Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 5

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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Copywork

Sir William Lucas had been formerly in trade in Meryton, where he had made a tolerable fortune, and risen to the honour of knighthood by an address to the king during his mayoralty. The distinction had, perhaps, been felt too strongly. It had given him a disgust to his business and to his residence in a small market town; and, quitting them both, he had removed with his family to a house about a mile from Meryton, denominated from that period Lucas Lodge; where he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and, unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world. For, though elated by his rank, it did not render him supercilious; on the contrary, he was all attention to everybody. By nature inoffensive, friendly, and obliging, his presentation at St. James’s had made him courteous.

Read the paragraph aloud, and listen for the word “perhaps”. How much of the praise of Sir William do you believe?

For the educator One passage, five sentences: the narrator’s portrait of Sir William Lucas, which opens a chapter that will spend the rest of its length on Darcy’s pride. The first sentence is a career in one breath, from “formerly in trade” to “the honour of knighthood”, and it saves the occasion for last: the honour came “by an address to the king during his mayoralty”, a speech, not a deed. The second sentence is short and turns on one word, “perhaps”: the narrator suggests a fault and declines to insist on it. The third is the longest. It runs through a semicolon, a participle (“quitting them both”) and a second semicolon to “where he could think with pleasure of his own importance”, and ends on the phrase that sounds like pure praise, “being civil to all the world”. The fourth is an antithesis held by “though” and “on the contrary”: “elated” against “supercilious”, his rank against his attention “to everybody”. The fifth begins with a list of three, “inoffensive, friendly, and obliging”, and then attaches it to “his presentation at St. James’s” rather than to Sir William himself, so the grammar seems to credit the court with his manners. For mechanics, notice the commas that set off “perhaps” and “unshackled by business”, the two semicolons inside the third sentence, and the possessive “St. James’s”. For the talk prompt, listen for a student who believes all of it, since the narrator does say he was “all attention to everybody”; for one who hears the smile in “perhaps”, “a disgust to his business” and “his own importance”; and for one who notices that the praise and the smile sit in the same sentences.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from Sir William’s knighthood to the argument over the bottle.

When Mrs. Bennet reminds Charlotte that she was Bingley’s “first choice”, Charlotte answers that “he seemed to like his second better.” Why can she say that so lightly? Character
Jane defends Darcy twice: once with what she saw, and once with what Miss Bingley told her. Which defence is stronger? Inference
Mrs. Bennet guesses why Darcy said so little to Mrs. Long: he had heard she “does not keep a carriage”. Why does she reach for that reason and not another? Character
Elizabeth tells her mother she may “safely” promise never to dance with Darcy. What makes the promise safe? Tone
A young Lucas says that if he were as rich as Darcy, “I should not care how proud I was.” He would also drink “a bottle of wine every day.” Mrs. Bennet scolds him about the wine. Why does she leave the pride alone? Character

Make a Connection Think of someone you know, or someone in a book, whose good fortune made them kinder rather than prouder. What do you think made the difference?

Vocabulary

supercilious: For, though elated by his rank, it did not render him supercilious; on the contrary, he was all attention to everybody. Looking down on other people with a cool, superior air (from a Latin word for the eyebrow, as if raised at someone). The narrator says Sir William’s rank “did not render him supercilious”: the new knight looks up and around, not down. The word names the exact fault the rest of the chapter charges Darcy with, so the first paragraph shows the fault avoided before the neighbours accuse anyone of it.
obliging: By nature inoffensive, friendly, and obliging, his presentation at St. James’s had made him courteous. Eager to do favours and to please (from oblige, to bind someone by a kindness). Sir William is “inoffensive, friendly, and obliging” by nature, and the court only polishes it into courtesy. An obliging man wants to be liked, which sets him against the man “everybody says” is “eat up with pride”.
denominated: It had given him a disgust to his business and to his residence in a small market town; and, quitting them both, he had removed with his family to a house about a mile from Meryton, denominated from that period Lucas Lodge; where he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and, unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world. Given a name, usually a formal one (from a Latin word for name, as in nominate and denomination). The new house is “denominated from that period Lucas Lodge”: Sir William names it after his family the moment he has a title. The stiff, official word carries the narrator’s smile. A plain word would only report the name; this one makes the naming a ceremony.
self-command: “_You_ began the evening well, Charlotte,” said Mrs. Bennet, with civil self-command, to Miss Lucas. Control over one’s own feelings and words when they want to come out (self plus command, to give orders). Mrs. Bennet speaks to Charlotte “with civil self-command”. The phrase tells the reader there is a feeling under the politeness that has to be held in, without saying what it is.
self-complacency: By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Quiet pleasure in oneself, often more than is earned (complacent comes from a Latin word for pleasing). Mary says that very few of us “do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary.” The word is gentler than pride and more private than vanity: a satisfaction held and enjoyed. Her “real or imaginary” admits that the quality we are pleased with may not be there at all.

Critical thinking

Charlotte says a man with “family, fortune, everything in his favour” has a right to be proud, yet the honour her own father won made him courteous. Does his example prove her wrong?
Mary says pride has to do with “our opinion of ourselves” and vanity with “what we would have others think of us.” By her own test, is her speech proud or vain?
Elizabeth says she could forgive Darcy's pride if he had not hurt her own. Is that a fair reason to hold it against him, or does it show some pride in her too?