Chapter 26

Pride and Prejudice

Mountaineers · 10th–12th

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.

1. Elizabeth asks her aunt, “how am I even to know that it would be wiser to resist?” Does she want an answer?Character

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

clear-sighted less clear-sighted perhaps in this case than in Charlotte’s,

endeavour She endeavoured to persuade herself that she did not regret it;

withheld where there is affection young people are seldom withheld, by immediate want of fortune, from entering into engagements with each other,

obliging Lady Catherine’s behaviour was most friendly and obliging.

Critical thinking

1. 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?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

2. 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?

Thesis

Objection

Revision