Chapter 31 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to make sense of Lady Catherine on music. “There are few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste. If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient. And so would Anne, if her health had allowed her to apply.” Moments later: “I often tell young ladies, that no excellence in music is to be acquired without constant practice.” Here a “proficient” is an expert, and “apply” means work at it. The student decides how the boast and the rule sit together. The card does not treat her only as a joke: her theory of music is the chapter’s first answer to the question of gift against effort, given by the person with the highest rank in the room.

One reading

Rank decides which rule applies. Practice is the rule for the young women who actually play: Georgiana, and Miss Bennet, who is offered a room to practise in. Gift is assumed for herself and her daughter, neither of whom ever learnt. Her claim and Anne’s can never be tested, because no one has heard them. On this reading she believes in talent for her own family and in practice for everyone else.

• If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.
• Anne would have been a delightful performer, had her health allowed her to learn.

Another reading

They fit, because she splits music in two. Taste is natural: she claims “a better natural taste” than almost anyone. Playing well is practised. When she judges Elizabeth, she keeps the two apart: the fingering is good, the taste is “not equal to Anne’s”. On this reading she holds a real theory, gift for taste and work for the hands, and her vanity lies only in where she places herself in it.

• or a better natural taste.
• She has a very good notion of fingering, though her taste is not equal to Anne’s.

Listen for

• Notices that the two people she credits with natural gift are the two who have never learnt.
• Notices that she presses practice on Georgiana, who already practises “very constantly”, and on Elizabeth, while excusing herself and Anne.
• Hears how close her split between taste and practice comes to the argument Darcy and Elizabeth have later at the instrument.
• Treats her as more than comic relief: her nephew is ashamed of her a moment later.

If stuck

• What does Lady Catherine say she would have been, if she had learnt?
• Whom does she tell to practise?
• When she judges Elizabeth’s playing, what does she praise and what does she find wanting?

A strong answer A strong response explains how the boast and the rule fit, and rests it on her own words. One reader finds rank doing the sorting: gift is assumed for Lady Catherine and Anne, whom no one has heard, and practice is prescribed for the young women who actually play. Another finds a real theory, taste by nature and fingering by work, which she uses again in judging Elizabeth. The best answers notice that she has framed the evening’s question before Darcy and Elizabeth take it up: what comes from nature, and what comes from trouble taken.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh Darcy’s silence. Lady Catherine has been speaking to him: “though Mrs. Collins has no instrument, she is very welcome, as I have often told her, to come to Rosings every day, and play on the pianoforte in Mrs. Jenkinson’s room. She would be in nobody’s way, you know, in that part of the house.” Then: “Mr. Darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt’s ill-breeding, and made no answer.” Here “ill-breeding” means bad manners. The student decides whom the silence shelters: his aunt, Elizabeth, or Darcy himself. The card does not say what Darcy feels for Elizabeth; the narrator names only his shame at his aunt.

One reading

His aunt. She is the hostess, and she has been talking to him more than to anyone. A word from the nephew she talks to most, in front of her guests, would be a correction in public. The narrator gives his feeling, shame, and keeps it inside him. On this reading his silence is the only rebuke a well-bred nephew can give: he lets her remark fall without a reply, and spares her a scene in her own drawing-room.

• looked a little ashamed of his aunt’s ill-breeding,
• especially to Darcy, much more than to any other person in the room.

Another reading

Himself. A moment earlier he contradicted his aunt at once to defend his sister: Georgiana “does not need such advice”. For Elizabeth he finds nothing to say. Silence spares him an awkward task and leaves the slight standing, with the person it was aimed at in the room. On this reading his shame costs him nothing, and the silence is the same reserve he is about to be teased for.

• that she does not need such advice.
• and made no answer.

Listen for

• Notices that he speaks up at once for his sister and not for Elizabeth.
• Weighs “a little”: the narrator measures the shame and keeps it small.
• Sets his silence beside Elizabeth’s answer to Lady Catherine at the end of the chapter, “all the forbearance of civility”.
• Does not say that his silence shows love for Elizabeth.

