Chapter 4 — Teaching Companion

This chapter's big question

Elizabeth says Jane is “honestly blind” to other people's faults. Is Jane's way of seeing people a weakness, or a strength her sister lacks?

The tension The sisters' talk is mirrored by the friends': Jane finds the Bingley sisters “very pleasing women when you converse with them” while Elizabeth “listened in silence, but was not convinced”; Bingley “could not conceive an angel more beautiful” than Miss Bennet, while Darcy grants she is pretty “but she smiled too much.”

Today's focus

Four reports of one assembly, each shaped by the temper of the person giving it, and the narrator’s own report on the Bingley sisters.

The shape at a glance

Alone with Elizabeth after the assembly, Jane, who had been cautious in praising Mr. Bingley before, says how much she admires him: sensible, good-humoured, lively, with happy manners and perfect breeding. Elizabeth adds that he is handsome too. Jane did not expect him to ask her to dance a second time; Elizabeth did, since Jane was five times as pretty as anyone in the room, and compliments always surprise Jane and never Elizabeth. She gives Jane leave to like him, and teases her for liking people in general and never seeing a fault in anyone. Jane answers that she would not be hasty in condemning anyone, but always says what she thinks. That, Elizabeth says, is the wonder: to have good sense and still be honestly blind to other people’s follies, and to take the good in everyone’s character, without show or purpose, and say nothing of the bad. Jane likes Bingley’s sisters too: not at first, but they are very pleasing in conversation, and Miss Bingley, who will keep her brother’s house, will make a charming neighbour. Elizabeth listens in silence, unconvinced. The narrator takes over. The sisters are fine ladies, good-humoured when pleased and agreeable when they choose, but proud and conceited: handsome, schooled in town, with twenty thousand pounds, in the habit of spending too much and keeping company with people of rank, and more mindful of their respectable northern family than of the fact that their money came from trade. Bingley inherited nearly a hundred thousand pounds from a father who meant to buy an estate and never did. Bingley means to as well, but those who know his easy temper doubt he will. He took Netherfield after looking at it for half an hour, satisfied with the owner’s praise. His sisters want him to own an estate, though they are glad to live in this one. Between Bingley and Darcy there is a steady friendship despite their opposite characters: Darcy likes Bingley’s easy, open, bending temper, and Bingley holds Darcy’s judgment in the highest opinion. Darcy is cleverer, but haughty, reserved and fastidious; Bingley is liked wherever he goes, and Darcy keeps giving offence. Their reports of the assembly fit them. Bingley never met pleasanter people or prettier girls, and Miss Bennet was an angel. Darcy saw little beauty and no fashion, felt no interest in anyone, and grants that Miss Bennet is pretty, but smiled too much. The sisters agree with him, yet admire and like her and call her a sweet girl, and their brother feels authorized by their praise to think of her as he chooses.

A way in

Begin with Jane admitting what she admires in Bingley, and ask what she held back until the two sisters were alone. Read Elizabeth’s long speech aloud twice, once as teasing and once as praise, and ask which reading its words support. Stop at “listened in silence, but was not convinced”, and find where Elizabeth’s thoughts end and the narrator’s account of the sisters begins. Read the paragraphs on money and trade slowly: they carry the chapter’s sharpest judgments. Then set Bingley’s report of the ball beside Darcy’s, and ask which sister each man sounds like. Keep the talk on what the chapter shows. It cannot tell us whether Jane is wrong about the sisters, and the weighing of her way of seeing belongs to the last written question.

Lesson plan

Retell The student retells the chapter in four movements: the sisters’ talk about Bingley and about Jane’s way of liking people; the narrator’s account of the Bingley sisters and their money; Bingley’s house and his friendship with Darcy; and the two men’s reports of the assembly, ending with Jane “established as a sweet girl”. Look for the turn from the sisters’ talk to the narrator’s own voice, and for the order of the verdicts on Jane at the end.

Imitate the author After copying, the student writes one speech in the same build, praising a friend’s quality while teasing it. Open with a short line that turns the friend’s own words back (“I know you do”). Set the common counterfeit of the quality against the real thing in a balanced pair (“common enough” against “belongs to you alone”), and hold the main verb of the long sentence back until its last words. End by turning to a test case, as Elizabeth turns to the sisters.

Debate Take sides on the last written question. One side argues Jane’s way of seeing is a weakness and gathers “honestly blind”, “too apt, you know, to like people in general”, Bingley’s half-hour at Netherfield and the narrator’s “agreeable where they chose it”. The other argues it is a strength her sister lacks and gathers “belongs to you alone”, “when you converse with them”, “not to be hasty in censuring anyone”, and Darcy, who found pleasure in no one. Each side must answer the other’s best line. Neither may claim the sisters will prove Jane wrong, since this chapter cannot show it.

Purpose Close on the shape of the chapter. It is built as a mirror: two sisters talk over the evening, then two friends do, and in each pair one reader is generous and one severe. Between the two talks the narrator steps in with what no one says aloud: the sisters’ fortune and the trade it came from, and Bingley’s half-hour choice of a house. Ask why Austen sets her own report between the two conversations, and what it lets a reader test that the speakers cannot.

