Chapter 34 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to weigh what the letters hold against what their reader brings. The narrator says: “They contained no actual complaint, nor was there any revival of past occurrences, or any communication of present suffering. But in all, and in almost every line of each, there was a want of that cheerfulness which had been used to characterize her style, and which, proceeding from the serenity of a mind at ease with itself, and kindly disposed towards everyone, had been scarcely ever clouded.” The same paragraph opens with Elizabeth, “as if intending to exasperate herself as much as possible against Mr. Darcy”, choosing to reread them. Here “a want of” means a lack of, “serenity” means calm, and “exasperate” means make angrier. The student decides how much of the unease is in the letters and how much in the reading. The card does not say whether Wickham’s account of Darcy is true; this paragraph is about Jane.

One reading

Mostly Jane’s. The narrator, not Elizabeth, states the lack of cheerfulness as a fact about the letters, and measures it against Jane’s usual style, a mind “scarcely ever clouded”. Elizabeth knows that style; she notices a change in it, not a complaint. On this reading the unease is real, and the anger she carries into the next scene rests partly on a real hurt to her sister.

• there was a want of that cheerfulness which had been used to characterize her style
• They contained no actual complaint

Another reading

Partly Elizabeth’s. She rereads “as if intending to exasperate herself”, and she gives the lines an attention they did not get the first time. What sharpens her eye is not the letters but Darcy’s “shameful boast”, her name for what she heard of him. On this reading she reads for evidence of a harm she already blames on him, and she is still holding that anger when he walks in.

• as if intending to exasperate herself as much as possible against Mr. Darcy
• Mr. Darcy’s shameful boast of what misery he had been able to inflict gave her a keener sense of her sister’s sufferings.

Listen for

• Notices that the letters contain “no actual complaint”, so the unease is read in them, not said.
• Weighs “as if intending to exasperate herself”: whose judgment is that, Elizabeth’s or the narrator’s?
• Notices that she reads with an attention the letters “had hardly received on the first perusal”.
• Carries the letters into the proposal: this is the mood Darcy walks into.

If stuck

• What is Elizabeth doing when the chapter opens?
• Does Jane complain in her letters?
• What makes Elizabeth read them more sharply this time?

A strong answer A strong response divides the unease and rests each part on the paragraph. One reader finds it mostly Jane’s: the narrator states the lack of cheerfulness as a fact, and measures it against a style that was “scarcely ever clouded”. Another finds it partly Elizabeth’s: she rereads in order to grow angrier, with fresh attention, and her sense of Jane’s suffering is sharpened by what she believes Darcy boasted of. The best answers notice that both can hold, and that the anger Darcy meets minutes later was set before he entered the room.

What it asks It asks the student to notice where the direct speech stops. Darcy says: “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Then the narrator takes over: “He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority, of its being a degradation, of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.” Here “consequence” means social standing, “his suit” means his proposal, and “degradation” means a lowering in rank. We hear Darcy on her family in his own voice only later, in his angry defence. The student decides why Austen tells this part instead of letting him speak it. The card does not say what Darcy does next.

One reading

So that we hear it as Elizabeth hears it. A summary keeps not his phrases but their effect, and the effect is told from her side: his “subsequent language” rouses her to resentment, and the narrator’s last words on it are dry. On this reading we are placed beside her, feeling the sting without the sentences, and that is why the reader is as ready as she is for the answer she gives.

• till roused to resentment by his subsequent language, she lost all compassion in anger.
• but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.

Another reading

To be fairer to Darcy than his words might be. The narrator grants that “He spoke well”, and gives a reason for his heat that is almost kind: it seemed due to the standing he was hurting by the match. On this reading the summary keeps the reader from a verdict on his exact phrases, and when we finally hear him on her family, he stands by it as honest.

• He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed
• with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding

Listen for

• Notices where his own words stop and the narrator’s summary begins.
• Hears the narrator’s dry “very unlikely to recommend his suit”.
• Weighs whose “consequence” is being wounded, and what that does to how we judge his warmth.
• Does not say what Darcy does next.

