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

S: This was a difficult section for me to read, and I’m not sure why. I wonder if it’s because it seemed like things moved really slowly. There was a lot of introspection, which isn’t bad, but I find that I am not as interested sometimes with that part of the story; it’s kind of like working on multiplication – you know it’s going to be useful later in life, but goodness it’s annoying to learn!

In Chapter 36, I think we see Elizabeth’s character better than we’ve seen before, because her emotions are on full display. Upon her first read-through of Mr. Darcy’s letter, she is full of indignation and disbelief, and then begins to think more about her experiences with Mr. Wickham, and eventually is able to fully see how her family acts. She is also better able to see her own character, something which, I’m afraid, I tend to not do very well.

R: It had to have been a sobering realization for Elizabeth. She has some justifiable anger when it comes to how Mr. Darcy acted in relation to her sister and how he addressed himself in his marriage proposal; however, being able to come to grips with and accept that her own behavior had not been what it should have says much of her overall character. It’s not a pleasant experience, having your own sins and foibles dragged into the light.   

S: So true! We don’t like unpleasant things.

I was very sad that she missed sending off Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. I wonder if, had she been able to talk with Mr. Darcy, things would have improved a little between them.

R: I think, even with Elizabeth’s new understanding of the situation, their meeting before Darcy and Fitzwilliam leave Rosings wouldn’t have gone well. The chances of them being able to speak privately would have been almost nil with nosy Lady Catherine around. I also believe that they both might have been too embarrassed by the proposal encounter to really be able make any sort of progress. Darcy is likely raw from Elizabeth’s rejection; Elizabeth is probably too horrified by her responses to even know what she feels. At this point, Darcy’s love is not reciprocated, so any exchange between them would have been nothing but incredibly awkward.

S: Those are good points.

I have a different feeling toward Lady Catherine after she gives an invitation to Elizabeth to stay longer. I’ll not say that she’s a favourite character, but I think she might mean well in this instance. She seems to have taken perhaps a little liking to Elizabeth. She reminds me of a snobbish version of Mrs. Jenkins.

R: I can see the resemblance to Mrs. Jenkins, but I feel like Lady Catherine’s invitation to stay longer is nothing more than wanting to maintain control of everybody’s lives. She doesn’t want Elizabeth to leave yet, for whatever reason, so she must stay. Anyone else probably would have capitulated. I think it was good for Lady Catherine to encounter someone who stood up to her, and I think it foreshadows later events in the book.

S: I am intrigued!

When Elizabeth, Maria, and Mr. Lucas leave, it is good to note that Elizabeth sees Charlotte’s decision to marry Mr. Collins in a better light; of course, she still does not wish to ever be in that position, but it appears by all accounts that the friendship was mended in Elizabeth’s mind. Mr. Collins’s ramblings do not seem as tiresome as they did at the beginning of the book; the reader kind of learns to ‘tune him out’.

R: It’s definitely nice that after Elizabeth’s initial negative reaction to Charlotte’s marriage she’s able to reconcile herself to it somewhat and be the friend Charlotte undoubtedly needs. Mr. Collins seems to take some final digs at Elizabeth before she leaves by pointing out how good his situation is because of Lady Catherine.  

S: Yes, Mr. Collins has poor taste and doesn’t act like the kind of pastor I’d want to be under.

I hate to say it, but Catherine’s and Lydia’s impropriety frustrated me when reading Chapter 39. Of all the things to do! – meet your sisters and friend and prepare them a meal, but be so vain and self-centered that you make them pay for it but still take the credit – I simply do not like Lydia. Catherine (Kitty) is not too bad so far, but Lydia’s incessant talking and complete focus on the regiment is just silly and irritating. Mary’s piety is also frustrating. Even though she doesn’t whine and drone on and on about the officers and do silly things with them, she has a ‘pooh-pooh’ attitude which is almost just as bad. 

R: Oh, yes! Kitty and Lydia are so thoughtless and self-centered, and Mary is pedantic. The two youngest have no thoughts in their head besides military and millinery, paying no heed to what their older sisters think. They have no interest in hearing about their travels, only conveying gossip about Mr. Wickham and the girl he was supposed to be marrying. 

