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

R: I never would have survived in Jane Austen’s time with all of the balls and dinner parties. Those seem to be about the only activities that well-bred young ladies were expected to partake of. Oh, and trying to catch a husband.

S: It seems like it would have been a very stressful way to live.

R: The conversation between Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas about how one is to secure the affections of a young man is illuminating. Charlotte seems to show a great deal of cynicism when she says, ‘when she is secure of him, there will be more leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses.’ She’s afraid that Jane will lose Mr. Bingley because Jane’s emotions are well-hidden from any who don’t know her well. 

S: That’s interesting; I didn’t read it as cynicism but more as pragmatism. I feel like there’s a bit of foreshadowing with Elizabeth’s reprimand to Charlotte, but as I’ve only seen the movie I’m interested to see how it plays out. 

I like that Austen makes sure to let us know that Elizabeth has her doubts about Bingley’s sisters and is worried for Jane. 

I have to say, I didn’t mind Mary so much at the beginning, but it would appear that she is prone to embarrassing herself and unable to read a room; that’s quite sad!

R: I like that Austen pulls back a little in perspective and gives us a view of what Mr. Darcy is thinking – he has begun to admire Elizabeth’s eyes and appreciate her playful manner. He starts to stand near her at balls and parties, leading Elizabeth to think that he’s looking for further opportunities to criticize.

At one ball, Sir William Lucas, Charlotte’s father, attempts to draw Darcy into conversation, and then to induce him to dance with Elizabeth, but even when he asks her, she holds to her earlier determination and turns him down.

S: Yes! I like Darcy now and am rather amused that Elizabeth is completely unaware of how she’s affecting him. I’m more convinced than before that she was really hurt by his words.

R: That’s a good point. Then we get a bit of a glimpse of Miss Bingley’s nature as she attempts to draw Darcy into criticizing the general assembly, but instead finds herself at a loss for words as he admits that he had been ‘meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.’ When he reveals that he was speaking of Elizabeth Bennet, Miss Bingley turns to mockingly congratulating Darcy on his future felicitations. The lady has her own sights set on the eligible bachelor.

S: Miss Bingley reminds me of a more refined version of Lucy Steele. I am not a fan.

R: I know! I can’t stand Miss Bingley. She’s probably the character I hate most in Jane Austen’s books. 

Austen gives us a little more information about the Bennet family now. Mr. Bennet’s estate (worth about $160,000/year in today’s currency) is entailed away to a male relative, a sad state of affairs when one has five daughters to support. Mrs. Bennet has a sister who lives in Meryton, near their home, and a brother in trade in London.

S: Speaking of the Bennet family, I like Catherine better than Lydia, because at least she has the sense to listen to her father’s reprimand for her foolish behaviour. And poor Jane! She really had no choice, did she in riding a horse to the Bingley’s in the rain? Her mother is quite commanding. Elizabeth has some moxy, though! She truly doesn’t care what others think of her and is so much more concerned with her family. She is such a loyal sister.

In Chapter 8 I really like that Elizabeth holds her own against the Bingley sisters and that Mr. Darcy puts Miss Bingley in her place. (Yay, Darcy, even though Elizabeth still doesn’t like him!) The Bingley sisters are just so rude, but the reader can see clearly that Mr. Bingley really cares for Jane. Mr. Darcy is proud, but not as mean as I read his character in the first five chapters. 

R: I thought it was interesting that the Bingley sisters put up enough of a front that Elizabeth started to like them because of the care they initially showed for her sister, but I guess they couldn’t continue to show the same level of concern when Elizabeth ended up staying to care for Jane. 

S: Indeed – they showed their true colours and Elizabeth is observant enough to see their real characters. 

Chapter 9 was uncomfortable to read! I wanted to ‘shush’ Mrs. Bennet; she’s so unaware (I suppose that’s where Mary gets it from). Poor Elizabeth having to deal with all of that as well as Lydia’s confrontational manner with Mr. Bingley. I was surprised, though, that she stands up for Mr. Darcy, but I suppose it makes sense because she understands better than most in the room when someone’s words are meant to be satirical, rude, or simply observational. 