If stuck

• Which of Darcy’s words do we hear exactly as he said them?
• What does the narrator say the rest of his speech was about?
• When do we finally hear Darcy speak of her family in his own words?

A strong answer A strong response names what the summary does and rests it on the paragraph. One reader finds that it puts us beside Elizabeth: we get the effect of his words, not the words, and the effect is her rising anger. Another finds that it spares Darcy: the narrator grants that he spoke well, and explains his heat by the standing he was risking. The best answers notice that we first meet his words about her family only as their effect, and hear them in his own voice only later, when he is angry and stands by them; that later speech is what the last written question asks the student to judge.

What it asks It asks the student to reread Elizabeth’s first answer with Darcy’s charge in mind. She says: “In such cases as this, it is, I believe, the established mode to express a sense of obligation for the sentiments avowed, however unequally they may be returned. It is natural that obligation should be felt, and if I could _feel_ gratitude, I would now thank you. But I cannot--I have never desired your good opinion, and you have certainly bestowed it most unwillingly. I am sorry to have occasioned pain to anyone. It has been most unconsciously done, however, and I hope will be of short duration. The feelings which you tell me have long prevented the acknowledgment of your regard can have little difficulty in overcoming it after this explanation.” Here “the established mode” means the usual polite form, “avowed” means declared, and the double hyphen is the edition’s mark for a dash; the underscores mark its italics. Darcy answers: “I might, perhaps, wish to be informed why, with so little _endeavour_ at civility, I am thus rejected.” The student decides where, if anywhere, her answer is uncivil. The card does not make Darcy the villain and Elizabeth simply right.

One reading

Hardly anywhere. She names the polite form and keeps to much of it: she grants that obligation is natural, she is sorry for his pain, and she hopes it will be short. Her refusal is cool, but a refusal is not rudeness. On this reading what Darcy calls incivility is only the answer he did not expect.

• In such cases as this, it is, I believe, the established mode to express a sense of obligation for the sentiments avowed
• I am sorry to have occasioned pain to anyone.

Another reading

In several places. The stress on “_feel_” says she cannot feel what the form asks. The phrase “most unwillingly” throws his own struggle back at him, and the last sentence tells him that the scruples he confessed will make his love easy to get over. Each is a small cut inside a polite frame. On this reading he is partly right, and she half owns it a minute later: “if I _was_ uncivil”.

• and if I could feel gratitude, I would now thank you.
• you have certainly bestowed it most unwillingly.

Listen for

• Separates the polite form she names from what she does with it.
• Hears the italic “_feel_”, and what it says about gratitude.
• Notices her half admission, “if I _was_ uncivil”.
• Does not make Darcy simply the villain and Elizabeth simply right.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth say people usually do when they refuse a proposal?
• What does she say she is sorry for?
• Which sentence would sting Darcy most, and why?

A strong answer A strong response finds the places, or argues there are none, from her own sentences. One reader finds the answer civil in substance: she names the polite form, grants that obligation is natural, and regrets his pain. Another finds small cuts inside the polite frame: the stress on “_feel_”, “most unwillingly”, and the closing hint that his scruples will cure him. The best answers notice that Elizabeth herself does not deny it outright, and that both speakers in this chapter are frank in ways that wound.

What it asks It asks the student to read one sign that Elizabeth reads differently. After her question about “a most beloved sister”, the narrator says: “As she pronounced these words, Mr. Darcy changed colour; but the emotion was short, and he listened without attempting to interrupt her while she continued”. After her next speech: “She paused, and saw with no slight indignation that he was listening with an air which proved him wholly unmoved by any feeling of remorse. He even looked at her with a smile of affected incredulity.” He replies, “I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I rejoice in my success.” The narrator calls his manner “assumed tranquillity”. Here “affected” and “assumed” both mean put on, and “incredulity” means disbelief. The student decides what the change of colour might have meant. The card does not say that Darcy denies parting Bingley and Jane; he admits it.

