Pride & Prejudice: Chapters 35-42
Episode 33
NO REGERTS!! Ok, lots of regrets as Lizzy Bennet is about to get some major knowledge dropped on her in the form of a letter... Join Professor Pipes for more of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice, specifically Chapters 35-42 (Part 2, chapters 12-19).
Transcript
Introduction:
Hello and welcome to Pride and Prejudice. Wait, nope, that’s not right. Welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases. I’m Professor Pipes, and today I’m DISCUSSING Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. Specifically Chapters 35-42, which is also the end of Part 2, chapters 12-19. Let’s start with a bit of review.
Previously:
Previously in Pride and Prejudice, the Bennet family was having some ups and downs… After it seemed like Jane and Mr. Bingley were on the point of marriage, he left town with no plans of returning. Mr. Collins meanwhile proposed to Lizzy, but after she refused, he married her best friend! Jane went off to visit the Gardiners in London and Lizzy went to visit Charlotte. While she was there, Mr. Collins’ neighbor and rich patroness, Lady Catherine DeBourgh, was visited by her nephews, Colonel Fitwilliam and Mr. Darcy. After spending lots of time with this pair, Darcy unexpectedly proposed to Lizzy. Two proposals, and we’re only halfway through the book! Lizzy turned him down and told him off for preventing Jane’s marriage and for ruining the life of her former beau, Mr. Wickham. And that’s where we left off. So let’s find out what happens next!
Summary:
The day after Mr. Darcy’s proposal, Elizabeth goes for a walk and runs into Darcy. Awkward. He hands her a letter and leaves. And oh boy does that letter have news! Darcy doesn’t start off great, since he is rather unapologetic about his involvement with Jane and Bingley’s relationship, but then he does explain his reasons for separating them. He states that, while he could tell his best friend had fallen in love with Jane, it seemed like she wasn’t particularly interested in him, acting equally sweet and kind to everyone. That’s just who she is, Darcy! Jane’s apparent disinterest, coupled with her family’s inappropriate behavior, convinced Darcy that he needed to protect his best friend from heartbreak, so he told Bingley that he felt Jane didn’t love him, encouraged him to stay away from Netherfield, and then didn’t inform him about her presence in London. He does apologize if he did, in fact, misinterpret her feelings. Uh, yeah ya did.
Ohhhh, but the letter is about to get much more interesting, and dramatic, as the attention turns to… Mr. Wickham! According to Mr. Darcy, he’s not the great guy we all thought! Apparently, Old Mr. Darcy had not promised him an establishment at the local church, but instead merely requested that Mr. Darcy make an effort to help Mr. Wickham in whatever way was most suitable. Soon, Wickham told Darcy that he did not want to join the clergy and instead asked for a bunch of straight up cash so he could study law. However, to Wickham, apparently “studying” actually means squandering his money on pleasures and living a life of idleness. Who knew. Eventually the money ran out, so Wickham wrote to Darcy claiming that he no longer wanted to be a lawyer and instead now did want to be given that position in the clergy! Umm… Right. When Mr. Darcy refused, Wickham dropped all contact. Well, with that Darcy, at least.
Unfortunately, Mr. Wickham got himself in touch with the fifteen year old Miss Darcy, when she was staying in London. In fact, he flirted and flattered, as the scoundrel is wont to do, until she fell for him. She was on the point of running away with him when, luckily, she informed her brother of her new love and he was able to prevent their elopement. Clearly, Wickham was only after money and revenge. What a jerk!! To protect his sister’s feelings, Mr. Darcy hasn’t revealed this information to anyone except Colonel Fitzwilliam, and now Elizabeth.
At first, Elizabeth doesn’t want to believe any of this! I mean, Mr. Darcy’s the jerk and Wickham’s the good guy, right?? But then she thinks more about it and reflects on everything that has passed, seeing the events in a new light: Wickham’s inappropriately forward gossip, his choice to reveal all of it as soon as Darcy left town, his interest in Miss King. Oh, but Jane! Elizabeth does recall how inappropriately her family behaved and remembers Jane’s quiet, sweet temper. In fact, Charlotte Lucas had warned Elizabeth that Jane should show more affection, since Bingley might not pick up on her subtle clues. Pretty soon Lizzy realizes she had been entirely deceived about both men. Wah wah.
Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam then leave Rosings, and without much more drama, Elizabeth and Mariah Lucas eventually do too, and they pick up Jane in London on their way home. They also pick up Kitty and Lydia, and their numerous purchases, when they switch into Mr. Bennet’s carriage, nearer to home, and Lydia informs them all that Miss King has left town, so Mr. Wickham is again available. Eww.
Once home, Elizabeth tells Jane all about Darcy’s proposal and letter, just leaving out the part about her and Bingley, knowing it can only bring pain. Jane is sad for Darcy’s disappointed feelings and is completely shocked that anyone could be as cruel as Wickham has been. However, since he’s leaving town soon, they decide not to tell anyone about his past, especially since it would also mean dragging poor Miss Darcy into things.
Sadly for (almost) all the girls in town, the military regiment is leaving for Brighton. Oh no, whatever shall we do? But soon Lydia gets an offer from Colonel Forster’s wife to go with them. Oooh! Vacay! So exciting! Lizzy begs her father not to let Lydia go, since nothing but trouble can come from her staying there, surrounded by men, and her unguarded, flirtatious, always inappropriate behavior could ruin her reputation forever as well as the reputations of the rest of the family. Obviously she’s thinking about how that and the family’s behavior have already affected Jane. However, Mr. Bennet doesn’t listen. Soon Wickham visits the family and talks with Lizzy, who drops some hints that she’s learned the truth about Darcy. Then the regiment, and Lydia, head out.
