Print at 100% scale on letter paper, with no added margins.
Pride and Prejudice
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
Elizabeth blushes for her mother and even speaks up for Darcy. Is she standing up for what is true, or protecting herself from shame?
The tension Mrs. Bennet “fancied she had gained a complete victory” over Darcy, while Elizabeth, “blushing for her mother”, corrects her (“You quite mistook Mr. Darcy”) and then trembles “lest her mother should be exposing herself again”.
A family visit seen through a daughter’s discomfort, and a conversation about whether character is simple or deep.
Elizabeth spends the night with Jane, who is a little better by morning, and sends a note asking her mother to come and judge for herself. Mrs. Bennet arrives with Kitty and Lydia. Seeing that Jane is in no danger, she has no wish for her to recover quickly, since getting well would take her away from Netherfield; she will not hear of carrying Jane home, and the apothecary agrees. In the breakfast parlour she tells Bingley that Jane is too ill to be moved, praises Jane’s temper above her other girls, and hopes he will not quit Netherfield in a hurry. Bingley says whatever he does is done in a hurry, but that at present he is fixed. Elizabeth says she understands him perfectly, and that a deep, intricate character is no more or less estimable than his; her mother tells her to remember where she is. Bingley calls her a studier of character, and she says intricate characters are the most amusing. Darcy remarks that the country offers few subjects for such study; Elizabeth answers that people alter so much that there is always something new to see. Mrs. Bennet, offended, insists there is as much going on in the country as in town. Darcy looks at her a moment and turns away, and she thinks she has won. She calls the country pleasanter; Bingley is happy in either. When she says Darcy seemed to think the country nothing at all, Elizabeth, blushing, tells her she mistook him, and Mrs. Bennet answers that they dine with four-and-twenty families. Bingley keeps a straight face only out of concern for Elizabeth, while his sister smiles at Darcy. Elizabeth asks after Charlotte Lucas, and her mother goes on to Sir William’s good breeding, a dig at people who never open their mouths, the Lucases’ plainness, and a gentleman who once wrote verses on Jane. Elizabeth jokes that poetry drives love away; Darcy calls it the food of love; she answers that it feeds only a strong love and starves a thin one. Darcy smiles, and in the pause Elizabeth trembles for what her mother may say next. Mrs. Bennet thanks Bingley again, Miss Bingley is made to be civil, and the carriage is ordered. Lydia, fifteen, bold and her mother’s favourite, holds Bingley to his promise of a ball, calling it shameful if he did not keep it. He agrees to give it once Jane is well, and she is content, since Captain Carter will most likely be back at Meryton by then. The visitors leave, Elizabeth goes back to Jane, and Darcy will not join the ladies in censuring her, for all Miss Bingley’s jokes about fine eyes.
Begin with the narrator’s first long sentence about Mrs. Bennet, and read it slowly: the misery granted, then “but”, then the wish, then the reason. Ask the student to keep two notes through the visit, one on each embarrassment and who causes it, and one on each person who seems to show themselves completely in a few lines. Read the breakfast-parlour talk aloud in voices, from Bingley’s “Whatever I do is done in a hurry” through Darcy’s remark on the country to the four-and-twenty families. Stop at Elizabeth’s correction and ask who in the room is watching. Then read on through the Lucases and the verses to the pause, and end with Lydia and the ball. Keep to what the chapter gives: it says nothing of what Darcy thinks of Mrs. Bennet, he does not join in mocking the family, Elizabeth’s defence of him is no sign of warming, her remark that people “alter so much” predicts nothing about anyone, Lydia here only wins a ball, and whether Elizabeth defends the truth or herself belongs to the last written question.
Retell The student retells the chapter in four movements: the note and Mrs. Bennet’s decision that Jane must stay; the talk of hurry and intricate characters; the town-and-country quarrel, from Darcy’s remark to the four-and-twenty families; and the close, from the Lucases and the verses through the pause to Lydia’s ball and the ladies’ remarks. Look for whether the retelling keeps Elizabeth’s attempts to steer the talk in order, and whether it gives Bingley’s answers as well as Mrs. Bennet’s.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes two short exchanges in the same builds. First, a reply that hedges in one short sentence and then answers in one long, balanced sentence that weighs two kinds of person and will not rank them (on the pattern of “That is as it happens. It does not necessarily follow”). Second, a claim split by its speech tag and closing on a pair of adjectives, met by an answer that begins with “But” and ends on the opposite of the claim’s last word (on the pattern of “confined and unvarying” and “for ever”).
