elizabeth and Charlotte come as often as ever, but the narrator says it was “impossible” that they should be “equally unreserved”. The word names exactly what the marriage has cost the friendship: not the letters, but the openness in them.
clear-sighted: less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte’s, Able to see a situation as it really is, without being misled by wishes or feelings (clear, and sighted, having sight). The narrator calls Elizabeth “less clear-sighted perhaps” about Wickham than about Charlotte. The word sets her two judgments side by side and says she saw one more clearly than the other; the “perhaps” leaves the reader to decide how much less.
endeavour: She endeavoured to persuade herself that she did not regret it; To try hard; to make an earnest effort (from the old French phrase se mettre en devoir, to make it one’s duty). The word comes three times in this chapter, and each time someone is working against a feeling: Mrs. Gardiner warns Elizabeth not to “endeavour to involve him”, Jane “endeavoured to persuade herself” that she did not mind, and her letter promises to “endeavour to banish every painful thought”. Where it appears, ease is being worked at.
withheld: where there is affection young people are seldom withheld, by immediate want of fortune, from entering into engagements with each other, Held back from doing something (with-, back or against, and held). Elizabeth tells her aunt that young people in love are “seldom withheld” by lack of money from promising to marry. The word makes poverty a hand that tries to hold people back, and her point is that it rarely manages to. She is describing what usually happens, not what is wise, and that is the gap her aunt is asking her to mind.
obliging: Lady Catherine’s behaviour was most friendly and obliging. Ready to do favours and kindnesses; helpful and accommodating (from oblige, to bind someone by a favour, from Latin obligare, to bind). Charlotte’s letters call Lady Catherine “most friendly and obliging”. It is a word of praise from letters that mention “nothing which she could not praise”, and it tells how Lady Catherine treats Charlotte, not what Charlotte feels.

Critical thinking

Jane admits she was wrong about Caroline, but she writes, “I am sure I should be deceived again.” Is that a failure to learn, or a fair way to judge people?
Elizabeth could not forgive Charlotte for marrying for security, but she wishes Wickham happy as he courts Miss King’s fortune. Why does she judge the two so differently?