S: As I read this section, I felt as though all Elizabeth’s emotions were overwhelming mine, that I was feeling her frustration with her sisters as much as she was. I know her father is glad she returned, but she now just seems tired; her eyes are opened to herself and her family, and she’s bearing a great secret.

Even though Elizabeth keeps the secret of Mr. Darcy’s dealings with Mr. Bingley’s departure from Jane, I am glad she can confide in her about Mr. Wickham and about the proposal. I like Jane’s sensible attitude toward them, and that they do not either of them wish to discredit anyone or spread gossip. Elizabeth shows prudence in not wanting Miss Darcy’s affair to be made public, and I think this shows a maturity in her we had not previously seen. 

R: I agree with all of the above. It’s good that Elizabeth has one sister in whom she can confide, but I think it was wise to not reveal Mr. Darcy’s interference in Jane’s relationship with Bingley. Jane’s such a calm, reasonable woman, but I think it would have preyed on her mind to know that her happiness had been destroyed by a third party. 

I do love how Jane tries so hard to see something good in both Darcy and Wickham. One of my favorite quotations is from this passage:

‘This will not do,’ said Elizabeth; ‘you never will be able to make both of them good for anything. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Darcy’s; but you shall do as you choose.’

And this one:

‘There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.’

S: Those were good quotes and sum up this section very nicely!

Mrs. Bennet’s questions and observations appear more rude than before, and perhaps that is because we are feeling what Elizabeth is feeling – confusion, frustration, a bit of melancholy on Jane’s behalf. Mrs. Bennet doesn’t seem to understand that, as much as she tries to make herself sound intelligent, she really sounds rather ignorant. 

R: Indeed, Mrs. Bennet has no sensitivity for others’ feelings beyond how they affect her own. Can you imagine her reaction if she knew that Elizabeth had turned down a proposal from Mr. Darcy? I think Elizabeth might have found herself tossed out on her ear. 

S: This section leaves off with a sense of melancholy. There’s not much of a cliffhanger or dramatic reveal, and I think that’s on purpose (not that Jane Austen necessarily meant for us to read it five chapters at a time!). This feels like a good point in the book to pause, like Elizabeth does, and take stock of all that has happened. Of course, we still have twenty chapters to go, but there’s just a quiet in this section that I wonder whether or not will carry through the rest of the book.

R: You’re right. It’s a little bit of a breaking point, the ruminations on the huge revelations in the previous chapters sort of wrapping up the first part of the book and teasing the reader about what might be to come. 

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

S: I like Colonel Fitzwilliam; he seems a very amiable man with a kind heart, and he quickly strikes up a friendship with Elizabeth. Lady Catherine, I am sorry to say, is not comic relief to me, though I’m sure she is meant to be; she just annoys me and is too much of a busybody with a rather high opinion of herself. (I do admit, however, that her comments about practicing the piano are amusing!) Mr. Darcy’s embarrassment over her ‘ill-breeding’ reminds me of Elizabeth’s embarrassment over her family’s at the dinner party so many chapters ago.

R: Oh, that’s really interesting! I’d never thought about the parallel between Elizabeth and Darcy’s feelings about their family members’ behavior. They also each have at least one family member who is not an embarrassment – Colonel Fitzwilliam for Darcy, Jane and Aunt Gardiner for Elizabeth.

I’m torn on how I feel about Lady Catherine. She is definitely a high-handed busybody, but I do find her amusing sometimes. That could be the effect of how she’s portrayed in the BBC/A&E mini-series. Sometimes it’s difficult to separate my memories of my favorite adaptation from the book.

S: It is difficult to do that sometimes! As much as I enjoy movie adaptations of books, I’m beginning to like the books better because the reader’s imagination does the work.

I like Mr. Darcy’s summation of Elizabeth’s character and her assertion that he’s no good in large parties of people because he doesn’t practice talking with others. He talks much more than he did before and seems to enjoy bantering with her.

R: It’s a very different Darcy than we’ve seen thus far. Initially, it’s difficult to know whether that’s because he’s more comfortable in his aunt’s house, more at ease with the company, or something else entirely. The conversation at the piano is one of my favorites between him and Elizabeth. For the first time, they seem to be really communicating, even if it is a little snarky and sarcastic. 