Debate Take sides on the last written question. One side argues that Elizabeth stands up for what is true, and gathers Darcy’s actual words, her fair restatement of them, her own disagreement with him a minute before, and “which you must acknowledge to be true”. The other argues that she protects herself from shame, and gathers “blushing for her mother”, the watching room, Miss Bingley’s smile, the change of subject and the trembling in the pause. Each side must answer the other’s best line. Neither may read her defence as warming to Darcy or say what he thinks.
Purpose Close on the chapter’s own argument. Elizabeth says people “alter so much” that there is always something new to see, and then sits through a visit in which her mother, Bingley and Lydia each seem to show themselves whole in a few lines. Ask what Austen gains by setting the talk of intricate characters at the start of so embarrassing a scene, and by ending on a judgment, Darcy’s refusal to censure her, that Elizabeth never hears.
Easier Read aloud the narrator’s first sentence on Mrs. Bennet, the town-and-country quarrel, and the poetry exchange. Make a chart of each awkward moment in the visit: who said it, who reacted, and how. Talk through the questions on Bingley, Darcy’s silence and the pause, then answer the last written question aloud before writing it.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions in order, then write all 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 how embarrassment works in this chapter: who causes it, who feels it, who enjoys it, and what it pushes Elizabeth to say. Use Mrs. Bennet’s victory, Miss Bingley’s smile, the pause and Lydia’s “shameful” as evidence. The essay should meet the objection that Elizabeth, too, is on show, since the narrator leaves “her own and her relations’ behaviour” to the others’ remarks, and decide whether the chapter judges her with her family or apart from it.
1. Elizabeth tells Bingley she understands him “perfectly”. Is he as easy to read as she thinks?Character
What it asks It asks the student to test Elizabeth’s reading of Bingley against the rest of the visit. He says, “Whatever I do is done in a hurry”. She answers, “That is exactly what I should have supposed of you,” and then, “Oh yes--I understand you perfectly.” He replies that “to be so easily seen through, I am afraid, is pitiful.” Later Mrs. Bennet asks him to agree that the country is “a vast deal pleasanter”, and he answers, “They have each their advantages, and I can be equally happy in either.” After the four-and-twenty families, “Nothing but concern for Elizabeth could enable Bingley to keep his countenance.” At the end he “forced his younger sister to be civil also”. The student decides whether the visit bears out Elizabeth’s “perfectly”. The card must not guess at what Bingley will do later, and must not say what Darcy thinks of the town-and-country quarrel.
As easy as she thinks. He tells the room what he is, and then he is it. Asked to choose between town and country, he will not, because he is happy anywhere, and even Mrs. Bennet sees it: “the right disposition”. His kindness is all on the surface. He cries “Removed!” at the thought of Jane leaving, and nothing he says in the visit would surprise a reader who heard him at the start.
I can be equally happy in either.
Ay, that is because you have the right disposition.
Less easy than she thinks. The open man is managing the room. His answer on town and country takes neither Mrs. Bennet’s side against his friend nor his friend’s against her. He keeps a straight face when his sister does not, and the narrator gives the reason: concern for Elizabeth. He makes his sister say what manners require. That is tact, and tact keeps something back.
Nothing but concern for Elizabeth could enable Bingley to keep his countenance.
forced his younger sister to be civil also, and say what the occasion required.
A strong answer A strong response says whether Bingley is as easy to read as Elizabeth thinks, and argues from his answers in the visit. One reader finds him exactly that: he says he does everything “in a hurry”, he is “equally happy” in town or country, and his kindness is plain in all he says. Another finds a tact she has not counted: he will not take sides between Mrs. Bennet and Darcy, he keeps his countenance out of “concern for Elizabeth”, and he makes his sister civil. The best answers notice that the chapter is testing its own talk of easy and intricate characters on him, and claim nothing about what he will do later.
