Pride & Prejudice: Chapters 1-12
Episode 30
It is a truth universally acknowledged that you must be in want of some knowledge of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. This week, Professor Pipes talks about the first twelve chapters of this classic.
Transcript
Introduction:
Hello and welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases. I’m Professor Pipes and I’m here today because it is a truth universally acknowledged that you must be in want of some knowledge about Jane Austen’s satirical classic, Pride and Prejudice. So today I’ll be discussing the first 12 chapters! Whoo, that’s a lot. No more dillydallying!
Characters:
There are a LOT of important characters in Pride and Prejudice, and that’s partly because Mr. and Mrs Bennet had 5 daughters. Let’s start with those Bennets.
Mr. Bennet is smart but sarcastic and takes pleasure in making fun of the silly nonsense of his daughters and his wife,
Mrs. Bennet. She is constantly overdramatic, not too clever, and mostly just obsessed with marrying off her daughters to eligible bachelors.
Their eldest daughter is Jane. She’s super sweet and super pretty.
Our protagonist is the Bennets’ second child, Elizabeth, or Lizzy. She’s the smartest of the bunch, and her father’s favorite. Wait — I thought parents aren’t supposed to have favorites… She’s witty, kind, protective of Jane, and certainly unafraid to speak her mind.
Their next daughter is Mary. She’s plain and pretentious. And that’s about it.
Kitty and Lydia are practically inseparable. Despite being the youngest, Lydia is the leader of the two. Both girls are impulsive, thoughtless, and boy obsessed.
Beyond the Bennets, there are some important characters in the neighborhood. First up is Charlotte Lucas, Lizzy’s best friend who is more practical than romantic, and she sure should be. 27 and still single?? What an old maid!
Mr. Charles Bingley has recently moved into the neighborhood, and, as a sweet-tempered, wealthy man, he’s a highly desirable bachelor, and he happens to have eyes for Jane.
He has two sisters, who are obnoxious and pretentious. Mrs. Louisa Hurst, is married, but Miss Caroline Bingley is not, and she only has eyes for our next character:
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. He’s even richer than Bingley, but not as open and easy-tempered. He’s rather proud and aloof, in fact, but also brooding and alluring.
Summary:
The story begins with Mrs. Bennet all in a tizzy because a handsome new man has moved into town. No, Cooper, not you. She’s excited about the prospect of him marrying one of her daughters. Mr. Bennet, though, acts unenthused, but secretly went to see Mr. Bingley to introduce himself. When he reveals the truth, his wife and daughters are thrilled, but learn nothing about the mystery man from dear old dad. However, they soon see the fellow themselves when he shows up to the nearby town’s ball, along with his two sisters, his brother in law, and his best buddy. While Bingley happily dances - twice with Jane, in case you’re keeping score, like Mrs. Bennet - his friend, Mr. Darcy, won’t dance. In fact, when Bingley tries to encourage him to dance with Elizabeth, who is sitting nearby, he says that she’s, “tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” Wow. Rude. Apparently Lizzy isn’t the only one who isn’t Darcy’s biggest fan, since the town as a whole decides he’s a rude jerk. Bingley, on the other hand, is a fan fave, and seems to specifically catch the eye of our lovely Jane. Oooooh!
The next day Charlotte Lucas comes over to hang and gossip about the ball. Playing dumb, Mrs. Bennet gets Charlotte to repeat compliments she heard about Jane, acting all surprised by them! “What?!? Bingley said Jane was the prettiest?!? No way!” After a couple group hangs between Jane, Lizzy, and the Bingley Bunch, Lizzy tells Charlotte that Jane seems to be falling for Bingley, but is pleased that she’s too subtle to become public gossip. Charlotte, on the other hand, says she should act even more interested than she feels in order to tie down a husband quickly. She also says getting to know your partner is pointless.
Meanwhile, we take a little trip into Darcy’s mind, as he’s becoming interested in Lizzy. He even admits this to Miss Bingley, who is immediately jealous. Having a complete lack of appropriate social skills, he starts lurking on Lizzy’s conversations. And at the next dancing opportunity, Lizzy gets the chance to refuse to dance with HIM this time. Ha!
Soon we learn that a militia is staying in the nearby town, Meryton, so Kitty and Lydia constantly go over to their aunt’s house to gossip and get a view of those handsome redcoats.
Meanwhile, Jane gets an invitation to visit Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, and Mrs. Bennet makes her go to Netherfield, their home, on horseback, rather than in the carriage, because it looks like rain, so she’ll be forced to stay the night. Oooh! So sneaky! The plan works a little too well because Jane wakes up super sick the next day. Hmm… not how illness works, but, hey, it’s the early 1800s. What do they know? Lizzy goes to visit Jane and is invited to stay until she gets better. Lizzy gets a pretty good feel for the whole group while spending so much time with them. Darcy seems like a prideful jerk, what with his giant list of qualities an “accomplished” woman should have. Sorry, not accomplished enough for ya, Fitzwilliam. Bingley seems genuinely nice, but his sisters are self-centered and conceited. Little does Lizzy know, they even make fun of her and her family (except Jane) when she’s not around.
When Mrs. Bennet comes by to see how her daughter is doing, she decides that there’s NO way she can be moved because she is FAR too sick. Lydia then gets Bingley to promise to host a ball at his house. Surprisingly, that’s not the most awkward part! Mrs. Bennet comes across as ignorant yet self-important and is super rude to Mr. Darcy when discussing country life. Whoops.
