Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 52

Jane Austen · Mountaineers 10th–12th

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Copywork

He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride, and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world. His character was to speak for itself. He called it, therefore, his duty to step forward, and endeavour to remedy an evil which had been brought on by himself.

He had followed them purposely to town, he had taken on himself all the trouble and mortification attendant on such a research; in which supplication had been necessary to a woman whom he must abominate and despise, and where he was reduced to meet, frequently meet, reason with, persuade, and finally bribe the man whom he always most wished to avoid, and whose very name it was punishment to him to pronounce. He had done all this for a girl whom he could neither regard nor esteem.

Read both passages aloud. Darcy calls what he did his “duty” in one plain sentence, and Elizabeth needs one very long one. Why does she need so many more words?

For the educator Two passages, five sentences, from the two halves of the chapter. The first is Mrs. Gardiner reporting Darcy’s reason in her letter; the second is Elizabeth going over the same search in her own head. In the first, the opening sentence joins two verbs with “and”: he “imputed” the whole to his pride and “confessed” his old silence. The adverb “generously” is Mrs. Gardiner’s, a judgment laid on top of his words. The second sentence is seven plain words: “His character was to speak for itself.” It sounds like Darcy’s own view carried into the aunt’s report, and “was to” means it was meant to; it is the old plan that the third sentence turns from. The third sets “therefore” off with commas, so the duty arrives as a conclusion, and it ends on the passive “brought on by himself”, putting “himself” last. The second passage opens with two clauses set side by side with only a comma, “He had followed them purposely to town, he had taken on himself”, and then, after a semicolon, two clauses that begin “in which” and “and where”. Its verbs climb in five steps, “meet, frequently meet, reason with, persuade, and finally bribe”; the repeated “meet” stretches the time, and “finally” marks the lowest step. The man is never named. He is held off by two more clauses, “whom he always most wished to avoid, and whose very name it was punishment to him to pronounce”, so the sentence itself avoids saying “Wickham”. Then a short sentence, “He had done all this”, balanced on “neither regard nor esteem”, and the three “He had” openings bind the passage together. Students may notice one change between the two halves of the chapter: the letter only supposes that Mrs. Younge took “bribery and corruption,” while Elizabeth pictures “supplication” to her and the bribe going to Wickham. Elizabeth’s version makes Darcy’s part lower and harder. For the talk prompt, students may say that her sentence holds what his leaves out: the “supplication”, the bribe, and the man he could not bear to name. Some will say its length is the labour it describes, with the repeated “meet” stretching the time. Others may hear his plain sentence as part of the same reserve that thought it “beneath him” to lay his actions open, so the man who did most says least. Some may say she dwells on the cost because she is measuring what her family owes. Leave Darcy’s real reason alone here; the last written question asks it.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from Elizabeth opening her aunt’s letter in the copse to her hand held out to Wickham at the door. Then pick the one sentence that matters most, and say why the chapter needs it.

Mrs. Gardiner ends her letter wishing to drive round Pemberley in a “low phaeton with a nice little pair of ponies”. What is that joke for? Tone
Darcy’s first aim was to get Lydia to leave Wickham and go home, and he turned to a wedding only when she refused. Which ending would have been better for Lydia? Moral reasoning
Darcy and Mr. Gardiner “battled it together for a long time” over who should pay, and Darcy won. What did Mr. Gardiner lose? Character
Elizabeth feels the pain of owing “a person who could never receive a return.” What return does she have in mind? Inference
When Wickham wonders what Darcy was doing in town, Elizabeth suggests he was “preparing for his marriage with Miss de Bourgh”. Why does she give that answer when she knows the truth? Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone was given more help than they could ever pay back. What is the right way to carry a debt like that?

Vocabulary

imputed: He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride, and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world. Laid the blame or credit for something at someone’s door; said that it came from them (from Latin imputare, to enter in an account: in-, in, and putare, to reckon). Darcy “imputed the whole to his mistaken pride”: he charged the whole affair to his own account, as a debt written against his name. Mrs. Gardiner adds “generously”, because a man rarely imputes a fault to himself.
abominate: He had followed them purposely to town, he had taken on himself all the trouble and mortification attendant on such a research; in which supplication had been necessary to a woman whom he must abominate and despise, and where he was reduced to meet, frequently meet, reason with, persuade, and finally bribe the man whom he always most wished to avoid, and whose very name it was punishment to him to pronounce. To hate something deeply, as disgusting or wicked (from Latin abominari, to shrink from as a bad omen: ab-, away, and omen). It is stronger than dislike; it is the feeling of turning away. Elizabeth pairs it with “despise”: Darcy must “abominate and despise” Mrs. Younge, and yet, as Elizabeth pictures it, he had to plead with her. The word measures how far down he had to go.
abhorrence: But it was a hope shortly checked by other considerations; and she soon felt that even her vanity was insufficient, when required to depend on his affection for her, for a woman who had already refused him, as able to overcome a sentiment so natural as abhorrence against relationship with Wickham. A shuddering hatred; the wish to draw back from something (from Latin abhorrere, to shrink back in horror: ab-, away, and horrere, to bristle or shudder). Elizabeth calls it “a sentiment so natural”: she assumes that shrinking from Wickham is so natural that even Darcy’s feeling for her could not overcome it, and that is what checks her hope.
liberality: It was reasonable that he should feel he had been wrong; he had liberality, and he had the means of exercising it; and though she would not place herself as his principal inducement, she could perhaps believe, that remaining partiality for her might assist his endeavours in a cause where her peace of mind must be materially concerned. Generosity, especially a readiness to give freely (from Latin liberalis, fit for a free person). Today “liberal” often names a politics; in Austen it means open-handed. Elizabeth separates the will from the money: Darcy “had liberality, and he had the means of exercising it”. The generosity is a quality of character; the fortune only lets him act on it.

Critical thinking

As she thinks over the letter, Elizabeth is “humbled” for herself but “proud of him”. Has her pride changed, or has it only moved from herself to him?
Elizabeth knows the truth about Wickham, yet at the door she tells him, “Do not let us quarrel about the past.” How far is she making the mistake Darcy blamed himself for?
Darcy gives his own pride and silence as the reason he rescued Lydia. Do you believe that was his real reason?