2. Mrs. Bennet scolds Lizzy for running on “in the wild manner” she is allowed at home. What in Lizzy’s words to Bingley could sound wild to her mother?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to hear Elizabeth’s talk as her mother hears it. Elizabeth tells Bingley, “Oh yes--I understand you perfectly.” Then she adds, “It does not necessarily follow that a deep, intricate character is more or less estimable than such a one as yours.” Then: “Lizzy,” cried her mother, “remember where you are, and do not run on in the wild manner that you are suffered to do at home.” “I did not know before,” continued Bingley, immediately, “that you were a studier of character.” To be “suffered” to do something is to be allowed it. The student decides what in Elizabeth’s words could sound wild to Mrs. Bennet. The card must not treat Mrs. Bennet as simply foolish here, and must not decide whether Elizabeth’s remark was rude.
What she said. Mrs. Bennet wants Bingley for Jane, and here is her other daughter telling him she can see straight through him. She tells him his sort of character is no better than a deep one, and so, by the same rule, no worse. To a mother, that is no way to talk to the man she hopes will marry Jane, and she stops it before he can take offence.
That is exactly what I should have supposed of you,
It does not necessarily follow that a deep, intricate character is more or less estimable than such a one as yours.
How she said it, and where. The scolding is about place: what is allowed at home is not allowed in Bingley’s breakfast parlour. A girl who argues about “character” with a gentleman in his own house is being clever in company, and Mrs. Bennet knows there are rules for company. Bingley seems to hear the sting too, since he speaks “immediately” and turns it into a compliment.
remember where you are,
that you were a studier of character.
A strong answer A strong response names what could sound wild and argues from the exchange. One reader points to what Elizabeth said: she has just told the man her mother wants for Jane that she understands him “perfectly” and that his character is no more “estimable” than a deep one. Another points to the manner and the place: a clever argument about character in a gentleman’s house is running on, and Bingley’s quick compliment covers it. The best answers notice that the chapter’s first rebuke for bad manners comes from Mrs. Bennet, and let the irony stand without deciding the hinge.
3. When Mrs. Bennet takes offence at Darcy’s remark about the country, he turns “silently away”. Was that the politest answer he could give, or the rudest?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to judge a silence as manners. Darcy answers Elizabeth’s talk of studying character: “In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society.” She answers him herself. Then Mrs. Bennet, “offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood”, cries, “I assure you there is quite as much of _that_ going on in the country as in town.” “Everybody was surprised; and Darcy, after looking at her for a moment, turned silently away.” Mrs. Bennet “fancied she had gained a complete victory over him”, and “continued her triumph”. A little later, praising Sir William, she says, “He has always something to say to everybody. _That_ is my idea of good breeding; and those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths quite mistake the matter.” The student decides whether turning away without a word was the politest answer open to him or the rudest. The card must not say what Darcy thinks of Mrs. Bennet; it may say only what he does and what the room does after.
The politest. His remark was an answer to Elizabeth, and she had already answered it back. Mrs. Bennet takes a point about society as an insult to her neighbourhood, and the whole room is surprised. Any reply would set him arguing with a lady about her own home, in front of her daughters, in his friend’s house. He looks at her for a moment and says nothing, so the quarrel has nowhere to go.
Everybody was surprised; and Darcy, after looking at her for a moment,
offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood.
The rudest. Turning away from a lady who is speaking to you is a snub the whole room can see, and it leaves her alone with her mistake. With no answer to check her, she goes on as if she had won. Her rule about good breeding, spoken soon after, reads as her reply to him. A word of explanation would have cost him little, and his silence leaves Elizabeth to make the correction he did not.
continued her triumph,--
those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths quite mistake the matter.
A strong answer A strong response judges the silence as manners and argues from the moment and what follows it. One reader finds it the politest answer: the remark was an answer to Elizabeth, she had answered it back, and any word from Darcy would have turned a mistake into a quarrel with a lady about her own home. Another finds it the rudest: he turns away in front of everyone, Mrs. Bennet goes on in triumph, and her rule about people who “never open their mouths” shows how she took it. The best answers see that the same act can stop a quarrel and still leave someone on show, and claim nothing about what Darcy thinks.