Three levels

Easier Read Elizabeth’s long speech and the two men’s reports of the assembly aloud. Make a short table of four people, Jane, Elizabeth, Bingley and Darcy, and write beside each what they say about someone else. Talk through the first, third and fourth discussion questions, then answer the last written question aloud before writing it.

On level Talk through all four discussion questions in order, then write the three written questions as a thesis, the strongest objection and a revised thesis, each with lines from the chapter.

Harder Ask for one argued essay on the narrator’s paragraphs about the sisters and Bingley’s money, from “They were, in fact, very fine ladies” to Netherfield taken “immediately”. Read them as a fifth report on the evening, given by a voice no one in the chapter hears. How does the narrator’s way of judging differ from each sister’s, and does it settle anything between them? The essay should meet the objection that the narrator grants the sisters the very good humour Jane found, so Elizabeth cannot claim the narrator’s whole support.

Discussion

1. Jane says she always speaks what she thinks, and Elizabeth has never heard her speak ill of anyone. So does Jane never think ill of people, or does she notice what is wrong and stop before she judges?Character

What it asks It asks the student to hold Jane’s two claims together. Elizabeth says, “I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life.” Jane answers, “I would wish not to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.” If she says what she thinks and never speaks ill, then either she does not think ill, or she notices what is wrong and stops before it becomes a verdict. Elizabeth takes the first view: Jane is “honestly blind”. The student decides which the chapter supports. The card must not say that Jane’s trust in the Bingley sisters is mistaken, which this chapter cannot show, and must not ask whether her way of seeing is a weakness or a strength, which is the last question’s work.

A strong answer A strong response chooses between not thinking ill and holding back, and grounds the choice in Jane’s own words. One reader says she does not think ill at all: Elizabeth, who knows her best, says “You never see a fault in anybody”, and Jane’s liking for the sisters comes from talking with them. Another hears “hasty” as the key word: Jane grants that the sisters’ manners were “Certainly not” equal to his “at first”, so she saw the fault and waited before judging. The best answers notice that the Jane who was “cautious in her praise” of Bingley is slow in both directions.

2. Bingley is liked wherever he goes, yet he relies firmly on the good opinion of Darcy, who keeps giving offence. Why might that one man’s opinion count for so much with him?Character

What it asks It asks the student to read the friendship paragraph from Bingley’s side. “Between him and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of a great opposition of character.” Then: “On the strength of Darcy’s regard, Bingley had the firmest reliance, and of his judgment the highest opinion.” The paragraph closes on the contrast: “Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared; Darcy was continually giving offence.” At the assembly Darcy saw a room “for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest”. The student explains why the regard of the friend who gives offence might weigh so much with the man who is liked everywhere. The card must not say what Darcy privately feels beyond what the narrator gives, must not say that Darcy will sway Bingley about Jane, and must not ask whether a generous or a severe way of seeing is better, which is the last question’s work.

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason Darcy’s regard weighs so much with Bingley and argues from the friendship paragraph. One reader says it is rare: Darcy felt for no one at the assembly “the smallest interest”, so a man liked everywhere prizes the one liking that is hard to win. Another says the regard comes joined to a judgment: Bingley holds Darcy’s judgment in “the highest opinion”, and in understanding “Darcy was the superior”, so an easy temper leans on a sharper eye. The best answers stay with what the narrator says of Bingley’s trust and leave Darcy’s motives alone.

3. Darcy admits that Jane is pretty, “but she smiled too much.” Is that the same fault Elizabeth teases her for?Inference

What it asks It asks the student to set the two severe readers side by side across the chapter. Elizabeth tells Jane, “Oh, you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes.” Darcy, who saw at the assembly “a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion,” is reported this way: “Miss Bennet he acknowledged to be pretty; but she smiled too much.” The student decides whether the two are finding fault with the same trait. The card must not say why Darcy thinks so, since the chapter gives his opinion and nothing of its causes, and must not say he will influence Bingley about Jane.

A strong answer A strong response decides whether the two complaints are one and argues from both speeches. One reader says they are the same fault seen from two sides: a girl to whom “All the world are good and agreeable” smiles at all the world, and the sharp reader in each pair names it. Another says they differ in kind: Elizabeth’s tease is about Jane’s judgment and comes wrapped in praise that “belongs to you alone”, while Darcy’s is about a stranger’s manner at a ball. The best answers hear “too apt” in “too much” and say nothing of why Darcy thinks so.

4. Bingley already thought Jane an angel, and then his sisters’ praise made him feel “authorized” to like her. What did their praise add?Author's choice

What it asks It asks the student to weigh the chapter’s last sentence. Bingley “could not conceive an angel more beautiful” than Miss Bennet. Darcy grants she is pretty “but she smiled too much.” Then: “Mrs. Hurst and her sister allowed it to be so; but still they admired her and liked her, and pronounced her to be a sweet girl, and one whom they should not object to know more of. Miss Bennet was therefore established as a sweet girl; and their brother felt authorized by such commendation to think of her as he chose.” Earlier the narrator has shown Bingley taking Netherfield after half an hour, “satisfied with what the owner said in its praise”. The student decides what, if anything, the sisters’ praise adds for a man who had already made up his mind. The card must not say that the sisters will act against Jane, and must not say that Darcy will influence Bingley about her.

