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Pride and Prejudice
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
Elizabeth could safely say that it was a great happiness where that was the case, and with equal sincerity could add, that she firmly believed and rejoiced in his domestic comforts. She was not sorry, however, to have the recital of them interrupted by the entrance of the lady from whom they sprang. Poor Charlotte! it was melancholy to leave her to such society! But she had chosen it with her eyes open; and though evidently regretting that her visitors were to go, she did not seem to ask for compassion. Her home and her housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent concerns, had not yet lost their charms.
It was not without an effort, meanwhile, that she could wait even for Longbourn, before she told her sister of Mr. Darcy’s proposals. To know that she had the power of revealing what would so exceedingly astonish Jane, and must, at the same time, so highly gratify whatever of her own vanity she had not yet been able to reason away, was such a temptation to openness as nothing could have conquered, but the state of indecision in which she remained as to the extent of what she should communicate, and her fear, if she once entered on the subject, of being hurried into repeating something of Bingley, which might only grieve her sister further.
In the chapter’s last sentence, the pull toward telling Jane comes first. What holds Elizabeth back comes only near the end. Why might Austen make us wait so long to learn it?
Narration Tell the chapter back in order. Start with Mr. Collins at breakfast on Saturday morning. End in London, with what Elizabeth holds back from Jane. Then choose the one sentence that matters most, and say what Austen is doing with it.
1. Mr. Collins says no one living in his house is “an object of compassion,” as long as they are close to the family at Rosings. Nobody at breakfast has said a word about pity. So why does he bring it up?Character
2. Mr. Collins says that he and Charlotte have “but one mind and one way of thinking.” Elizabeth answers that this is a great happiness “where that was the case.” The narrator says she could say it “safely.” Safe from what?Moral reasoning
3. Charlotte never speaks in this chapter. Before she comes in, Mr. Collins speaks for her twice: he promises her thanks, and he says they have “one mind.” Does her silence make that claim easier to believe, or harder?Inference
4. The narrator says Charlotte’s home, parish and poultry “had not yet lost their charms.” What does the small word “yet” add to that sentence?Author's choice
5. In London, Elizabeth holds back from telling Jane about Darcy’s proposal. She is afraid of “being hurried into repeating something of Bingley.” Is she sparing Jane, or deciding for Jane what Jane can bear?Character
Make a Connection Think of a time, in a book or in your own life, when a friend made a choice you would never make and seemed content with it. What did you owe that friend?
Our plain manner of living, our small rooms, and few domestics, and the little we see of the world, must make Hunsford extremely dull to a young lady like yourself; but I hope you will believe us grateful for the condescension, and that we have done everything in our power to prevent you spending your time unpleasantly.
Only let me assure you, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that I can from my heart most cordially wish you equal felicity in marriage.
She was not sorry, however, to have the recital of them interrupted by the entrance of the lady from whom they sprang.
He then handed her in, Maria followed, and the door was on the point of being closed, when he suddenly reminded them, with some consternation, that they had hitherto forgotten to leave any message for the ladies of Rosings.
To know that she had the power of revealing what would so exceedingly astonish Jane, and must, at the same time, so highly gratify whatever of her own vanity she had not yet been able to reason away, was such a temptation to openness as nothing could have conquered, but the state of indecision in which she remained as to the extent of what she should communicate, and her fear, if she once entered on the subject, of being hurried into repeating something of Bingley, which might only grieve her sister further.
1. Mr. Collins wants Elizabeth to carry home “a very favourable report.” Maria will talk about nine dinners at Rosings. Elizabeth thinks of how much she will have to conceal. Whose picture of the visit is the truest?
2. Charlotte chose her life “with her eyes open,” and she does not ask for pity. Is Elizabeth right to pity her anyway?