One reading

Something he then mastered. The colour comes at her charge, the emotion is “short”, and then he listens without interrupting. The words for his manner that follow, “affected” and “assumed”, both mean put on: they mark his smile and his calm as a surface. On this reading the calm she takes for an absence of remorse is control, and the colour was the one sign of what lay under it.

• Mr. Darcy changed colour; but the emotion was short, and he listened without attempting to interrupt her
• He even looked at her with a smile of affected incredulity.

Another reading

Not remorse. A man accused to his face may colour with anger or surprise, and his answer bears her out: he does not deny his part, and he says he rejoices in it. On this reading Elizabeth reads him rightly here, and the colour was the pride of a man found out, not the shame of one who regrets.

• I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I rejoice in my success.

Listen for

• Notices that Darcy changes colour, and that a moment later Elizabeth judges him “wholly unmoved”.
• Weighs the words “affected” and “assumed”: what do they admit about what lies under his calm?
• Sets the sign beside his answer, “I rejoice in my success.”
• Does not say that Darcy denies parting Bingley and Jane.

If stuck

• What happens to Darcy’s face when Elizabeth speaks of Jane?
• How long does it last?
• What does he say when she asks if he can deny it?

A strong answer A strong response reads the sign and tests the reading against what follows. One reader finds a feeling mastered: the colour is brief, he listens in silence, and the words “affected” and “assumed” mark his smile and his calm as put on. Another finds anger or surprise, not remorse, and points to his answer that he rejoices in his success. The best answers notice that the narrator, not Elizabeth, reports the colour, while she judges only the calm that follows, and ask how far her view of him can be trusted.

What it asks It asks the student to set Darcy’s last words beside his defence a few minutes earlier. In the defence he says: “But disguise of every sort is my abhorrence. Nor am I ashamed of the feelings I related. They were natural and just.” Elizabeth answers that the way he proposed only spared her the concern she might have felt in refusing him, “had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner.” The narrator adds: “She saw him start at this; but he said nothing”. She goes on: no way of asking could have tempted her, and she had not known him a month before she felt that he was “the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.” Then he says: “You have said quite enough, madam. I perfectly comprehend your feelings, and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been. Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness.” Here “related” means told, “start” means jump, as when struck, and “comprehend” means understand. The student decides whether, and how far, his last words take back his defence. The card does not say what Darcy does next, or that he will change.

One reading

Only the love. He came sure of her, and has now heard that she disliked him from the first month. What shames him is having loved such a listener for months. His scruples were his judgment, which “had always opposed” his inclination, and judgment has been proved right. On this reading his defence stands: the feelings he called “natural and just” are not the ones he is ashamed of.

• I perfectly comprehend your feelings, and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been.
• the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination

Another reading

Something more, at least for this moment. He uses the very word he refused a few minutes before, and he says it after the one charge that made him start. The feelings he related were the love and the scruples together, and now he speaks of his feelings as a whole. On this reading something in her answer has reached him, if only as far as this sentence; the chapter does not say what he does with it.

• Nor am I ashamed of the feelings I related.
• She saw him start at this; but he said nothing

Listen for

• Hears “ashamed” come back from his own “Nor am I ashamed”.
• Asks which feelings he means: the love, or the scruples he called “natural and just”.
• Notices what comes between the two: “gentlemanlike”, his start and silence, and “the last man in the world”.
• Does not say what Darcy does next, or that he will change.

If stuck

• What does Darcy say he is not ashamed of?
• What does he say he is ashamed of as he leaves?
• What did Elizabeth say in between that made him start?