S: The moment when he decides to visit Elizabeth while she’s alone made me laugh because he’s so uncomfortable! It’s so cute and Elizabeth seems so confused. I’m guessing he likes her, and certainly Charlotte is convinced of this, and of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s affections toward Elizabeth. Elizabeth remains confused with Mr. Darcy’s visitations, but it’s clear to me as a reader that he is at least interested in getting to know her.

It cracks me up that she thinks Mr. Darcy is finding her on her walks because he is making fun of her. She’s apparently never before had an admirer! The entire situation is absurd. 

R: Darcy doesn’t seem to quite know what he wants, either. He wants to be around Elizabeth, but then doesn’t seem to have any idea how to comport himself once he’s in her presence.

S: Indeed! He’s so funny in these scenes. 

Elizabeth’s talk with Colonel Fitzwilliam is particularly interesting, and also rather sad as suspicions seem to have been confirmed regarding Mr. Bingley’s abrupt departure. Mama Bear comes out as she works herself into a frenzy of indignation and frustration upon her sister’s behalf. Still, she is not seeing things very clearly, in my opinion. She sees her family’s behaviour in an indulgent light rather than practically. This is no surprise, but it is a bit frustrating.

R: It was an interesting way to bring that information to light. Poor Colonel Fitzwilliam has no idea that he’s just destroyed any chance that Darcy might have had with Elizabeth. 

S: I was actually very excited about Mr. Darcy’s visit to inquire about her health in Chapter 34, but was then shocked and offended on her behalf by his odd proposal. I understand why he said the things he did, and that sometimes our words do not come out the way we intend them to, but it was still off-putting.

The rest of the chapter is full of accusations and anger from both parties. Mr. Darcy’s statements about Mr. Wickham are interesting, and I’m wondering how much of the story we’re missing, or if it’s just Mr. Darcy speaking in anger. I’m not quite sure whether to feel indignation with Elizabeth or sadness toward Mr. Darcy, knowing it took a lot for him to speak his mind and feelings.

Elizabeth does admit to herself that it feels good to know that someone wants her so much, yet she doesn’t allow herself to focus on that feeling, which I can understand. She already feels angry about the whole situation, so much so that she ends up with a headache, and is then proposed to by a man she thought disdained her, so that also fueled the argument. It’s never fun to feel gross and then have to have a really difficult conversation with someone when your emotions are all out of whack.

R: I wonder if Colonel Fitzwilliam hadn’t given Elizabeth a heads up about Darcy’s actions with regard to Jane and Bingley if she might have responded differently to Darcy’s proposal? Certainly it would have gone down differently since her reason for not going to dinner that night was because of what the colonel told her, so it likely would have happened at a different time. 

The whole encounter is cringe-inducing. I think Elizabeth has more right to her anger than Darcy does, though it feeds more into her prejudice. Darcy’s own prejudice against the Bennet family is on full display in his proposal. How could he have thought that she’d accept him after enumerating all of the reasons she wasn’t good enough for him? I can’t imagine a man coming to me and saying, ‘Hey, I love you, but you know, your family kind of sucks.’ 

Buh-bye.

S: That is true. He definitely could have handled it with more tact. As much as he says he loves her, the rest of his words seem to betray that statement. I was also thinking, though, that it seems like he trusts her enough to be fully honest with her, which is a trait that is difficult for most people.

R: I wonder if it’s really love at this point, or mere infatuation, but that’s true. He knows that Elizabeth is quite familiar with the issues in her family, so he may have felt ‘safe’ in bringing it up. The problem is, while many of us are aware of our own faults, and those of the people close to us, we rarely want them thrown in our faces.

S: Agreed! The way he responds to her outbursts does suggest that it may be less love and more infatuation, or perhaps the beginnings of a love that hasn’t had time to mature.

