For Tuesday, 10/31: Read Pride and Prejudice, chapters 24-42 (through the end of Book 2)
For Tuesday, 10/24: Read Pride and Prejudice, chapters 7-23
For Thursday, 10/19: Read Pride and Prejudice, chapter 1-6
10/18: This page will be pretty full with comments and thoughts on Pride and Prejudice in a few weeks’ time. We’ll start with the text of the novel itself and add some primary and secondary sources relevant to the novel, its author Jane Austen (1775-1817), and the period in which Austen’s novels were published, which is known as the Regency Period and lasted from 1811-1820. By 1811, King George III (yes, that King George III) had become senile, so his son ruled by proxy as Price Regent. In England, this was a time of artistic flourishing and socioeconomic turmoil (as evidenced by the Luddite uprisings of 1811 and the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, both of which sprung from problems relating to the rapid industrialization of England’s cities), and political uncertainty (especially as Napoleon ran wild all over Continental Europe for the first half of the decade before his defeat at Waterloo in 1815).
I enjoyed reading the first few chapters of Pride of Prejudice, but while reading I became curious about Jane Austen’s background, and what inspired her to begin writing, therefore I did a little research so that I could understand the context of the story.
Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in 1813, and she was born in Stevenson,Hampshire in Britain in 1775. She ended up living in the small town for the majority of her life. She spent a little time going to Oxford and boarding school, but then became home-schooled, and developed her passion for reading and writing there. She later died when she was 42 from Addison’s disease. Most of the novels she wrote in her lifetime consisted of women marrying people in order for financial stability and high social ranking.
One comment I have on the beginning chapters of Pride and Prejudice is the early mention of Pride. The theme is introduced into the story with the arrival of Mr. Bingley and his close friend, Mr.Darcy. From the start, Mr.Darcy seemed like he was a nice man, and was instantly put on a higher pedestal than Mr.Bingley because he was more handsome, made more money, and dressed better. However, his personality started to shine through about halfway through the evening and everyone started to dislike him because he was discovered to be very proud and arrogant. Mary, one of the sisters, later says “Pride is a very common failing I believe. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonimously. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” (20).
So my question is this: Is it acceptable to be proud of yourself even if you haven’t accomplished much by society’s standards? Why is being proud of yourself something that is frowned upon in society?
This is in reply to k.bah1. We have have gone through a huge amount of the novel; i just want to comment on the overall theme of pride. I really like how you were able to point out Darcy’s pride. I believe that Darcy felt good about himself, in which is not necessarily a negative thing. In the short run, feeling good about oneself is great for confidence, ego, and overall great for the spirit. But, pride, in the long run ruins someone. If a person is to feel good about themselves for a long time of period, a few things begin to happen: 1. There is a narrow perspective on life, hindering oneself from looking at life in different ways 2. pride prohibits a person from growing. For instance, because of the pride that Darcy had in himself, he closed himself to anything that makes him less prideful (elizabeth). Thus, I believe that excessive pride is negative.
To the question that can one be prideful even if you havent accomplish much by society means, I think the answer is yes. Personally, I would like to live life in a setting that i can control, meaning that i would set my own standards. If I let anyone else control my standards, I’m really not living my life; I would be living theirs. With that said, because of my own standards, I’m able to allow myself to feel pride even though society doesnt think so. But that is not that say that THAT pride shouldn’t be regulated; it should.
I feel that it is acceptable to be proud of yourself even if you have not accomplished much by society’s standards because everyone has their own definition of success. One person’s level of success may be satisfying for someone while it isn’t for somebody else. This is because everyone has different goals and meaning of success. Being proud of yourself may be frowned upon in society if it is because of a large ego. Society does not like narcissism where someone is confident about their own achievements and abilities. Society expects somebody to be modest and humble about their achievements and abilities. This is shown by Darcy where his large ego of giving the feeling of how he was above everyone else because of his wealth and class. Darcy’s big ego and narcissistic attitude was one of the reason’s why he was disliked and avoided by the people of Netherfield Park when he arrived there.
Hi k.bah1, I think it is completely ok to feel proud of yourself because It helps you feel confident whenever you need to face a challenge. Also, I think that being proud of yourself does not always involve having achieved material things. For instance, sometimes you can feel proud of yourself for having strong ethic values or because you consider yourself capable of doing many things. Both examples cannot be perceived by the eyes of other people, so there will be times when they take the right to judge you, just like we did with Darcy.