Eventually Lizzy leaves for that summer trip she had planned with the Gardiners, and they end up in Derbyshire, near Mr. Darcy’s estate, Pemberley. Mrs. Gardiner really wants to tour the mansion and grounds, but Lizzy is unsurprisingly anxious. However, after she hears that Darcy is not at home, she says ok. And Part 2 ends with Lizzy about to go see the home and life that she turned down.
Characterization:
This section of the book is filled with revelations about characters whom we thought we knew.
As Lizzy learns the truth about Wickham, so do we. She discovers that his charismatic behavior was a perfect disguise, since everyone wants to listen to and believe someone they like. And he sure was likable. This friendly attitude allowed him to trick and manipulate not only Elizabeth, but Miss King, Mr. Darcy’s father, and Georgiana Darcy, providing Wickham with attention, pity, and most of all, money. We see that his motivations have almost exclusively been, as Jane Austen would say, mercenary, or concerned with making money at the expense of ethics.
Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy’s cold formality hid his much more ethical behavior, his kindness and his thoughtfulness. Darcy stated before that he does not open up to strangers easily, so THAT, coupled with the fact that he kept his sister’s behavior secret, meant that everyone assumed he was in the wrong, that he was the bad guy. But now, even if we still don’t love his past behavior, we can at least understand it, and understand him. His motivations have always been to protect the people he cares about. He protected Georgiana’s feelings and reputation. He protected Bingley from a broken heart.
Overall, Lizzy has learned that first impressions are not always correct.
Analysis:
These chapters represent a large shift in two of our biggest themes: Pride and Prejudice, and this is, in large part, the result of those character realizations. Finding out the truth has made Elizabeth recognize her own faults. She realizes that, “she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.” About time, girl. I’ve been saying that for weeks! She accepts that her vanity and pride had been wounded by Darcy and flattered by Wickham, which caused her prejudices against and for each of them, respectively. And by accepting this, she can begin to let go of those prejudices. Even though she still doesn’t regret turning Mr. Darcy down, over time, “his disappointed feelings became the object of compassion. His attachment excited gratitude, his general character respect.” She realizes that he is a “good sort of man,” and she was just flat out wrong about him. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy’s abominable pride seems to be falling away, as well. I mean, it was probably hit pretty hard when Elizabeth turned down his proposal, but he then makes the choice to reveal unflattering information about his family to her. Information that he knows would make people judge him and his sister and that he has previously been too proud to admit. Sooooo… Lizzy’s prejudice caused the breakdown of Darcy’s pride, which then caused the breakdown of Lizzy’s prejudice. Hmm… That’s a little complicated. Let’s move on.
Next up is Class. In this section we are yet again exposed to the ridiculous behavior of the very upper class Lady Catherine DeBourgh, but it’s nothing more than the usual that we would expect from her. General judginess, self-congratulation, ordering others about. She even tries to prevent Elizabeth from leaving simply by saying that she expected her to stay longer. However, I want to talk about the expectations that go along with different classes and how they impact people. Mr. Darcy has been living his whole life in the box created by his class. It seems that much of his stuffy behavior is the result of expectations laid upon the upper classes. He thinks he has to behave a certain way because that’s what’s expected of him. And we saw this in the awkwardness of his proposal. He’s caught between his love for Elizabeth and his concern that loving her is somehow wrong because of their classes. Yes, that may seem pompous, but it’s also kind of sad and limiting. Mr. Wickham, meanwhile, wants all the monetary benefits of being upper class but is not inhibited by the need to keep up appearances. So the two men kind of trade off the benefits and struggles of class, with one having all the money, but also all the pressure, and the other getting all the freedom but none of the cash.
Finally, I want to talk about Courtship. We’re still seeing the effects of Jane and Bingley’s love affair. Darcy admits that Bingley wasn’t over her yet when they were both in London, and Elizabeth sees that Jane is still heartbroken, so she can’t even reveal the rest of the contents of the letter for fear of hurting her more. We also of course see the result of Darcy’s heartbreak. His letter shows evidence of respect for Elizabeth, but also a bit of resentment. We see love and loss. Beneficence and bitterness. Should I do some more alliterations? No? Ok, I’ll move on to a very different couple: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. In Chapter 42, it is revealed that Elizabeth’s parents are not “a very pleasing picture of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort.” And this is because they didn’t necessarily marry for love. Instead, Mr. Bennet was “captivated by youth and beauty.” In other words, he married Mrs. Bennet because she was young, pretty, and seemed to be good humored. Unfortunately, she’s not very bright, and so much of Mr. Bennet’s happiness in marriage comes from laughing at his wife’s foolishness and ignorance. Dang! I thought he was the better parent, but now I just don’t know! Unfortunately, his poor marital choice led to his almost total disinterest in the affairs of his wife and children, which has subsequently led to Lydia going off to hang out with an entire campful of men in uniform. What could go wrong?
Food for Thought:
Finally, before I leave you, I’d like to leave you with some food for thought.
First, how have your opinions about the main characters shifted from the start of the story to now?
Second, in what ways were the true characters of Darcy and Wickham foreshadowed before they were revealed in the letter?
Third, what do you think about Lizzy’s decision not to tell anyone except Jane about Wickham? Was it the right decision? Why or why not?
Fourth, describe the tone of Darcy’s letter. How does it change from beginning to end and what does that show about his emotions?
Finally, how are the different genders portrayed in this section? What were the expectations of each gender at this time, and do all the characters follow along with these expectations?
Thanks for watching this episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Now go forth, read a bunch, and be good people! Oh, and don’t forget to mention my name at the Bell and you will be attended to.