4. Mrs. Bennet tells the story of the man who wrote verses on Jane, to show how much Jane is admired. Then Elizabeth and Darcy argue about what poetry does to love. When they have finished, what does her story prove?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to follow one story through the argument it starts. Mrs. Bennet says she does not “like to boast”, and then: “Jane--one does not often see anybody better looking.” She tells of a gentleman “so much in love with her, that my sister-in-law was sure he would make her an offer before we came away. But, however, he did not. Perhaps he thought her too young. However, he wrote some verses on her, and very pretty they were.” Elizabeth says, “impatiently”, “And so ended his affection,” and wonders “who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!” Darcy answers, “I have been used to consider poetry as the _food_ of love”. Elizabeth replies that poetry may feed “a fine, stout, healthy love”, but that “one good sonnet will starve” a “slight, thin sort of inclination”. Bingley is in the room for all of it. The student decides what the story proves by the time the argument ends. The card must not say what Darcy thinks beyond his one line and his smile, must not read the exchange as a sign of feeling between them, and must not ask why Elizabeth spoke, which belongs to the last written question.
The opposite of what she meant. Mrs. Bennet told it to prove how admired Jane is. By Elizabeth’s rule, a love that one poem could end was only “a slight, thin sort of inclination”. Her mother’s own words had the gap in them already: the offer was expected, and “he did not.” Now the story is about a man who lost interest, and it has been told in front of Bingley.
But, however, he did not.
But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.
Nothing about Jane at all. After “And so ended his affection”, no one names Jane or the gentleman again. Elizabeth and Darcy argue about love in general, a strong love against a thin one. The boast has been taken out of Mrs. Bennet’s hands and turned into a question anyone could argue. When the talk ends, Darcy only smiles, and the next thing Mrs. Bennet says is her thanks to Bingley.
Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may.
Everything nourishes what is strong already.
A strong answer A strong response says what the story proves once the argument is over, and argues from the story and the lines that follow it. One reader finds that it now proves the opposite of what Mrs. Bennet meant: by Elizabeth’s rule the gentleman’s love was “slight” and “thin”, and her mother’s own “But, however, he did not” already admitted that the offer never came. Another finds that it proves nothing about Jane any more: the argument is about love in general, no one names Jane again, and the boast has slipped out of Mrs. Bennet’s hands. The best answers notice that all of this is said in front of Bingley, weigh Mrs. Bennet’s “too young” as the case for Darcy’s side, and claim nothing about Darcy beyond his line and his smile.
5. Elizabeth has had an answer for everyone all visit. In the pause after the poetry, she “could think of nothing to say”. Why does she run dry just then?Character
What it asks It asks the student to explain a silence in a talker. “Darcy only smiled; and the general pause which ensued made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again. She longed to speak, but could think of nothing to say; and after a short silence Mrs. Bennet began repeating her thanks”. Earlier, after the four-and-twenty families, Elizabeth spoke “for the sake of saying something that might turn her mother’s thoughts”, and asked whether Charlotte Lucas had been at Longbourn. Her mother answered with Sir William’s good breeding, the Lucases’ mince-pies and looks, and Jane’s beauty. The student decides why Elizabeth cannot find a word at this moment. The card must not read her silence as feeling for Darcy, which the chapter does not give.
Fear. The pause makes her “tremble”, and a person bracing for what comes next is in no state to be witty. Her quick lines all came as answers, to Bingley and to Darcy. Now there is nothing to answer, only a silence to fill, and the fear of what her mother will say next takes the words she wants.
made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again.
She longed to speak,
She has learned that no subject is safe. Her last try, Charlotte Lucas, was meant to turn her mother’s thoughts. It gave Mrs. Bennet Sir William, the Lucases’ looks and Jane’s admirer, and the admirer led to the poetry. With that fresh, anything Elizabeth could raise is one more thing her mother can run on about, so nothing comes.
Elizabeth, for the sake of saying something that might turn her mother’s thoughts,
It is a pity they are not handsome!
A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for the silence and argues from the pause and what led to it. One reader finds fear: the pause makes her “tremble”, and a person bracing for her mother cannot be quick. Another finds a lesson learned: her one attempt to “turn her mother’s thoughts” only opened the Lucases, Jane’s beauty and the verses, so any subject looks dangerous. The best answers notice that the quickest speaker in the room is silenced not by anyone she argues with but by fear of her own family, and do not read the silence as a feeling for Darcy.