When I started reading Pride and Prejudice, I didn’t perceived Darcy as a proud person. His behavior at the Ball made me believe he was trying to protect himself from something. As he belongs to an aristocratic family, I believe he perceived people’s superficiality in the past, so he did not want to be involved with them.
Hi K.bah,
I like your question about pride, and whether it is acceptable to be proud of yourself even if you have not accomplished much in the society standards.
In my opinion, the answer to your question is “yes”. I think everyone should be proud of himself or herself for any accomplishment even if it is not much. For example, we as students, have not accomplished something big yet, but we still can be proud of ourselves and our determination to finish our college education.
However, we can be proud but not arrogant and disrespectful to others.
From the beginning, I already knew there would be a love story between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (it’s on the back of the book). So I was curious on what events and interactions would happen to lead up to their romance. It started off on such a wrong foot because he said she’s not interesting enough for him from the beginning, so I understand Elizabeth’s reaction on not wanting anything to do with him. Afterwards, just because Elizabeth defended herself and showed her strong character as a woman which that intrigued Mr. Darcy. Now, as of my opinion I don’t think Mr. Darcy deserves Elizabeth so it’ll be interesting to see how Jane Austen will turn this all around. From all of the chapters assigned to read, I wanted to discuss few chapters on how the relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth stands as of now.
Situations where all of the characters are together especially with Mrs. Bingley all over Mr. Darcy, he only has eyes for Elizabeth no matter what she is doing. In Chapter 11, Elizabeth catches Mr. Darcy staring and wonders why; she is oblivious of his affection through his puzzled actions beforehand. “He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention,” after a small disagreement I feel like around this time is where Mr. Darcy grew more affection towards Elizabeth. I found it humorous how Mr. Darcy sort of plays “hard to get” with Elizabeth, but there is no effect because Elizabeth does not like Mr. Darcy in a romantic way. What grew this dislike of him was in Chapter 16 where Mr. Wickham told Elizabeth his side of a rumor involving Mr. Darcy. The short summary of the rumor was Mr. Darcy’s father promised Mr. Wickham, Mr. Darcy’s childhood friend, to provide for him. Evidently, after his death Mr. Darcy found a loophole and took all of the money leaving nothing for Wickham. Elizabeth learning about this couldn’t believe how disrespectful Mr. Darcy was. Although it is not confirmed because we haven’t heard his side of the story yet. Moments like this makes me wonder what will happen that will make Elizabeth fall for Mr. Darcy and how Mr. Darcy will fully begin to profess his love for her. It is like they are wrong for each other, but “opposites attract.” I predict maybe a heart-to-heart moment between each other will change things.
I’ll like to ask you guys..what are your thoughts on their relationship at this point? Any predictions?
Hi Samantha, after reading the end of book 2, do you still feel the same about Mr.Darcy?
I feel that after reading book 2, Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy seem like a pretty good match. Although Mr.Darcy may seem like a douche most of the time due to his manners and bluntness, his overall character and personality is rather genuine compared to other characters; his motives are pretty clear to the reader and after finishing Book 2, we learn that Elizabeth wrongfully doubts Mr.Darcy in terms of his relationship with Mr.Wickham. Even after Elizabeth roasted Mr.Darcy about his involvement between Jane and Mr.Bingsley, along with the issue with Mr.Wickham, he doesn’t stop her to correct her; instead, he writes her a letter explaining everything. This shows his more gentleman-like behavior, which contrasts with what Elizabeth told him when he proposed, that he was ungentleman-like. As of the end of book 2, it seems as though Elizabeth is the only female character that sort of understands what kind of person Mr.Darcy is, which is an honest and wronged man.
From the beginning, I already knew there would be a love story between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (it’s on the back of the book). So I was curious on what events and interactions would happen to lead up to their romance. It started off on such a wrong foot because he said she’s not interesting enough for him from the beginning, so I understand Elizabeth’s reaction on not wanting anything to do with him. Afterwards, just because Elizabeth defended herself and showed her strong character as a woman which that intrigued Mr. Darcy. Now, as of my opinion I don’t think Mr. Darcy deserves Elizabeth so it’ll be interesting to see how Jane Austen will turn this all around. From all of the chapters assigned to read, I wanted to discuss few chapters on how the relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth stands as of now.