The letter in Chapter 35 is very eye-opening and sheds light on so much! Mr. Darcy clearly thought Jane was simply a gold-digger and didn’t want his best friend to end up in a bad situation. I think he does have a kind heart, but we haven’t been given a chance to focus on it. He does acknowledge that Elizabeth knows her sister’s intentions better than he, so he is sorry he made things difficult and caused so much distress, but I think with the information he had his conduct was reasonable. (Remember when Charlotte told Jane to appear more in love with Mr. Bingley than she may have felt? I was thinking this the entire time I read the first part of Mr. Darcy’s letter. I’m not saying I blame Jane, because I’m also the type of person who doesn’t like to show my emotions easily; I just think it’s interesting that, had Charlotte’s warning been heeded, Mr. Darcy may have not interfered, or if he had, Mr. Bingley may have not heeded his advice.)

R: What a good point! I’d never considered the possibility that Charlotte’s advice might have actually been a good suggestion. I’m afraid Bingley also showed a bit of a character flaw here by not holding to his own convictions and allowing himself to be persuaded by Darcy and his sisters that Jane didn’t actually care for him. Who would be better able to tell that than the person who had actually spent time with her?

S: True! 

And then we come to the part in the letter about Mr. Wickham. I’m very much on Mr. Darcy’s side at the moment, and we have reason to believe that his story is true, especially since we as readers have already come to think highly of Colonel Fitzwilliam so as to trust his word, and when we remember that Mrs. Gardiner had suspicions of Mr. Wickham. It all seems to fit together. Mr. Wickham does remind me a lot of Mr. Willoughby. And poor Georgiana! Seduced by a man at fifteen and tricked by the lady who was caring for her, all for getting at her money because her brother had shown his former friend ‘tough love’.

R: Wickham is heinous. I’m sure Elizabeth was relieved that she hadn’t gotten more involved with him, once she got over whatever her initial emotions were after reading Darcy’s letter. 

S: I’m very excited to find out how all this plays out! Will Elizabeth confront Mr. Darcy or ask for Colonel Fitzwilliam’s side of the story in all this? Will there be another chance for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, or for Mr. Bingley and Jane? Is Mr. Darcy now out of the picture and Colonel Fitzwilliam in it? Does the behaviour of the rest of the Bennet family affect all the girls’ chances of marrying, or is Mr. Darcy just being prejudiced and no one else will care about their lack of fortune?

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

S: So much happens in this section! I knew I liked Mrs. Gardiner and I’m glad she’s made another appearance. I still find it strange that, though she can’t quite put her finger on it, there’s something about Mr. Wickham she doesn’t like and proceeds to caution Elizabeth against falling in love with and encouraging him. Elizabeth’s answers to her are funny, but also respectful, and we see toward the end of the chapter that Mrs. Gardiner’s suspicions were somewhat founded because Mr. Wickham moves on to another young lady. It reminds me of the verses in Song of Solomon (2:7; 3:5; 8:4) that say, ‘…do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time’ (HCSB). So many times it’s easy for us to push for something that we want and the timing is not right, is not God’s timing, and I think Mrs. Gardiner sees that with Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham’s relationship. 

R: I think Austen set up Mrs. Gardiner to be Mrs. Bennet’s complete opposite, someone that the Bennet girls all could have modeled themselves after; however, we can see that only Jane and Elizabeth seem to have done so. Mary seems to be somewhere in the middle, which, as the middle child, is hardly surprising; she wants to be taken seriously, but seems to crave attention like her younger sisters. 

S: So true! I hadn’t picked up on any of those observations. 

I’m still sad over Elizabeth’s feelings toward Charlotte, but she is observant enough to see that Charlotte really does need someone to write to her, to encourage her; perhaps she’s more nervous than she lets on!

R: I’m glad Elizabeth is able to set aside her feelings about Charlotte’s choice enough to continue to be a good friend to her by writing and visiting, as much as she must have hated the idea of having to be in Mr. Collins’ home for any length of time. 

S: Being treated so rudely by someone you really thought was your friend and to whom you had been giving the benefit of the doubt is not a nice position to be in. At least Jane now knows truly where she stands with Miss Bingley and is thinking about it rationally (though, as we read later, she’s still sad about Mr. Bingley). 

R: Poor Jane! She not only lost the man she cared for, but also the friends she thought she had. It’s a difficult position to be in. 