1. Mrs. Bennet would have been “very miserable” to find Jane in danger, but she is in no hurry for Jane to get well. What kind of love is that?
What it asks It asks the student to judge a mother’s love from the chapter’s first scene. “Had she found Jane in any apparent danger, Mrs. Bennet would have been very miserable; but being satisfied on seeing her that her illness was not alarming, she had no wish of her recovering immediately, as her restoration to health would probably remove her from Netherfield.” She “would not listen, therefore,” to the proposal that Jane be carried home, “neither did the apothecary” think it advisable. Asked by Bingley whether Jane is worse than she expected, she says, “Indeed I have, sir,” and “She is a great deal too ill to be moved.” She praises Jane’s “sweetest temper” and adds, “I often tell my other girls they are nothing to _her_.” The chapter does not say whose proposal it was to go home, so the card does not either. The student builds a thesis on what kind of love this is, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not play Mrs. Bennet only for laughs: her pleasure in the illness is calculation.
A real love bent by a plan. The narrator grants the feeling first: had Jane been in danger, her mother would have suffered. What follows is a mother’s wish for her daughter’s future, which to her means Netherfield and its master. Her praise of Jane to Bingley is lavish but not false to what she feels, and her claim that Jane cannot be moved has the apothecary behind it.
Had she found Jane in any apparent danger, Mrs. Bennet would have been very miserable;
for she has, without exception, the sweetest temper I ever met with.
A love that uses what it loves. The narrator’s cool “therefore” ties her refusal to her plan, not to Jane’s health. She tells Bingley that Jane is worse than she expected, though she has just found the illness “not alarming”. She praises Jane above her other daughters in front of them. Jane’s comfort counts for less than Jane’s chance.
She would not listen, therefore, to her daughter’s proposal of being carried home;
She is a great deal too ill to be moved.
A strong answer A strong thesis names the kind of love and argues from the opening paragraphs and Mrs. Bennet’s speech to Bingley. A student might argue that it is real love bent by ambition: the narrator grants that she would have been “very miserable”, the plan is for Jane’s own future, and even the apothecary agrees Jane should stay. The strongest objection is that the plan uses Jane: her refusal comes “therefore”, from the plan, and she tells Bingley Jane is worse than she found her. A good revision might hold that the love is real and the use is real, and that the narrator’s calm sentence asks the reader to see both at once, as Mrs. Bennet cannot.
2. The only person in this chapter who talks about shame is Lydia, when she asks for a ball. What does she understand about shame?
What it asks It asks the student to judge the one character who uses the word. “Lydia was a stout, well-grown girl of fifteen”, a favourite with her mother, “whose affection had brought her into public at an early age.” She had “high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attentions of the officers” had “increased into assurance.” She “abruptly reminded him of his promise; adding, that it would be the most shameful thing in the world if he did not keep it.” Bingley answers that he is “perfectly ready” to keep it, and his answer is “delightful to her mother’s ear.” Lydia agrees to wait till Jane is well, since by then “Captain Carter would be at Meryton again”, and adds, “I shall tell Colonel Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not.” Self-consequence is a sense of one’s own importance. The student builds a thesis on what Lydia understands about shame, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say that her spirits lead to any later trouble: here she wins a ball.
A good deal, as a tool. She knows that shame works on people who care what is said of them. She tells a gentleman that breaking his word would be shameful, and he answers at once that he will keep it. She means to do the same to Colonel Forster. In a room where others feel shame, she is the one who knows how to aim it.
adding, that it would be the most shameful thing in the world if he did not keep it.
I shall tell Colonel Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not.
Very little: she knows the word, not the feeling. The narrator explains her boldness. Her mother brought her out early, and the officers’ attentions turned self-consequence “into assurance”. She uses “shame” only for what others owe her. It never turns on herself, or on a family whose visit has just made her sister tremble.
She had high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence,
had increased into assurance.
A strong answer A strong thesis says what Lydia understands about shame and argues from her request and the narrator’s account of her. A student might argue that she understands it well as a lever: she names breaking a promise “the most shameful thing in the world” and plans to use the same word on Colonel Forster. The strongest objection is that she knows only the word: the narrator traces her boldness to her mother’s favour and the officers, and her shame never turns inward. A good revision might hold that she understands shame only as something others feel, which is why she can use it so freely, and that the chapter sets her beside a sister who blushes for her mother and trembles in the pause, and never once says the word.