Situations where all of the characters are together especially with Mrs. Bingley all over Mr. Darcy, he only has eyes for Elizabeth no matter what she is doing. In Chapter 11, Elizabeth catches Mr. Darcy staring and wonders why; she is oblivious of his affection through his puzzled actions beforehand. “He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention,” after a small disagreement I feel like around this time is where Mr. Darcy grew more affection towards Elizabeth. I found it humorous how Mr. Darcy sort of plays “hard to get” with Elizabeth, but there is no effect because Elizabeth does not like Mr. Darcy in a romantic way. What grew this dislike of him was in Chapter 16 where Mr. Wickham told Elizabeth his side of a rumor involving Mr. Darcy. The short summary of the rumor was Mr. Darcy’s father promised Mr. Wickham, Mr. Darcy’s childhood friend, to provide for him. Evidently, after his death Mr. Darcy found a loophole and took all of the money leaving nothing for Wickham. Elizabeth learning about this couldn’t believe how disrespectful Mr. Darcy was. Although it is not confirmed because we haven’t heard his side of the story yet. Moments like this makes me wonder what will happen that will make Elizabeth fall for Mr. Darcy and how Mr. Darcy will fully begin to profess his love for her. I predict maybe a heart-to-heart moment between each other will change things. Opposites do attract, apparently.
I’ll like to ask you guys..what are your thoughts on their relationship at this point? Any predictions?
Hi Samantha, after reading the end of book 2, do you still feel the same about Mr.Darcy?
I feel that after reading book 2, Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy seem like a pretty good match. Although Mr.Darcy may seem like a douche most of the time due to his manners and bluntness, his overall character and personality is rather genuine compared to other characters; his motives are pretty clear to the reader and after finishing Book 2, we learn that Elizabeth wrongfully doubts Mr.Darcy in terms of his relationship with Mr.Wickham. Even after Elizabeth roasted Mr.Darcy about his involvement between Jane and Mr.Bingsley, along with the issue with Mr.Wickham, he doesn’t stop her to correct her; instead, he writes her a letter explaining everything. This shows his more gentleman-like behavior, which contrasts with what Elizabeth told him when he proposed, that he was ungentleman-like. As of the end of book 2, it seems as though Elizabeth is the only female character that sort of understands what kind of person Mr.Darcy is, which is an honest and wronged man.
Just like Elizabeth, I didn’t like Darcy and as the story went on I continued to dislike him. I think that’s what is great about this book and Jane Austen. I was able to feel and relate to the characters. I think it was very obvious that Elizabeth and Darcy were going to be end game. I found Bingley and Jane’s relationship more interesting. I also thought the same thing that Darcy didn’t deserve Elizabeth, but as we read the rest of the chapters I then started to believe that Elizabeth didn’t deserve Darcy. They are both annoying in their own way. Either way they seem to be a good match since Elizabeth may be able to infleunce Darcy to change.
I agree with you j.tellez. After reading more of the story I felt like Elizabeth didn’t deserve Darcy. However, what I liked the most was that Darcy showed humbleness when he changed and learned from Elizabeth. Darcy just couldn’t ignore Elizabeth’s personality. She has shown to go against her society’s stereotypes, which makes her more attractive in the eyes of Darcy.
Hi Samantha,
I similarly was wondering how, where, and when Elizabeth would feel anything for Mr. Darcy. I read every chapter carefully too see if Elizabeth feeling would change.
Now, we finished reading the whole book, and we know what happened. However, at the end of book Elizabeth says that her love for Mr. Darcy started when she visited Pemberley. I disagree with her on that. I believe that her feelings for him started after reading his letter. If she had not developed feelings for him at the time, she would have told her sister, Jane, that Mr. Darcy was the reason that Mr. Bingley left her. But she did not want Jane to hate Mr. Darcy.