S: I’m so glad Elizabeth is looking forward to visiting the Collins’s home. It’s interesting to me that her aunt still seems cautious about Mr. Wickham, but Elizabeth is ready to defend his actions in seeking out Miss King (and, apparently, her inheritance!) so quickly after her father died. I hate to say it, but he does remind me a little of Mr. Willoughby. I know we’re only halfway through the story, so there is still time to see if Mr. Wickham is actually a good person, though, so I’m trying to reserve judgment. Funny thought: Elizabeth’s impassioned speech over taking the ‘tour of pleasure’ with her aunt and uncle reminds me of Maryanne – so much emotion!

R: I wonder if Elizabeth is being flippant or ironic when discussing Wickham’s behavior with her aunt. Her replies could be sincere, but based on earlier conversations, it reads as being somewhat sarcastic to me. And in the same way, her response to the trip also seems to be a parody of her mother’s behavior. It could be Elizabeth covering up her disappointment in ‘losing’ Mr. Wickham.

S: That is very true; it’s difficult to tell with Elizabeth sometimes. 

It’s obvious to me that Charlotte can take care of herself, though I suspect from her absolute delight at seeing her family, Elizabeth included, that she’s very lonely. It doesn’t seem to me that she regrets marrying Mr. Collins, but I think she may not have quite expected that Lady Catherine de Burgh would be as involved in her life as she is!

R: Charlotte definitely seems to have settled into her new situation and made the best of it that she can. She’s fortunate that her family has the means to be able to visit, and are apparently quite as silly as Mrs. Bennet and her younger daughters. They seem to appreciate the fastidious attention paid by Lady Catherine. 

S: If I were Charlotte, I believe I would go absolutely crazy in that house, on that estate. Constantly being told what you’re doing is not the ‘right way’ to go about it, being criticised, knowing your husband continually embarasses himself – it would be too much for me, though many times we can handle more than we think we can. 

I wonder why Lady Catherine acts as she does; is it because she feels she must control everything because her husband’s death caused her such grief, or is it simply part of the prevalent idea of the time that the upper class knows best and is best equipped to help?

R: I agree. The expectation when a woman married was that she would run her own household thereafter, but with Lady Catherine around, Charlotte has no chance to actually do so. She is, mostly, a sensible person, so even without interference, I imagine she would have done well enough in keeping house frugally and neatly, as would have been expected of a parson’s wife.

S: Interesting thing I noticed, not just from this section but also as I thought back to earlier chapters – Sir William and Mr. Collins seem to be cut from a similar cloth, so perhaps it’s no wonder Charlotte is able to cope well enough. Elizabeth notes how she’s rearranged the house, how she encourages Mr. Collins to work outside most of the day, and how she doesn’t embarrass him in front of others, but remains, though embarrassed at times herself, loyal. It may not be the romantic love we’re used to reading about or seeing or being told we must have, but I think it is a type of love nonetheless. 

R: That’s a good point. Charlotte does seem better prepared to handle Mr. Collins than Elizabeth would have been.

S: In spite of awkward conversations, Elizabeth is also able to hold her own against Lady Catherine and even finds a little-used path on which to walk in order to have some peace. 

R: Imagine if it had been Elizabeth married to Mr. Collins! Elizabeth can’t seem to help making sarcastic replies to Lady Catherine, and I can’t see that she would have been able to control the tendency if she’d married him. Maybe at first, but just a couple of weeks of it and Elizabeth is ready to get out of there.

S: Now that would have been a sight! 

I did not expect Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam to visit. (Colonel Fitzwilliam’s description is rather amusing – he’s ugly to look at but nice to talk to.) I can’t tell if Mr. Darcy really doesn’t know that Jane has been in London or if he’s embarrassed because he does know. So many unanswered questions and so many unsatisfying answers! 

R: This section puts us at just under halfway through the book. We can look forward to some exciting revelations coming up soon! 

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

R: There’s a great deal of drama going on in these chapters. The Bingleys and Darcy leave Netherfield, and Jane is informed by Miss Bingley that they have no intention of returning. The discussion about her letter between Jane and Elizabeth continues to highlight Elizabeth’s prejudice against Bingley’s sisters and Mr. Darcy (though at this point I think many readers would agree that it’s at least somewhat justified) and gives us a further glimpse into Jane’s kind nature. She simply refuses to think ill of Miss Bingley.