If stuck

• Where does Lady Catherine say Elizabeth may practise?
• Why does she say that room is a good place?
• When his aunt advises his sister, what does Darcy say back?

A strong answer A strong response names whom the silence protects and rests the choice on the lines around it. One reader finds it protecting his aunt, who would be corrected in front of her guests by the nephew she most attends to. Another finds it protecting Darcy, who spoke up at once for his sister and leaves Elizabeth’s slight unanswered. The best answers notice that the chapter shows a silence here and asks, a page later, whether his reserve comes from want of talent or from trouble he will not take.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh Elizabeth’s first words to Darcy at the instrument. He has walked away from his aunt and “stationed himself so as to command a full view of the fair performer’s countenance”. She turns “with an arch smile” and says, “You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me. But I will not be alarmed, though your sister _does_ play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.” He answers that she cannot really believe he means to alarm her, and that she finds “great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which, in fact, are not your own.” Here “arch” means playful and knowing, “state” means pomp, “countenance” means face, and to “profess” an opinion is to declare it. The student decides how much of the speech is meant. The card must not say why Darcy stands there; the chapter gives only his “look of curiosity” earlier in the evening.

One reading

She means the courage, if not the charge. Darcy’s reply answers the charge that he means to frighten her; it says nothing against her courage. The rest of the evening bears the courage out: she warns him that he is “provoking me to retaliate”, and then she does, in front of his cousin. On this reading the joke is in the accusation, and the stubbornness is the plain truth told with a smile.

• There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others.
• it is provoking me to retaliate,

Another reading

It is play, and he has read her right. She speaks with “an arch smile”, and no one is frightened. Calling a man who stands by a piano an attempt to intimidate is the kind of opinion Darcy describes, one she enjoys professing. Her answer to his reply is a hearty laugh, not a denial. On this reading the speech is a performance, and the man she accuses of stiffness has seen through it.

• turned to him with an arch smile,
• Elizabeth laughed heartily at this picture of herself,

Listen for

• Separates the charge (he means to frighten her) from the claim (her courage rises).
• Notices that Darcy answers the charge, not the courage.
• Notices that she laughs at his “picture” of her and does not deny it.
• Does not say why Darcy stands by the instrument, and does not call it love.

If stuck

• Where does Darcy go when he leaves his aunt?
• What does Elizabeth say he means to do?
• What does Darcy say back, and how does Elizabeth take it?

A strong answer A strong response decides how much she means and keeps to the exchange. One reader finds the courage real and the charge a joke: Darcy answers only the charge, and she goes on to retaliate as she warned. Another finds the whole speech play, said with an arch smile and met with a laugh when Darcy names the game. The best answers notice that Darcy, who will soon say he cannot talk easily with strangers, reads this woman well enough to make her laugh.

What it asks It asks the student to account for Darcy’s second answer. Elizabeth has told Colonel Fitzwilliam that at the Hertfordshire ball Darcy “danced only four dances”, though gentlemen were scarce. He answers, “I had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party.” She replies, “True; and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball-room. Well, Colonel Fitzwilliam, what do I play next? My fingers wait your orders.” Then Darcy speaks again, beginning with “Perhaps”: “I should have judged better had I sought an introduction, but I am ill-qualified to recommend myself to strangers.” Here an “assembly” is a public ball, “sought” means looked for, and to “recommend” himself means to make himself liked. The student decides why he returns to a subject she has dropped. The card does not say what Darcy feels for Elizabeth; the chapter does not tell.

One reading

He takes the joke as a real charge, and answers it honestly. His first reply was a defence: he knew no one. Her sarcasm about ball-rooms shows the defence was weak, and when she moves on he goes back and gives ground: “Perhaps” he “should have judged better”. No one asked him to. On this reading a proud man owns a fault in front of the woman who named it and his own cousin, and that is more than the joke required.

• I should have judged better had I sought an introduction,
• My fingers wait your orders.

Another reading

He is still defending himself. The concession lasts half a sentence; the rest is an excuse, “but I am ill-qualified”, and it is offered to a cousin who has just asked to hear “how he behaves among strangers”. Darcy will not let the charge stand as she left it. On this reading he wants the last word on his own character, and he gets it in the form of a lack, not a choice.

