Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 32

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

Teaching Companion Print Adapt for your student

Copywork

But why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage it was more difficult to understand. It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice--a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself.

He certainly looked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. It was an earnest, steadfast gaze, but she often doubted whether there were much admiration in it, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.

Read both passages aloud. Which one comes closer to explaining Darcy?

For the educator Two passages from the narrator’s account of Darcy’s visits, two sentences each. The first passage puts its puzzle first, “why Mr. Darcy came so often to the Parsonage”, as the subject of the sentence, and only then says it was hard to understand. The second sentence rules out one answer and gives the reason: “It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips”. Then comes a semicolon, and two pairs of opposites: “necessity rather than of choice”, and, after the double hyphen (the edition’s mark for a dash), “a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself”. Here “society” means company, and “propriety” means good manners. The second passage moves through Charlotte’s eyes. Each sentence grants something and then takes it back with “but”: he “certainly looked at her friend a great deal”, but the look “was disputable”; it was “an earnest, steadfast gaze”, but she doubted the admiration in it. The last clause, joined by “and”, goes further still: “sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.” Here “disputable” means open to argument, and “absence of mind” means thinking of nothing in particular. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who finds the first passage closer, because it rules something out firmly, and one who finds the second closer, because it sets out the evidence on both sides and admits it cannot choose. A strong student may notice that the first passage sounds certain, “It could not be for society”, while its own question stays open.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences. Start with Elizabeth alone, writing to Jane, and end with Charlotte’s plans for Elizabeth. Then pick the one sentence that matters most, and say why.

Elizabeth drops the subject of Bingley because she is “afraid of talking longer of his friend”. What is she afraid of? Character
Elizabeth tells Darcy that marrying Mr. Collins may not be the wisest thing Charlotte ever did. How loyal is that? Character
Elizabeth says that for people with money, distance “becomes no evil.” Which rich young man could she have in mind? Inference
Darcy draws his chair toward Elizabeth and says, “_You_ cannot have been always at Longbourn.” Then he draws it back and asks in a colder voice, “Are you pleased with Kent?” How do the two things he says fit together? Tone
When Charlotte says Darcy must be in love, Elizabeth tells her about his silence. Is that a fair account of the visit you just read? Inference

Make a Connection Think of a place, in your own life or in a book, that seems close to one person and far away to another. What makes the difference?

Vocabulary

prudential: She seems perfectly happy, however; and, in a prudential light, it is certainly a very good match for her. Having to do with caution and practical advantage: money, security, a settled home (related to prudent and prudence). Elizabeth says that “in a prudential light, it is certainly a very good match for her.” The phrase praises and limits at once: judged by prudence the match is good, and the words leave room for other measures, such as love or wisdom, by which it might not be. Charlotte’s plans for Elizabeth at the end of the chapter are prudential in just this sense.
propriety: a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself. Correct, proper behaviour; doing what good manners require (from the same root as proper and appropriate). When Darcy speaks at the Parsonage, it seems “a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself”. The narrator sets propriety against pleasure: his words are paid like a debt to manners, not given freely. The word shows how a man can do everything politeness asks and still show nothing of what he feels.
disputable: He certainly looked at her friend a great deal, but the expression of that look was disputable. Open to argument; something people could reasonably disagree about (dispute, to argue, with -able added, like debatable). The narrator says the expression of Darcy’s look at Elizabeth “was disputable”. Charlotte cannot settle whether it holds admiration or is “nothing but absence of mind”. The word names the chapter’s whole problem: the evidence is real, and its meaning is open.

Critical thinking

Charlotte is sure that Elizabeth’s dislike of Darcy “would vanish” if she thought she had him “in her power.” How well does Charlotte know her friend?
Darcy keeps calling at the Parsonage and sits there for ten minutes at a time without speaking. Is his silence a sign of feeling, or only of having nothing better to do?