Chapter 46

Pride and Prejudice

Mountaineers · 10th–12th

Copywork

Darcy made no answer. He seemed scarcely to hear her, and was walking up and down the room in earnest meditation; his brow contracted, his air gloomy. Elizabeth soon observed, and instantly understood it. Her power was sinking; everything must sink under such a proof of family weakness, such an assurance of the deepest disgrace. She could neither wonder nor condemn; but the belief of his self-conquest brought nothing consolatory to her bosom, afforded no palliation of her distress. It was, on the contrary, exactly calculated to make her understand her own wishes; and never had she so honestly felt that she could have loved him, as now, when all love must be vain.

Read the paragraph aloud, slowly. Where does it stop telling you what Darcy does, and start telling you what Elizabeth thinks?

For the educator One passage of six sentences, the centre of the chapter. It opens with four words, “Darcy made no answer.”, and then gives one long sentence of what he does, closing on two short phrases set side by side with no main verb in either: “his brow contracted, his air gloomy”. The third sentence is short again and turns the paragraph: “Elizabeth soon observed, and instantly understood it.” From there the paragraph is inside her mind. “Her power was sinking” is her thought in the narrator’s voice, the italic “_must_” is her certainty, and the next clauses come in pairs: “such a proof” and “such an assurance”; “neither wonder nor condemn”; “brought nothing consolatory” and “afforded no palliation”. The last sentence turns on “on the contrary” and then turns ordinary word order around, “never had she so honestly felt”, so that the weight falls on its closing words, “when all love must be vain.” For the talk prompt, let students find their own point where the paragraph moves from Darcy to Elizabeth. Some will hear it at “Elizabeth soon observed”, some at “Her power was sinking”, and some will argue that “He seemed” is already her view of him. Leave alone whether she reads him rightly; the last written question asks it.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from the two letters at the inn to the carriage on the road to Longbourn. Then pick the one sentence that matters most, and say what Austen does with it.

1. Darcy cries out “with more feeling than politeness” when he finds Elizabeth at the door. With her mind full of Lydia, how much of his alarm does she notice?Character

2. Before they leave Lambton, notes with “false excuses” go out to all their friends there. So why did Elizabeth tell Darcy the truth?Inference

3. Right after Elizabeth feels she could have loved Darcy, the narrator says “self, though it would intrude, could not engross her.” Does that sentence clear Elizabeth, or catch her out?Tone

4. Darcy has just gone when the narrator stops the story to defend Elizabeth’s change of heart. Why put that defence here?Author's choice

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone was sure what another person’s silence meant. What made them so sure?

Vocabulary

impetuous Her pale face and impetuous manner made him start, and before he could recover himself enough to speak, she, in whose mind every idea was superseded by Lydia’s situation, hastily exclaimed, “I beg your pardon, but I must leave you.

commiseration On his quitting the room, she sat down, unable to support herself, and looking so miserably ill, that it was impossible for Darcy to leave her, or to refrain from saying, in a tone of gentleness and commiseration, “Let me call your maid.

self-conquest She could neither wonder nor condemn; but the belief of his self-conquest brought nothing consolatory to her bosom, afforded no palliation of her distress.

palliation She could neither wonder nor condemn; but the belief of his self-conquest brought nothing consolatory to her bosom, afforded no palliation of her distress.

Critical thinking

1. Jane is thankful their father and mother never heard what was said against Wickham, but Elizabeth calls that silence a “Wretched, wretched mistake!” Which sister is right?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

2. Darcy walks up and down in silence, and Elizabeth decides at once that her hold on him is gone. Is she reading his silence rightly?

Thesis

Objection

Revision