• but I am ill-qualified to recommend myself to strangers.
• I should like to know how he behaves among strangers.

Listen for

• Hears Elizabeth’s “nobody can ever be introduced in a ball-room” as sarcasm, and asks what it does to his first answer.
• Notices that she has turned away to the Colonel and the music when Darcy speaks again.
• Weighs the two halves of his sentence: a concession, “Perhaps”, and an excuse, “but”.
• Does not say that he comes back to the subject because he loves her.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth accuse Darcy of doing at the ball?
• What is his first answer, and what does she say back?
• What is Elizabeth doing when Darcy speaks again?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for his return to the subject and rests it on the turn of the talk. One reader finds an honest concession offered when no one demanded it, which is unlike the man she describes. Another finds a defence: half a sentence of “Perhaps”, then an excuse, offered to a cousin who asked how he behaves. The best answers notice that the word he chooses, “ill-qualified”, is the one Elizabeth seizes on next, and that the rest of the argument is about what it means.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh how Elizabeth makes her point. Darcy has said he has “not the talent which some people possess” of talking easily with strangers. She begins, “My fingers”, and goes on: “do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault--because I would not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe _my_ fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.” Here “execution” means skill in performing, and the underscores are the edition’s mark for italics. The student decides what she gains by using herself as the example instead of him. The card does not say that her opinion of Darcy has softened; the chapter shows teasing, not a change of mind.

One reading

Tact. She blames no one but herself. A rebuke shaped as a confession is one he can accept without losing face before his cousin, and he does: “You are perfectly right.” On this reading putting herself in the picture is good manners, the lesson given in her own name so that it costs him nothing to take.

• But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault
• do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do.

Another reading

Force. Her case closes the door he left open. She takes the Colonel’s word, “trouble”, and she claims that her fingers are “as capable” as anyone’s. If she, owning her fault, has the capacity and lacks only practice, then so may he, and “talent” is no excuse. On this reading the gentleness is the edge of the argument: by blaming herself she leaves him nowhere to stand.

• because I would not take the trouble of practising.
• It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.

Listen for

• Notices that she borrows the Colonel’s word, “trouble”, and not Darcy’s, “talent”.
• Notices the stress on “_my_”: she claims the capacity for her own fingers, and the reader may apply it to his.
• Hears how her speech copies the shape of his (“which some people possess”, “which I see so many women’s do”).
• Does not say that her teasing means her dislike has changed.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth say is wrong with her playing?
• Whose fault does she say it is, and why?
• Whose word does she use for what she would not take: Darcy’s or the Colonel’s?

A strong answer A strong response names what she gains and rests it on her speech. One reader finds tact: the rebuke comes as a confession, and Darcy can agree with it before his cousin without losing face. Another finds force: she takes the Colonel’s word, claims the capacity for her own fingers, and so leaves Darcy’s “talent” no room. The best answers notice that both can be true at once, and that the speech hands Darcy a likeness he is quick to take up.

What it asks It asks the student to test Darcy’s likeness against the evening. Darcy smiles and says, “You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting. We neither of us perform to strangers.” Here “employed” means spent, and “wanting” means missing. To “perform” can mean to play music to an audience, or to put on a show of feeling; the student may take up either sense or both. The student builds a thesis on whether the two of them are alike, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not read the compliment as love: the chapter shows Darcy’s smile and his words, nothing more.

One reading

Alike. She plays because one listener asked: the Colonel reminds her of a promise. She does not play to win the room, and when Lady Catherine lectures her she does not answer back or show off; she endures it. She did not practise to be admired, and he does not court strangers. On this reading both of them give themselves to the few they choose, and neither puts on a show for people who do not matter to them.