Throughout the Second volume of the book it became clear that the tone of the book had changed a little bit from the previous volume. One example that I noted had changed was that there was a lot less dialogue among the characters and consequently a lot more of the narrator speaking. In most chapters, if not all, the narrator does pretty much all the talking and explains it very well as to what all the characters are doing, and feeling. Personally, I am against this because it seems rushed, and more importantly it seems watered down. It is okay for the narrator to clarify certain things that may not be clear to the reader, however, the majority of the time the characters are then ones who should do all the talking and leave the reader with some intrigue as to what could that character have really meant, could there be another meaning? When a narrator tells you exactly how it is, it kills the reader’s imagination and shuts down the thrill of not knowing for sure. For example, in Volume 1, the scene where Elizabeth and her sisters met up with Wickham and Darcy saw them; the narrator said, “one turned white (pale) and the other red” this leaves a lot for debate and curiosity as to whom could be the one turning what color and what the color meant. However, in Volume 2, when Elizabeth rejected Darcy’s love proposal, the narrator stated what colors was Darcy turning specifically and what each were feeling at every specific moment of the interaction. I do not feel that the narrator needs to be too specific about whats happening, and extreme case of what I’m trying to argue can be seen in a poem. In a poem, the author states the message and completely, without explanation, leaves the reader to identify the meaning. I wish the next volume would be similar to the 1st because I enjoyed reading it more.
Hi Martinez,
I agree with your observation. I think Mr. Darcy proposal to Elizabeth is something the reader was eager for to happen. However, the narrator made it seem less important by telling us what happened. Since it was that first-time Mr.Darcy talks about his feeling, as the readers we should have had the chance to read every single word he said.
However, now I understand that Jane Austen did not want the reader get introduced to Mr. Darcy real personality before reading his letter.
The completion of Volume II of this book has certainly revealed a lot more about the characters in the novel.
By this time, we have an understanding that the courtship of Jane and Mr. Bingely has come to an end as he moves to London without any intention of visiting Jane again. He has left her with no explanation and no regard it would seem.
Mr. Bennet’s cousin visit the Longbourn house with the intention of proposing to one of the sisters, having been given the idea that Jane may soon be engaged, turned to Elizabeth. Upon her rejection of his proposal, Mr. Collins turns to Charlotte Lucas, who accepts this proposal, to Elizabeth’s disbelief as she is certain that no true happiness could come from such an arrangement.
The proposal of Mr. Collins which she he happily rejected was not as startling as the one she received later from Mr. Darcy which took her by complete surprise for he would be the last man which she would expect a proposal from having thought their dislike for each other were mutual.
Upon what I already know to be inevitable (the relationship of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth) it was only a matter of time that the suggested romance of Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy begin to show its face. Mr. Darcy who we know had a budding attraction for Elizabeth and upon her visit to Mr and Mrs Collins home, has once again come in contact with Mr. Darcy.
Currently living in the 21st century it is nothing new of the story of two who at first are not very fond of each other, someone find their way to love. It is rather a repetitive theme played out in many movies and tv shows which I am familiar with. However, one must not forget that Jane Austen’s novel was written centuries ago and as such she is therefore one who has set this precedent. However, we are not quite there yet as we see that Elizabeth rejects Mr. Darcy’s proposal not only on his proposal which he believed would receive a definite answer and she gladly wanted to prove him wrong but also because she has discovered from his cousin that he may have been the cause of Jane and Mr. Bingely’s separation. The struggles of their being a serious relationship between Mr Darcy and Miss Bennett as she discovers that he is the person (Not Miss Bingley) who has caused the separation of Mr Bingley and Jane. “do you think that any consideration would tempt me to accept the man, who has been the means of ruining, perhaps for ever, the happiness of a most beloved sister?”
She also blames Mr. Darcy for the ill treatment she believes he has caused Mr. Wickham.
However, Wickham through a letter written by Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth is exposed to not be such a trustworthy guy and Elizabeth affections towards Wickham slowly dissolved.
Upon the conclusion of Volume II, Elizabeth leaves her home once more to accompany Mrs. Gardiner and where will she inevitably end up? None other than Pemberley, the home of Mr. Darcy. At this point there is a growing tension between the two which creates some suspense as to how this will be overcome. Could see look past all he had done to her sister?
Through all the events taking place within this novel, it would seem that Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett have intertwined faiths. It is the classic favorite of soulmates who are destined to be.