That night, Lizzy witnesses Caroline Bingley just completely fawning over Darcy as he tries to write a letter to his sister. Eventually, Darcy and Lizzy bicker and banter over the benefits or drawbacks of listening to advice from friends, and Mr. Bingley breaks up their little tete-a-tete, fearing an argument. Miss Bingley then hopes Darcy will pay attention to her playing the piano, but instead, he subtly asks Lizzy if she wants to dance. Lizzy, interpreting this as an attempt to make fun of her, says she doesn’t feel like dancing. Darcy decides he’d better stop paying so much attention to Lizzy or she might start getting ideas! Ideas of how best to slap him in the face, maybe.
The next night Miss Bingley’s super obvious obsession with Darcy continues, as she tries to impress him by reading and then by complimenting the heck out of his amazing library and estate, Pemberley. Aaaand the next night is very much the same. She eventually decides to invite Lizzy to walk around the room with her, in hopes of getting Darcy to watch them (and see her obviously superior beauty). Darcy does watch them, but when invited to join in, by Miss Bingley, of course, he says he can better admire them from afar. Lizzy wittily says that the best way to get back at Darcy is to tease him. Caroline Bingley sees nothing to tease him about, of course. He’s perfect, after all! Darcy, however, admits that he has flaws, including the fact that he does not easily forgive. Miss Bingley’s plan clearly backfired, so she recommends - you guessed it - music again! Soon Lizzy and Jane are finally able to leave Netherfield and head home to Longbourne.
Analysis:
This satirical classic takes a humorous look at things like class and gender, providing an interesting view of a number of themes.
First, let’s discuss Pride. We see this in the behavior of numerous characters, to different extents, of course. We see the thoughtless pride of Mrs. Bennet, who sees any reference to the comparative size of city and country as a personal attack on her and her society. We also see pride in her assumption that any new gentleman around will clearly want to marry one of her fine daughters. We also see the haughty pride of Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. Though they like Jane’s sweet temper, they look down on her low class family and essentially everyone else around them, too. They don’t even hesitate to make fun of those whom they see as inferior, even laughing out loud at Mrs. Bennet. However, perhaps the clearest example of pride is that of Mr. Darcy. Despite calling out his best friend for boasting while feigning humility, he himself demonstrates pride in just about every way possible. He hardly associate with those below him in rank and status, and he will not even condescend to dance with a woman who has been “slighted by other men.” I guess he never heard that one man’s trash is - wait, I don’t think that works for describing ladies… Anyways, a couple people are actually kind of fine with his pride, including Charlotte, who says, “One cannot wonder that so fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself.” Alright girl, whatevs.
Next up is Prejudice! Who'da guessed? This theme overlaps with pride, at times, since often the characters who are most prideful are also prejudiced against others whom they view as inferior. They are unwilling to set aside their opinions and get to know them. However, we also quickly see that Lizzy is rather prejudiced, and almost prides herself on it. She gains an immediate dislike for Darcy because of the insult she overheard. She also dislikes Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, since they seem egotistical. Just when she starts to think they might not be horrible, she realizes they don’t really care much about her sister, which, “restored Elizabeth to the enjoyment of all her former dislike.” While Jane tries to see the best in people, Elizabeth is quite content to recognize the worst.
Next up, let’s talk about Gender Roles. This story both follows along with and defies many of the stereotypical assumptions about gender. Mr. Darcy and Caroline Bingley provide a comprehensive list of qualities an “accomplished” woman must possess, including thorough knowledge and talent in music, art, song, and dance. She should speak multiple languages and must walk and talk with perfect grace. On top of all of this, she must continuously expand her mind with extensive reading. So, me in a nutshell, obviously. However, Elizabeth calls out this description as being incredibly unrealistic, proving that at least some people in this story have a more realistic view of the expectations set upon each gender. Overall, women are expected to be perfect and are generally portrayed as being constantly focused on getting married. However, this kind of backfires on the men, who are considered the “rightful property” of the women in town.
Which brings us to today’s final theme, love and Courtship. And boy does this story start out strong with its satirical take on gender and relationships. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Yep, that’s right. Every rich, single man is just looking to get married - and soon. Or, at least that’s what eligible young bachelorettes, and their mothers, assume. But the narrator isn’t the only one to assume young ladies are dying to get married. Darcy tells Miss Bingley that a lady’s imagination, “jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” Don’t worry, though. At least one character has a much more practical view of marriage. Charlotte Lucas tells Lizzy that Jane, and women in general, should act more interested than they are in order to snap up a man. After all, once she’s got him, she’ll have plenty of time to fall in love with him as much as she wants. In fact, she says that, “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance,” so it’s “better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.” Awww… So romantic!
Food for Thought:
Before I head off for the day to simultaneously practice my pastels and my piano, I’ll leave you with some food for thought. Consider these questions as you review the first twelve chapters of Pride and Prejudice.
First, what is the relationship like between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and what does this relationship reveal about each of them, individually?
Second, what is it about Elizabeth, other than her fine eyes, that seems to attract Mr. Darcy, and what does this reveal about each of them?
Third, how does Austen portray the different classes and the class structure and what does this demonstrate?
Fourth, what can we tell about Charlotte Lucas’ personality? What about her and Elizabeth’s personalities do you think makes them such good friends, despite being so different?
Finally, this novel is meant to take a satirical look at social ideals. What is the effect of this satire and how is it achieved?