• Colonel Fitzwilliam reminded Elizabeth of having promised to play to him;
• Elizabeth received them with all the forbearance of civility;

Another reading

Not alike. The scene itself refutes him. She sits down “directly” to play before a drawing-room, talks with the Colonel “with so much spirit and flow” that she draws the attention of Lady Catherine and Darcy, and tells a comic story about Darcy to his own cousin. She performs to near-strangers all evening, and easily. On this reading the likeness is Darcy’s, not hers: it turns her rebuke into a compliment and puts her on his side of the argument she was winning.

• she sat down directly to the instrument.
• they conversed with so much spirit and flow

Listen for

• Separates the two senses of “perform”: playing music, and putting on a show of interest.
• Notices how long Elizabeth has known the Colonel: he arrived at Rosings with Darcy less than a week ago.
• Asks what the likeness does to her rebuke, which was about practice, not about strangers.
• Does not treat Darcy’s compliment as proof of love.

If stuck

• Who asked Elizabeth to play, and why?
• How does she behave with Colonel Fitzwilliam before she plays?
• What does Darcy say right after her speech about her fingers?

A strong answer A strong response might argue that Darcy is wrong, because Elizabeth sits down “directly” to play, talks with a man she has known less than a week “with so much spirit and flow” that Lady Catherine and Darcy both notice, and makes a comedy of Darcy for his cousin. Key evidence includes those lines and the four dances. The strongest objection is that she plays because she promised one listener, and meets Lady Catherine’s lecture with “forbearance”, not display. A revised thesis might hold that they are alike only in one sense of “perform”: she will not put on a show of feeling either, but she is at ease where he is not, and the likeness turns her point about practice into a point about strangers.

What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Elizabeth asks why “a man of sense and education, and who has lived in the world, is ill-qualified to recommend himself to strangers”. Colonel Fitzwilliam answers, “It is because he will not give himself the trouble.” Darcy says, “I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,” and goes on, “of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.” Here “talent” means a natural gift, and to “give himself the trouble” means to make the effort. The student builds a thesis on which account is closer to the truth, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Darcy loves Elizabeth or that he is promised to Miss De Bourgh, and must not use what happens later in the novel to settle the question.

One reading

Darcy’s. Fitzwilliam, his own cousin, simply has the gift: he talks “so agreeably” of Kent and travel and books that Elizabeth has never been so well entertained in that room. Darcy has it only with people he knows. At the ball he danced only four dances, and knew no lady beyond his own party. Tonight, with a woman he knows, he answers fast and well. On this reading the cousins were given different natures, and Darcy names his own honestly.

• talked so agreeably of Kent and Hertfordshire,
• I cannot catch their tone of conversation,

Another reading

Fitzwilliam’s. Darcy has watched the thing done “often”, so it can be learnt. His own word is “appear”: what he declines is a show of interest, and he says so with some scorn. When Elizabeth puts the cause down to practice, he answers, “You are perfectly right.” And Lady Catherine shows what a claim of natural gift can cover, a talent never tried. On this reading “talent” is the name a proud man gives to trouble he will not take.

• or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.
• You are perfectly right.

Listen for

• Uses the Colonel’s own ease as evidence, for one side or the other.
• Weighs “appear”: whether Darcy cannot catch strangers’ tone, or will not pretend to.
• Notices that Darcy agrees with Elizabeth (“You are perfectly right”) and then turns her point into a likeness.
• Sets Lady Catherine’s untested “natural taste” beside Darcy’s missing “talent”, and his silence at her rudeness beside both.

If stuck

• What reason does Colonel Fitzwilliam give for Darcy’s stiffness with strangers?
• What reason does Darcy give?
• What does Elizabeth say is the cause of her poor playing, and what does Darcy say to that?

A strong answer A strong response might argue that Fitzwilliam is closer, because Darcy sees the skill “often” done, calls what he lacks a way to “appear interested”, and answers Elizabeth’s case for practice with “You are perfectly right”. The strongest objection is that the Colonel, his own cousin, has an ease Darcy plainly lacks, and that Darcy talks well enough with people he knows, as he does with Elizabeth tonight. A revised thesis might hold that both are partly right: the ease is a gift unevenly given, but the choice not to work at it is Darcy’s, and the chapter, through Lady Catherine’s boast and her lecture on practice, is wary of any talent that has never been tried.