A strong answer A strong response sets the two sentences side by side and decides what the second takes back. One reader finds that it takes back only the love: he is ashamed of having loved a woman who thinks him “the last man in the world”, and his judgment, which always opposed the match, stands. Another finds that the shame reaches further: he uses the word he has just refused, and he uses it after the charge that made him start. The best answers keep to this chapter, where the sentence is all we have, and carry the question of what his honesty cost him into the last written question.

What it asks It asks the student to account for tears that follow a victory. The narrator says: “The tumult of her mind was now painfully great. She knew not how to support herself, and, from actual weakness, sat down and cried for half an hour.” She reviews what passed: “That she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy! that he should have been in love with her for so many months!” and decides “it was gratifying to have inspired unconsciously so strong an affection. But his pride, his abominable pride, his shameless avowal of what he had done with respect to Jane, his unpardonable assurance in acknowledging, though he could not justify it, and the unfeeling manner which he had mentioned Mr. Wickham, his cruelty towards whom he had not attempted to deny, soon overcame the pity which the consideration of his attachment had for a moment excited.” Here “tumult” means uproar, “avowal” means open admission, and “assurance” means boldness. The student decides what she is crying for. The card does not say that Elizabeth regrets refusing him; nothing in this chapter says so.

One reading

Shock and strain. The narrator names a tumult in her mind and “actual weakness” of body, and her astonishment grows each time she goes over the scene. When she does reflect, anger wins: his “abominable pride”, his avowal about Jane, his manner about Wickham. On this reading these are the tears that come after a storm, not tears of sorrow, and they change nothing she believes.

• The tumult of her mind was now painfully great.
• But his pride, his abominable pride, his shameless avowal of what he had done with respect to Jane

Another reading

Something more mixed. She finds it “gratifying” to have been loved so strongly, and she feels pity, if only for a moment. She has just learned that a man she was sure she understood has loved her for months. On this reading the tears hold a compliment and an insult at once, and the anger she ends on has to overcome a softer feeling first.

• it was gratifying to have inspired unconsciously so strong an affection.
• soon overcame the pity which the consideration of his attachment had for a moment excited.

Listen for

• Notices that the narrator gives a bodily cause, “actual weakness”, as well as a mind in tumult.
• Weighs “gratifying” and “pity” against the list of his faults that follows.
• Notices that “overcame” means the pity was there to be overcome.
• Does not say that Elizabeth regrets refusing him.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth do as soon as Darcy leaves?
• What surprises her most when she thinks it over?
• What feeling does she have for a moment, and what overcomes it?

A strong answer A strong response names what the tears are for and rests it on the last paragraphs. One reader finds shock and strain: the narrator names tumult and weakness, and her reflection ends in anger at his pride. Another finds a mixed feeling: she is gratified to have been loved so strongly and feels a moment’s pity before anger returns. The best answers notice that being loved for months by a man she thought she understood is itself a surprise about him, and leave regret out, since the chapter gives none.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh two certainties against each other. Of Darcy, the narrator says: “As he said this she could easily see that he had no doubt of a favourable answer. He _spoke_ of apprehension and anxiety, but his countenance expressed real security.” Earlier, when she “stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent”, he “considered sufficient encouragement”. Of Elizabeth, her own words: “I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.” Alone, she finds it almost incredible “that he should have been in love with her for so many months!” Here “countenance” means face and “real security” means complete confidence. The student builds a thesis on which of them is more blind at this moment, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say whether Wickham’s account of Darcy is true, and must not judge her charges with knowledge from later chapters.

One reading

Darcy. He reads her silence as encouragement and his own success as certain, while the woman before him has disliked him, she says, since the first month. His astonishment when refused shows how little of her he had seen. On this reading his blindness is the larger, because it concerns the one thing he came to learn: her answer.

• As he said this she could easily see that he had no doubt of a favourable answer.
• This he considered sufficient encouragement

Another reading

Elizabeth. She is sure of his character from the first month, yet she never guessed that he had loved her for months, and alone she finds it “almost incredible”. On this reading her blindness is the larger, because she judged him with full confidence and missed the strongest feeling he had, and her dislike, by her own picture, has only been built on since.