3. Elizabeth blushes for her mother and even speaks up for Darcy. Is she standing up for what is true, or protecting herself from shame?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh why Elizabeth corrects her mother. Darcy says that “In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society.” Elizabeth answers him herself: “But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.” Mrs. Bennet, “offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighbourhood”, cries that there is “quite as much of _that_ going on in the country as in town.” Darcy turns “silently away”, and she “fancied she had gained a complete victory”. She tells Bingley that “that gentleman” “seemed to think the country was nothing at all.” Then: “Indeed, mamma, you are mistaken,” said Elizabeth, blushing for her mother. “You quite mistook Mr. Darcy. He only meant that there was not such a variety of people to be met with in the country as in town, which you must acknowledge to be true.” Her mother answers with the four-and-twenty families; Bingley keeps his countenance only from “concern for Elizabeth”, and Miss Bingley smiles at Darcy. Later the pause makes Elizabeth “tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again.” The student builds a thesis on whether Elizabeth stands up for what is true or protects herself from shame, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not read her defence of Darcy as warming to him, must not say what Darcy thinks of Mrs. Bennet, and must not say that her remark that people “alter so much” predicts a change in anyone.
Standing up for what is true. She corrects a plain misreading: Darcy spoke of “confined and unvarying society”, not of the country being “nothing at all”. She puts his meaning fairly though she had just argued against it, and she asks her mother to grant only what is “true”. To defend the meaning of a man she had just argued with, against her own mother and in public, costs her something, and that cost is a sign of honesty.
He only meant that there was not such a variety of people to be met with in the country as in town, which you must acknowledge to be true.
But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.
Protecting herself from shame. The narrator gives the feeling before the words: she speaks “blushing for her mother”. The room is watching, and what she needs is for the talk to stop. When the correction does not stop her mother, she changes the subject. She does not argue Darcy’s point a second time, which suggests the point was never what she cared about. Miss Bingley’s smile at Darcy, and Bingley’s effort to keep a straight face, show that the room was ready to laugh.
said Elizabeth, blushing for her mother.
His sister was less delicate, and directed her eye towards Mr. Darcy with a very expressive smile.
A strong answer A strong thesis says whether Elizabeth defends the truth or herself, and argues from the correction and what surrounds it. A student might argue that she defends the truth: she gives Darcy’s meaning fairly, though she disputed it a minute before, and asks her mother to grant only what is “true”. The strongest objection is that the blush comes first, the room is watching, and once the correction does not stop her mother she does not argue again but changes the subject. A good revision might hold that the truth is her tool for ending the shame, the one argument that might stop her mother; the chapter leaves the reader to decide whether a fair statement made for an anxious reason is any less fair.
It does not necessarily follow that a deep, intricate character is more or less estimable than such a one as yours.Worthy of respect; deserving to be valued (from Latin aestimare, to value, the root of esteem and estimate). Elizabeth tells Bingley that a deep, intricate character is not “more or less estimable” than his. The word keeps apart two things the chapter keeps testing: how interesting a person is to study, and how much that person is worth.
In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society.Never changing; always the same (un- and varying, from vary, as in variety and various). Darcy calls country society “confined and unvarying”, and Elizabeth answers with the opposite verb: people “alter so much”. When she restates his point to her mother, she keeps his root: there is not “such a variety of people” in the country as in town.
I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!The power to produce the effect wanted (from Latin efficere, to bring about, as in effective and efficient). Elizabeth speaks of the “efficacy” of poetry as if it were a medicine tested for a cure. The word’s grave, scientific sound is the joke: what poetry is good at, she says, is driving love away.
She had high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attentions of the officers, to whom her uncle’s good dinners and her own easy manners recommended her, had increased into assurance.A sense of one’s own importance (self and consequence in its older sense of importance, as in a person of consequence). The narrator calls Lydia’s self-consequence “natural”, then says the officers’ attentions “increased” it “into assurance”. The word explains her boldness with Bingley as something she was born with and others have fed.