Chapter 53

Pride and Prejudice

Mountaineers · 10th–12th

Copywork

To Jane, he could be only a man whose proposals she had refused, and whose merits she had undervalued; but to her own more extensive information, he was the person to whom the whole family were indebted for the first of benefits, and whom she regarded herself with an interest, if not quite so tender, at least as reasonable and just, as what Jane felt for Bingley. Her astonishment at his coming--at his coming to Netherfield, to Longbourn, and voluntarily seeking her again, was almost equal to what she had known on first witnessing his altered behaviour in Derbyshire.

He was received by Mrs. Bennet with a degree of civility which made her two daughters ashamed, especially when contrasted with the cold and ceremonious politeness of her courtesy and address of his friend. Elizabeth particularly, who knew that her mother owed to the latter the preservation of her favourite daughter from irremediable infamy, was hurt and distressed to a most painful degree by a distinction so ill applied.

Read the first passage aloud. Why might its second sentence say “at his coming” twice?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, from the moment Darcy is seen at the window and from the first minutes of the visit. The first sentence turns on its semicolon. Before it, Jane’s view: two clauses that both begin “whose”, and both name something Elizabeth did to him (“refused”, “undervalued”). After it, “but to her own more extensive information”, and two clauses that begin “to whom” and “whom”: the family’s debt, then her own regard. The sentence ends by measuring that regard against Jane’s feeling for Bingley, and it hedges as it measures: “if not quite so tender, at least as reasonable and just”. The second sentence breaks off and starts again, “at his coming--at his coming”, then narrows its list from Netherfield to Longbourn to her. The word “voluntarily” carries the weight, and it is Elizabeth’s reading of his visit, not the narrator’s verdict on why he came. The second passage sets the mother’s two welcomes side by side. Her warmth to Bingley is a “civility” that makes her daughters “ashamed”; her manner to Darcy is stacked with polite nouns, “politeness”, “courtesy”, “address”, all made cold by “cold and ceremonious”. The last sentence names its subject, “Elizabeth particularly”, then holds back the verb through a long clause that carries the secret, so the reader has to hold what she knows before learning how much it hurts. It closes on a cool, almost legal phrase, “a distinction so ill applied”, for the sharpest pain of the visit. For the talk prompt, students may hear the repeat as astonishment catching up with itself, the thought breaking off before it can go on. They may hear it as a correction: not only that he came, but where he came, and the list then narrows from Netherfield to Longbourn to her. Or they may hear the weight fall on the plain fact of his coming, which the chapter never explains. Any of these can be argued. Leave why Darcy came alone here; the last written question asks it.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from Lydia’s goodbye to Mrs. Bennet planning a dinner of two courses. Then pick the one moment that matters most, and say why the chapter needs it.

1. Once Lydia and Wickham are out of the house, Mr. Bennet says he is “prodigiously proud” of his new son-in-law. Who is the joke on?Tone

2. Mrs. Bennet says Bingley “is nothing to us,” and Jane says the news gives her neither pleasure nor pain. Which of them understands her own feelings better?Character

3. After seeing Darcy from the window, Elizabeth says, “Let me first see how he behaves.” Is that good sense, or is she afraid to hope?Character

4. While her mother talks about Lydia’s wedding in the papers, Elizabeth “dared not lift up her eyes”, so we never learn how Darcy looked. What does the scene gain by hiding his face from us?Author's choice

5. Mrs. Bennet aims a remark about Wickham’s friends at Darcy, and the shame of it pushes Elizabeth to speak. She asks Bingley how long he means to stay. Why that question, and why ask Bingley?Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when everyone around you thought badly of someone, and you knew better. Why might you still say nothing?

Vocabulary

incivility Consoled by this resolution, she was the better able to bear her husband’s incivility; though it was very mortifying to know that her neighbours might all see Mr. Bingley, in consequence of it, before they did.

voluntarily Her astonishment at his coming--at his coming to Netherfield, to Longbourn, and voluntarily seeking her again, was almost equal to what she had known on first witnessing his altered behaviour in Derbyshire.

complaisance On the gentlemen’s appearing, her colour increased; yet she received them with tolerable ease, and with a propriety of behaviour equally free from any symptom of resentment, or any unnecessary complaisance.

levelled Elizabeth, who knew this to be levelled at Mr. Darcy, was in such misery of shame that she could hardly keep her seat.

irremediable Elizabeth particularly, who knew that her mother owed to the latter the preservation of her favourite daughter from irremediable infamy, was hurt and distressed to a most painful degree by a distinction so ill applied.

Critical thinking

1. Suppose Mrs. Bennet knew what Darcy had done for Lydia. Would the visit have been any easier for Elizabeth?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

2. Elizabeth feels that “years of happiness” could not make up for the worst of the visit. A few lines later, Austen repeats the phrase just as her misery eases. How seriously does Austen take her despair?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

3. Darcy rides to Longbourn with Bingley and then hardly says a word. Why might he have come?

Thesis

Objection

Revision