A strong answer A strong response says what, if anything, the sisters’ praise adds for Bingley and argues from the close of the chapter. One reader says it adds the say-so he leans on: he took Netherfield “satisfied with what the owner said in its praise”, so their “commendation” is one more owner’s praise. Another hears the narrator smiling: “as he chose” leaves the choice where it was, and “therefore established” makes the sisters’ liking sound like an official act that adds nothing to “an angel”. The best answers hear the echo of Elizabeth giving Jane “leave to like him” at the start.

Critical thinking

1. Elizabeth teases Jane freely, but when Jane defends Bingley’s sisters, she listens in silence and is not convinced. Why doesn’t she argue?

What it asks It asks the student to explain a silence the narrator reports but does not explain. Elizabeth has said one thing against the sisters: “Their manners are not equal to his.” Jane answers, “Certainly not, at first; but they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.” Then: “Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced”. The narrator gives reasons for her doubt, “more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister” and a judgment “unassailed by any attention to herself”, but none for her silence. A moment before, Elizabeth praised Jane’s gift to “say nothing of the bad”, and Jane had said, “I always speak what I think.” The student builds a thesis on why Elizabeth does not argue, after one remark against the sisters, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say Jane’s trust in the sisters is mistaken, must not take Elizabeth’s view as right because the narrator agrees with her in part, and must not ask whether Jane’s way of seeing is a weakness or a strength, which is the last question’s work.

A strong answer A strong thesis gives a reason for Elizabeth’s silence and argues from the talk and the narrator’s sentence after it. A student might argue kindness: she has made her one point, Jane has answered it warmly, and for a moment Elizabeth says “nothing of the bad”, the gift she has just called Jane’s alone. The strongest objection is that her doubt rests on how the sisters behaved “in general” at one assembly and on her own quickness and temper, so she has no fact to set against Jane’s warm account. A good revision might hold that both are at work, and notice that the narrator at once says what Elizabeth keeps back, “proud and conceited”, so the reader hears the doubt that Jane does not.

2. The sisters remember their respectable family better than the fact that their money was “acquired by trade.” Why does the narrator remember it for them?

What it asks It asks the student to read where the narrator ends the paragraph on the sisters. It grants them good points, “not deficient in good-humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable where they chose it; but proud and conceited.” It lists their advantages, slips in that they were “in the habit of spending more than they ought”, and concludes that they were “therefore, in every respect entitled to think well of themselves and meanly of others.” It ends: “They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.” Neither Bennet sister says any of this. The student builds a thesis on why the narrator supplies the fact the sisters keep least in mind, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say the sisters will act against Jane, must not take Elizabeth’s view as right because the narrator agrees with her in part, and must claim no more about trade than the chapter does: only that the sisters remember it less than their family.

A strong answer A strong thesis says why the narrator supplies the trade and argues from the order of the paragraph. A student might argue it punctures their pride: after the list and its “therefore”, “entitled to think well of themselves and meanly of others”, the paragraph ends on the fact their memories pass over. The strongest objection is that the narrator is giving the reader what neither Bennet sister says, granting the sisters “good-humour when they were pleased” and telling Bingley’s inheritance plainly in the next paragraph, so the point is knowledge, not a sneer. A good revision might hold that the target is the sisters’ memory, not their money: like every speaker in the chapter, they see what suits their temper, and what they see best is themselves.

3. Elizabeth says Jane is “honestly blind” to other people's faults. Is Jane's way of seeing people a weakness, or a strength her sister lacks?

What it asks It asks the chapter’s closing question. Elizabeth tells Jane, “With _your_ good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough; one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design,--to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad,--belongs to you alone.” Jane finds the Bingley sisters “very pleasing women when you converse with them”, while Elizabeth “listened in silence, but was not convinced”. The two friends repeat the pattern: Bingley “could not conceive an angel more beautiful” than Miss Bennet, while Darcy grants she is pretty “but she smiled too much.” The student builds a thesis on whether Jane’s way of seeing people is a weakness or a strength her sister lacks, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that Jane’s trust in the sisters is mistaken, which this chapter cannot show, and must not rank the sisters as simply naive and clever: Elizabeth admires the candour she teases.

A strong answer A strong thesis says whether Jane’s way of seeing is a weakness or a strength, and argues from Elizabeth’s speech and the mirrored reports. A student might argue it is a weakness: Elizabeth herself sets “good sense” beside “honestly blind”, and Bingley, the chapter’s other generous reader, takes a house on the owner’s praise and feels “authorized” by his sisters’ commendation. The strongest objection is that Elizabeth also calls Jane’s candour hers “alone”, that Jane’s view of the sisters comes from talking with them, and that the narrator grants them real good humour “when they were pleased”. A good revision might hold that Jane’s generosity and Elizabeth’s sharpness each catch what the other misses, and weigh which of the two the chapter’s mirror, Bingley’s “angel” beside Darcy’s “smiled too much”, leads a reader to trust.

Vocabulary definitions