• that he should have been in love with her for so many months!
• I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world

Listen for

• Sets Darcy’s “real security” against Elizabeth’s “last man in the world”.
• Asks what each was blind to: her feelings for him, or his for her.
• Notices that some of what Elizabeth is sure of, his part in parting Jane and Bingley, he admits.
• Does not say whether Wickham’s account is true, or use later chapters.

If stuck

• What does Elizabeth see in Darcy’s face as he finishes?
• How does he take her silence at the start?
• What surprises Elizabeth most when she is alone?

A strong answer A strong response might argue that Darcy is more blind, because he mistakes her silence for encouragement and his own wish for her answer, about a dislike she says she formed in the first month. Key evidence includes his “real security” and his astonishment at the refusal. The strongest objection is that Elizabeth missed something larger: a love that lasted months, in a man she was sure she understood, so that her certainty about his character rests on a reading that left out his strongest feeling. A revised thesis might hold that each is blind to the other’s heart in the same way, and that the chapter is built to let each learn it, aloud, from the other; whether Elizabeth is right about the rest of his character the chapter does not yet say.

What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Darcy defends his proposal: “These bitter accusations might have been suppressed, had I, with greater policy, concealed my struggles, and flattered you into the belief of my being impelled by unqualified, unalloyed inclination; by reason, by reflection, by everything. But disguise of every sort is my abhorrence. Nor am I ashamed of the feelings I related. They were natural and just. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?--to congratulate myself on the hope of relations whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?” Elizabeth has already asked why, “with so evident a design of offending and insulting me”, he chose to tell her “that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character?” And she tells him: “You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.” Here “policy” means worldly prudence, “connections” means family and relations, and “condition in life” means rank. The student builds a thesis on whether his honesty about her family was a virtue in this proposal or a cruelty, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not make Darcy the villain and Elizabeth simply right, must not say that she regrets refusing him, and must not say what Darcy does next.

One reading

A virtue. Darcy will not flatter her into a marriage on false terms. He tells her what he truly felt, stands by it as “natural and just”, and asks to be taken as he is. And by Elizabeth’s own account, no other way of asking would have changed her answer, so his frankness lost him nothing he could have won by disguise. On this reading honesty is what he owed her, even when it was hard to hear.

• Nor am I ashamed of the feelings I related.
• You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.

Another reading

A cruelty. Honesty does not oblige a man to say everything, and certainly not in the act of asking for a woman’s hand. He makes her family’s inferiority part of the offer, then asks whether she could expect him to rejoice in it, as if her wish to be respected were unreasonable. On this reading the truth was a weapon: he told her he loved her against his own character, and expected to be accepted.

• Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?
• you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character?

Listen for

• Asks whether Darcy’s two choices, flattery or full confession, were the only two.
• Weighs Elizabeth’s claim that no manner would have tempted her: does that make his honesty costless, or beside the point?
• Notices that Elizabeth is frank in ways that wound too, and half owns it: “if I _was_ uncivil”.
• Does not make Darcy the villain and Elizabeth simply right, or say that she regrets refusing him.

If stuck

• What does Darcy say he could have done instead of telling the truth?
• What does Elizabeth say was insulting in the way he spoke?
• Does Elizabeth say a kinder proposal would have changed her answer?

A strong answer A strong response might argue that Darcy’s honesty was a virtue in principle and a cruelty in practice, because he was right not to disguise his feelings but wrong to think that full disclosure of his scruples was the only alternative to flattery. Key evidence includes his own two choices, “greater policy” or confession, and his question whether she could expect him to rejoice in her connections. The strongest objection is Elizabeth’s: no way of asking would have tempted her, so the honesty cost him nothing, and an honest man need not soften the truth to win what he could not win anyway. A revised thesis might hold that his honesty was real but untested: he told a wounding truth while sure of being accepted, so he never weighed what it would cost her.