S: Jane really is such a sweetheart! She desires to see good in all people. I do agree with Elizabeth’s assessment of Miss Bingley’s character though, so it’s difficult to not perceive Jane as being deceived. 

R: In Chapter 22, we get the shock of learning that within a couple of meetings, Charlotte Lucas has managed to secure the hand of Mr. Collins! Following her earlier discussion with Elizabeth, this isn’t terribly surprising; her only goal is to have a comfortable home of her own. She doesn’t seem to care whether or not she will or could actually ever come to care for her husband.

I think we get perhaps our worst look at Elizabeth’s prejudice here, though I do think she is also concerned for her friend. She thinks Charlotte is being incredibly foolish, but her prejudice against Mr. Collins leads her to treat her best friend quite badly when Charlotte shares her news. ‘Charlotte the wife of Mr. Collins was a most humiliating picture! And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen.’ I think this also shows that Elizabeth holds to a bit of impractical romanticism. In reality, most marriages of the time were likely more like those of Charlotte and Mr. Collins.

S: Agreed! I am surprised at Elizabeth’s harsh criticism of her friend. For a moment I was a little surprised that Charlotte chose to marry Mr. Collins, but the more I thought back to the earlier chapters I could see that it was hinted at in the way she engaged him in conversation. Still, I think he and Mary Bennet would have been a better match, as they both seem to have the same ideals. However, perhaps Charlotte will temper him! One can only hope.

When I read in Chapter 23 that Elizabeth’s and Charlotte’s relationship has been ruined by Charlotte’s impending marriage to Mr. Collins I was so sad! For Elizabeth to throw away years of friendship because she dislikes Mr. Collins and dislikes Charlotte’s decision to marry him hurts my heart. I don’t think she should be surprised by Charlotte’s choice, but perhaps her own romanticism brushed it aside. 

R: It’s sad to lose a friend over choices they make. Sometimes it’s warranted, but I’m not sure this is one of those times. I can see Elizabeth and Charlotte not being as close anymore, especially with the distance; but understanding Mr. Collins’ character, I would think that Elizabeth would be a lifeline to sanity for her friend. 

S: I was also sad for Jane that she had to constantly put up with her mother’s cries about Mr. Bingley. It’s as though Mrs. Bennet thinks that Jane isn’t emotional enough so she’s going to put out all the emotion on her behalf! 

R: Same! I’m so annoyed by Mrs. Bennet’s over-emotionalism. She’s like the stereotype of every emotional female on the planet, which may have been Austen’s intent. She’s almost a caricature of what females were expected to act like in the Regency era.

S: In Chapter 24 we see more clearly Jane’s sagacity. She is hands down my hero right now and my favourite character so far. Elizabeth really does have a lot of emotion and her father is just rude. I know that it’s probably because his life did not turn out the way he wanted, but there is a difference between being witty and being a bully.

R: I think we see here that in some cases Elizabeth is a better judge of character than Jane. While Jane wants to think the best of everyone, Elizabeth can see that Bingley’s sisters, at least, are trying to keep him away from Jane. Elizabeth sees the hypocrisy of how they treated Jane to her face and how they acted when Jane wasn’t around. 

S: That is a good point. She does know them better than Jane does, as we saw in earlier chapters.

I’m so happy that Jane is able to go with her aunt to London! I like Mrs. Gardiner, and I am intrigued by her initial thoughts of Mr. Wickham. Are her suspicions founded? I know that the chapter ends with her pushing her suspicions aside due to his amiable character, but it seems rather fishy to me.

R: I think Mrs. Gardiner is probably one of my favorite characters in the book. She’s related to the family by marriage, so doesn’t suffer from the same emotionalism as most of the Bennet ladies do. She’s a good counselor and role model for them.

S: I’m excited to see if her character is more developed in the coming chapters! I also am interested to see if Jane does run into Mr. Bingley whilst in London.

(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?

