Chap. 16-34: Style Overview

Hi again!
After reading the second quarter of Pride and Prejudice, I have learned a great deal more about both the novel's characters and the complexities of Austen's writing style.

In the previous section, we were introduced to Mr. Wickham's character, but we don't really get to know him until the beginning of chapter 16, in this section. Mr. Wickham is a generally well-respected soldier, and appears to have a troubled past with Mr. Darcy. According to Mr. Wickham, this is all because Darcy "has a thorough, determined dislike of [Mr. Wickham]... which [he] cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy" (pg. 60). Elizabeth immediately believes his story, in an effort to further her dislike of Mr. Darcy. However, I am wondering if his dislike goes beyond jealousy, and if there is something that Mr. Wickham is hiding that we will soon discover.

Following her interactions with Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth and her sister Jane soon learn that the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy have decided to stay in London for the winter, and do not plan to return to visit the Bennet's anytime soon. Although Jane is heartbroken by this, she tries to be understanding of Mr. Bingley's actions, and attempts to convince herself that it is for the best. Elizabeth, however, insists that it is all Caroline's doing, and tries her best to reassure Jane that Mr. Bingley will come back for her. This interaction between Jane and Elizabeth gives me even more respect for Elizabeth, as it is very obvious that she cares deeply for her sister. Later, Elizabeth illustrates this further by saying to Jane, "I feel as if I had never done you justice, or loved you as you deserve" (pg. 99). While it is clear to us that Elizabeth loves Jane quite strongly, Elizabeth's belief that she will never be good enough for Jane shows us a new side of her, one of humility and care.

Elizabeth's cousin Mr. Collins also pays her family a visit, and it is later discovered that he did so solely to satisfy his search for a wife. To Elizabeth, he is dull, pompous, and much too talkative, and she adamantly refuses his offer of marriage, although it is against the wishes of Mrs. Bennet. Soon after, to the surprise of everyone, Mr. Collins proposes to Charlotte Lucas, a close friend of Elizabeth's, who accepts his offer. Charlotte tells Elizabeth that she is "not romantic" and asks "only a comfortable home" (pg. 93). In contrast to Elizabeth's longing for a meaningful marriage, Charlotte's values are much different- she seems to want only the comfort of a husband, and does not care much about love at all. This is an interesting comparison to modern-day life, as most today seek to find their "true love" rather than settle for a "comfortable home."

After the marriage of Charlotte and Mr. Collins, Elizabeth is invited to stay with them in the spring, and she obliges. While at their residence, she runs into Mr. Darcy several times, and begins to wonder whether it is coincidental or planned by him. Elizabeth also learns that it was Mr. Darcy that encouraged Mr. Bingley not to marry Jane, and her dislike of him is strengthened even further. When he unexpectedly professes his love to her, she is quick to refuse his proposal, as she would never marry anyone that would hurt Jane. His sudden proposal to Elizabeth shocked me- I was not expecting him to reveal his true feelings this early on in the novel. Elizabeth accuses Mr. Darcy of preventing Mr. Bingley from marrying Jane, and he confesses that he does not regret it. This also surprised me, since I thought of Mr. Darcy as a proud man capable of irritating people, but not as someone capable of doing something as serious as breaking up a possible marriage. I am curious to know what his motives are, as there must be something more to the story than what Elizabeth knows so far. 


       
After reading this section, I have also learned a lot about Jane Austen's style of writing and the different literary techniques that she uses to portray the story. Because Pride and Prejudice was written in the early 1800s, Austen's style of writing and use of vocabulary is much different that most of the books I tend to read. The characters in the novel use very proper words while speaking to each other, making it difficult to read through the dialogue as quickly as I could in a book written more recently. This forces me to read the book slowly, without missing any details or comments made by characters, as is easy to miss a key detail if not reading carefully. Therefore, unlike some books that I read, I am really taking the time to understand and acknowledge every small thing happening in this book, and I am grateful that the complex language that Austen employs is forcing me to slow down and pay close attention to everything that is happening, even though that was not her intent upon writing it.

Austen makes use of several motifs/common themes throughout the novel, most notably love, status, and pride. The motif of love is used a bit ironically, as the only main characters married so far in the course of the novel, Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, are clearly not in love. Elizabeth observes that, "when Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was really a great air of comfort throughout, and by Charlotte's evident enjoyment of it, Elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten" (pg. 115). The fact that Charlotte receives her personal enjoyment when she is not thinking about her husband certainly does not suggest that their marriage has anything to do with love. Instead, it has almost everything to do with status and money, as Charlotte has little to inherit from her family, and Mr. Collins has quite a bit of money.

However, the motif that stuck out the most to me was pride. From the very beginning of the novel, Mr. Darcy is described as being proud, and is criticized by many for it. After learning of Mr. Darcy's involvement in breaking apart Jane and Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth concludes that "his pride and caprice were the cause of all that Jane had suffered, and still continued to suffer" (pg. 136). Furthermore, after rejecting his marriage proposal, Elizabeth also determines that "his pride, his abominable pride- his shameless avowal of what he had done with respect to Jane... soon overcame the pity which the consideration of his attachment for a moment excited" (pg. 141). Elizabeth is so preoccupied with her anger towards Mr. Darcy for wronging her sister that she doesn't realize that Mr. Darcy's decision likely had little to do with pride, as Darcy says, during their conversation, "towards [Bingley] I have been kinder than towards myself" (pg. 139). This suggests that his actions were the result of trying to protect Bingley from danger he thought Jane to possess, rather than from thoughts about himself.

On the contrary, Mr. Collins seems to be driven much more by pride than Mr. Darcy. When Elizabeth rejects his marriage proposal, Mr. Collins refuses to acknowledge her decision, saying "I know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application" and "it does not appear to me that my hand is unworthy your acceptance" (pg. 81). Rather than immediately accept Elizabeth's decision, he blames her refusal on the typical behavior of women, as he clearly believes himself as nothing less than worthy of her. In fact, his pride is so hurt by her rejection that he proposes to Charlotte Lucas the next day, desperate to prove that he is indeed worthy and that Elizabeth made a mistake by declining his offers. Mr. Collins' pride is again shown when he is giving Elizabeth a tour of his estate that he so often speaks of, as his pride is still so hurt by Elizabeth that she "could not help fancying that in displaying the good proportion of the room... he addressed himself particularly to her, as if wishing to make her feel what she had lost in refusing him" (pg. 114). Through the comparison of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Collins, Austen plays with the true meaning of pride, and hints at how some things, especially the actions of Mr. Darcy, may not be exactly what they seem.

*side note: I didn't realize this before, but I am now wondering if Austen's character Jane is at all representative of herself, since Austen chose to name a character after herself. I am not sure if this has any significance at all but am curious to find out.

Thanks for reading!
- Emma