(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

R: The ladies of Longbourn and Mr. Collins return to Aunt Phillips’ for what I suppose is a dinner party. The mysterious Mr. Wickham is invited as well, and we quickly learn his history with Darcy as he shares it with Elizabeth. Essentially, the two grew up together with Wickham’s father acting as steward to Darcy’s. After Mr. Darcy’s father died, Wickham was supposed to have received a living in the church, which Darcy withheld from him, supposedly for no reason but spite. We also learn that Mr. Collins’ Lady Catherine is also Mr. Darcy’s aunt. 

It’s hard to know whether to trust Wickham. He seems so earnest and honest, and Mr. Darcy certainly hasn’t shown himself in any better light to the village.

S: That’s an interesting way of looking at it. As I read Mr. Wickham’s story, I saw someone who is petulant, self-centered, and bitter. I dislike how rude he is about Mr. Darcy and his sister. If we look at the previous chapters, Mr. Darcy, though not stopping gossip about others, doesn’t begin it himself, and seems to end his participation in it fairly quickly (to be sure, he barely speaks anyway and most of the time when he does he’s bantering with Elizabeth). I’m also reminded of his statement to Elizabeth about how fast she makes up her mind about others, choosing to misunderstand what they mean. 

R: Fair points all. Perhaps Wickham’s tone could be better described as ingratiating.

S: Ah, yes! Good word. To me, Jane is the most sensible one of the Bennet family. She chooses to not jump to conclusions about either party, Mr. Wickham or Mr. Darcy, deciding instead to reserve judgment. She reminds me of Elinore from Sense and Sensibility.

R: Elizabeth’s conversation with Wickham, and later with Jane, does show her tendency toward prejudice, both for and against others. Wickham’s story easily sways her to become even firmer in her prejudice against Darcy while at the same time prejudicing her strongly in Wickham’s favor. Each part of his story builds on nebulous ideas of Darcy’s character that she hasn’t really had an opportunity to see but is completely ready to believe.

There’s a ball at Netherfield! Even Elizabeth is excited, hoping to dance the first two dances with Wickham, only to be thwarted by Mr. Collins requesting her hand before they even go. This also brings her to the realization that he might be fixing his attention on her as his future wife. Horrors! And then Mr. Wickham doesn’t show up at all, but Elizabeth ends up dancing with the one person she promised never to dance with – Mr. Darcy. Today, having a dance with someone might last five minutes at most; but at these balls, dances could last more than thirty minutes, which was why having to dance with someone you really didn’t want to was exceedingly awkward.

S: This is demonstrated quite well when Mr. Collins attempts to dance with Elizabeth as well as in the uncomfortable conversation she has with Mr. Darcy! I also laughed aloud when Mr. Collins, in his mind, put Elizabeth in her place after she gave her opinion as to whether or not he should introduce himself to Mr. Darcy.

R: The whole encounter is hilarious and horrifying. Mr. Collins makes me cringe so much. There were very particular rules about introductions in Georgian society and being the parson of someone’s aunt was not sufficient connection to introduce oneself to a gentleman. 

S: Aside from this, Elizabeth is absolutely mortified by her family’s behaviour at the ball, including her father’s; I was mortified reading about it! Despite wanting to never be around Mr. Darcy, she seems to care an awful lot about what he thinks.

Sadly, I’m seeing more of Elizabeth’s flaws in these chapters. She won’t listen to others’ opinions of Mr. Wickham: Jane’s, Miss Bingley’s, or Mr. Darcy’s. Granted, she has cause to not want to listen to Miss Bingley, but it’s usually best to hear the story from both parties involved. She seems to trust Mr. Wickham blindly, even though she really knows very little about his past, save what he’s told her. I would venture to say that she knows more about Mr. Darcy, or at least has a more rounded picture of him, because she’s heard of his character from others and not from himself. Mr. Wickham, to me, is almost too open, too forward, and I find Elizabeth’s prejudice and suspicions toward Mr. Darcy to be unwarranted. Further, we see in Chapter 18 that he tries to explain his side of the story to her, and she chooses not to hear him.

R: I agree that we should always seek to hear both or all sides of a story before judging the veracity. I don’t see Mr. Darcy trying to explain his side, though. It’s more like he’s just shutting down Elizabeth’s questions. I can imagine that he would be exceptionally resistant to explaining or defending himself because of his pride. And Miss Bingley’s approaching Elizabeth to tell her about Wickham’s past and station seems to be nothing more than mean-spirited gossip meant to hurt Elizabeth and try to make her look foolish.

S: Those are good points; we’ve already seen how self-centered and rude the Bingley sisters are. 

Continuing the awkward theme Mr. Collins has going, in the next chapter we come to The Proposal from himself to Elizabeth. The entirety of the conversation is so funny, so cringe-worthy. Oh, the poor man – he is so socially inept and awkward.

Chapter 20 is also very funny. Mr. Bennet’s proposition to Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet’s assertions and pleadings with Elizabeth – all of it borders on the absolutely ridiculous. 

R: Chapters 19 and 20 are some of the most absurd, but enjoyable, chapters in the book. The whole scene with Mr. Collins misunderstanding Elizabeth’s refusals is funny and sad at the same time. It displays his awkwardness, but also stubbornness and stupidity.

We do get one of my absolute favorite quotes from Mr. Bennet in Chapter 20: ‘An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.’

S: That is one of the funniest parts! One must feel a little sorry for Mr. Collins, though. If he is indeed being put upon by his employer to marry quickly and feels that she must be listened to, one cannot help but see why he tries to persuade himself that Elizabeth will change her mind.

There are a few questions I want answered: Will Mr. Collins continue going down the Bennet sister’s line until one of them marries him? Is Mr. Wickham telling the truth that Mr. Darcy is a cad, or is Miss Bingley telling the truth that Mr. Wickham is a cad?