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

S: Chapter 11 is so funny. I enjoyed seeing how attentive Mr. Bingley is toward Jane. There’s such a subtlety to the scene, yet the reader can see that Mr. Bingley treats Miss Bennet differently. Miss Bingley is thwarted in her attempts to wrangle Mr. Darcy’s attention, and her attempts are the parts I giggled at most. I know I’ve made a fool of myself trying to get someone’s attention!

R: She also tries to turn Mr. Darcy against Elizabeth. Instead, we learn something of Darcy’s views. He says, in response to a comment by Elizabeth, ‘Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride – where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will always be under good regulation.’ This echoes what Mary said earlier about pride.

There is also his famous line, ‘My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.’

S: I also like that Mr. Darcy has Elizabeth’s number: ‘And yours…is wilfully to misunderstand them’, he responds when she accuses him of hating everyone. It makes me wonder if he suspects that she knows he likes her and is being stubborn, or if she really has no clue still. I can see the continued brewings of misunderstandings!

R: That was certainly one of their most direct interactions, and we are given our first clear glimpse of the pride of Mr. Darcy and the prejudice of Elizabeth Bennet referenced in the novel’s title. 

Elizabeth and Jane finally return home, to the sorrow of Mr. Bingley and Mrs. Bennet, but the joy of nearly everyone else.

S: I love that both Jane and Elizabeth stand up for themselves. While the reader already knows Elizabeth has her own mind and voices it, the book makes it clear in this chapter that Jane is not a pushover, however even-tempered she may be: ‘…but Jane was firm where she felt herself to be right’. She knows her own mind and will be assertive when she thinks she needs to be assertive.

Their father’s reaction at having them both home again in order to bring back some stability to their family is so sweet! I couldn’t tell at the beginning of the novel if Jane annoyed him like Mary, Catherine, and Lydia do, but he seems to lump Jane and Elizabeth together as being the sensible daughters.

R: The only sense in a house full of sensibility! Oh wait, that was the other novel.

We meet a couple more important characters in these chapters. Mr. Collins is a minister, under the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and heir to the Bennet estate. He wants to reconcile with Mr. Bennet before his death by marrying one of his daughters. Upon learning that Jane is, according to Mrs. Bennet, all but spoken for, he turns his attentions to Elizabeth. Mr. Collins is hilarious and irritating all rolled into one.

S: Lady de Bourgh does not seem like someone I would want to cross, and Mr. Collins is certainly a piece of work! It was so funny to me that Mr. Bennet’s desire was that Mr. Collins proved himself to be a fool; he was not disappointed and neither was the reader! Mr. Collins’s letter to Mr. Bennet is so cringe-worthy, as is how he speaks to the ladies, yet in a strange way he’s not rude, just awkward, whereas Lydia’s outburst and interruption of his reading was extremely rude; it is not the first time she has behaved in such a manner. I am shocked that, rather than being reprimanded by her father and mother, she was reprimanded by Jane and Elizabeth. 

Poor Mr. Bennet. The reader knows that Mr. Collins is awkward and simple because of how he was raised, so some of his actions can be excused. Still, it would be rather annoying to be shadowed by someone in your own home when all you want to do is get away for a moment’s peace, so I can understand why Mr. Bennet encouraged Mr. Collins to go on a walk with the girls.

R: That’s a good point about Jane and Elizabeth being the ones to step in and call the younger girls to task for their behavior. I imagine that Mr. Bennet has all but given up hope that they’ll actually heed him, while Mrs. Bennet likely doesn’t see anything wrong with how they act. 

Finally, we meet the handsome but mysterious figure of Mr. Wickham, who is joining the military regiment at Meryton. They meet him in town, where Darcy and Bingley happen to be passing by on their way to Longbourn to check on Jane, and Elizabeth sees that Darcy and Wickham have a sort of strange reaction to one another. 

S: As a reader I’m becoming almost as convinced as Mrs. Bennet that Mr. Bingley very much cares for Jane. 

The interaction between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham intrigues me. Nothing is really out of character for Mr. Darcy, but it does make one wonder about Mr. Wickham. I’m hoping we find out more about Mr. Wickham and his relationship to Mr. Darcy soon.