My question to you all is: Do you believe that every day non-fictional lives experience this sequence of events that inevitably cause them to be together or is this just movie fiction?
I want to believe that Darcy and Elizabeth’s situation can happen and is not just movie fiction. However, I think their fated moments would not happen where we live. In New York City, there are so many people that meeting someone like your soulmate at a party seems improbable. It doesn’t seem plausible but in this instance because both are well off than most people, it could be that they attend the same events and parties. Their social status isn’t the same but they still have enough money that they don’t have to work and are able to socialize within the same social circle. So, during Austen’s time, it might not be so fictional. I agree that the soulmate situation has been played out so much that it just seem to cheesy to us now, but I believe it can happen in real life. It just won’t happen as much. There won’t be so many opportunities for people to realize that even though they hate them now, they will eventually marry that person who turns out to be their soulmate.
In the beginning of the novel when Mr. Darcy first made his appearance he immediately wasn’t my favorite character. Even so, as the novel progressed and the plot thickened he began to grow on me. Just as Elizabeth based her opinion of Mr. Darcy on prejudices and rumors, I did the same thing and believed everything without knowing the full story. He then began to change at the end of the book and the question that often comes up about his change was: why? What caused this sudden change within Darcy? In my opinion I think he did it for Elizabeth and to show her that he can change. At first, I thought he was just showing off and just doing it to get her and then change back to his old ways, but as I read on it was evident that he actually liked Elizabeth. Even so, I didn’t entirely like the way they came together or got married. First, it was obvious they were going to get married since the beginning which was cliché. Secondly, it wasn’t until after seeing all the benefits of marrying Darcy did she have a sudden change of feelings. Maybe back in those times it was acceptable for what she did, but Darcy could’ve done better.
Another thing that caught my eye was the whole situation with Lydia. For the most part of the book she was irrelevant, but then came her elopement with Wickham. Honestly to me, she was still irrelevant even when that happened to her and I came to dislike her. On the other hand, I think it was to show that Lydia does matter but in a different way. She comes to symbolize desire since everyone else is repressing their own desire due to social norms. Bingley and Jane don’t get married early in the book due to the gap in their social status even though they are clearly in love with each other. The same goes with Elizabeth and Darcy, they don’t marry because of their social status and because of what everyone else will think of them. Yet, Lydia didn’t care of anything and went for it and went with what she felt at that time and that was her desire for Wickham.
What did you guys feel about Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage?
Nov 2nd Blog Post:
I noticed that the change in behavior between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to be very interesting. For example, Mr. Darcy seems to have much more dialogue and overall emotions when he speaks to Elizabeth. Starting from when he professed his love to Elizabeth and then handed her the letter, you see Mr. Darcy opening up. In the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, I would never have expected Mr. Darcy to be the type of person to go out of his way and explain himself to anyone because he always knew (or thought) he was better. He seemed like the type of person who does not care what other people think of him, which is exhibited by his disregard to being agreeable at almost all social outings. However, once he told Elizabeth he loved her, I began to notice a drastic shift in the way he treated her. I think that because he has known Elizabeth for quite some time, and even professed his love to her, that he sees their relationship as more intimate than before. In chapter 44 when Mss. Bingley brought up the fact that Darcy originally thought Elizabeth was “tolerable”, he replies “…but that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance” (259). As said earlier in the book, Mr. Darcy was only agreeable with his close friends, and did not bother trying to be nice to anyone else. However, as shown in the quote, he admits that he originally did not like Elizabeth, but his opinions of her have grown a lot in the months he has gotten to know her. I find that this confirms the idea that he can only be nice to people he finds himself close with, maybe because he is socially awkward and finds it easier to be distant with strangers than agreeable. Now I am wondering, is Darcy not agreeable as a way for him to make sure no one is using him for his money, or is he like that because he is too awkward to make an effort with new people?
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth refuses to marry Mr. Collins because she does not love him and knows that entering into a marriage with him would only result in her being miserable in spite of the rewards it offered her family. She later rejected Mr. Darcy, but she later realized that her own pride and prejudice had hidden the truth of her feeling for her and that Mr. Darcy did indeed make her happy and that she truly did love him. Later, she chose to marry him. Therefore, Austen believed that marriage should be union justified not by money or property, but by love.