Beautiful words
“And with these words he hastily left the room, and Elizabeth heard him the next moment open the front door and quit the house. The tumult of her mind was now painfully great. She knew not how to support herself, and, from actual weakness, sat down and cried for half an hour. Her astonishment, as she reflected on what had passed, was increased by every review of it. That she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy ! that he should have been in love with her for so many months ! so much in love as to wish to marry her in spite of all the objections which had made him prevent his friend’s mar- rying her sister, and which must appear at least with equal force in his own case, was almost incredible ! it was grati- fying to have inspired unconsciously so strong an affection. But his pride, his abominable pride, his shameless avowal of what he had done with respect to Jane, his unpardon- able assurance in acknowledging, though he could not justify it, and the unfeeling manner in which he had mentioned Mr. Wickham, his cruelty towards whom he had not attempted to deny, soon overcame the pity which the consideration of his attachment had for a moment excited.”
– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Every time I read this book, I never fail to marvel at the way Jane Austen captures so precisely the feelings and emotions of people with words. There are many passages within her works that are just amazing and this is only one of them. Although this excerpt may not seem to be as relate-able as others out of context, It really stands out to me because it packs so much emotion through the wording. Every word used has an impact and adds to the expression as opposed to taking away from it. Here Elizabeth is simply shocked at Mr.Darcy’s proposal but the way Jane Austen managed to describe it made me feel like there was some sort of torrential storm in the characters minds. Her writing is extremely captivating and keeps me on my feet and most importantly makes me feel.
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