R: So, so uncomfortable! Mrs. Bennet definitely isn’t helpful in convincing the Bingleys that Jane is a good match. The last paragraph of the chapter is interesting because it seems to hint that while Darcy avoided mocking Elizabeth herself, he may have joined the others in mocking Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth’s sisters; though perhaps that was merely Elizabeth’s impression of what she expected to happen when she left the room as she’s not aware of Mr. Darcy’s changing feelings for her. ‘Mrs. Bennet and her daughters then departed, and Elizabeth returned instantly to Jane, leaving her own and her relations’ behaviour to the remarks of the two ladies and Mr. Darcy; the latter of whom, however, could not be prevailed on to join in their censure of HER, in spite of all Miss Bingley’s witticisms on FINE EYES.’ 

S: Oh, interesting! My interpretation of that was in fact that she expected Mr. Darcy to join in, not that he actually did. I suppose it could be read the other way, though. 

At the end of Chapter 10 I am convinced that Mr. Darcy is not a bad fellow; I quite like him now. He is confused by his feelings for Elizabeth but at least he’s not rude; he leaves that to Miss Bingley. It would also appear he cares deeply for his younger sister whom we have yet to meet, and even Elizabeth is beginning to understand his moods. She certainly is a great observer of persons! 

R: Indeed! And Miss Bingley is so oblivious. It’s hard to tell whether she’s being intentionally obtuse and just believes that she’ll eventually convince Darcy that she’s the right woman for him, or if she really is that clueless.

S: That’s funny – I just assumed she was desperately trying to get him to notice her. In a strange way the Bingley sisters remind me of Mrs. Bennet – although they may hold their tongues more, they have a knack for gossip and assumptions and Miss Bingley’s attempts to tease Mr. Darcy are embarrassing to read. I will say, though, that I feel sorry for the elder sister, Mrs. Hurst, as her husband seems to just not be a fun person; no wonder she has such a bad attitude!

Although I don’t mind Mr. Bingley I don’t quite feel as I know him as well as Mr. Darcy (even though I agree with him that being privy to an argument is no fun!). He seems to be a very emotional man whereas Mr. Darcy is very quiet and reserved which can come across as rude. 

R: Bingley’s personality is definitely almost the polar opposite of Darcy’s, except that I think even this early we can see that they’re both honorable men. He also seems to be younger than Darcy, and maybe Mr. Darcy is a bit of a mentor to him. 

I agree about the Bingley sisters being similar to Mrs. Bennet. All three of them are quite proud, whether they have the right to be or not as Mary described it, and gossip seems to be their favorite pastime. I think Mrs. Bennet is, at least, slightly less malicious. I only have a limited amount of sympathy for Mrs. Hurst. It seems life has made her a bitter harridan, but she could choose to behave differently.

S: I had to look up what ‘harridan’ means, and that’s just funny!

I’m pleased that Austen allowed us to glimpse what Mr. Darcy is thinking; his character now appears more rounded and intriguing. I’m excited to read the next few chapters!

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

R: I’m so excited to be starting our discussion of my favorite Jane Austen novel! This book begins with one of the most recognizable quotes in literature: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ 

This line always makes me smile because it sets the tone for what follows. The first few pages introduce nearly all of the principal characters: the Bennet family – Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, Mr. Bingley and his sisters, and Mr. Darcy. 

The first chapter begins with the exciting news that ‘Netherfield Park is let at last’ and the Bennet family is gaining a new neighbor; but not just any old neighbor – a young, eligible bachelor. With five daughters, this is of great import to the Bennet family, at least according to Mrs. Bennet. 

Mr. Bennet teases his wife by claiming that he won’t go visit this new neighbor, thus ensuring that his own daughters would never have a chance at him. The ladies learn the next day that Mr. Bennet did, indeed, do his duty and pay a visit to Mr. Bingley, which sends his wife into raptures.

S: We get a glimpse of the Bennet family dynamic just from how Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet speak to each other. My first thought on meeting Mr. Bennet was, ‘Wow. He’s like a more refined version of Mr. Palmer. Do I like him?’

The entire time I was reading the interactions between Mr. Bennet and his wife and daughters in Chapter 2, I was thinking, ‘Oh. My. I don’t know what to think.’ There is so much emotion and sarcasm that I had a hard time getting through it. We know, because we’ve been told, that Mr. Bennet’s favourite child is Lizzie, but I can’t tell if he even likes his other children. I suppose he could just be trying teasing them, but some of his comments sound almost cruel.

R: I’d never thought about Mr. Bennet like that, but I can see why you would make the comparison. He is sarcastic and humorous, but some of the things he says are quite unkind toward his wife and daughters. They don’t exactly make it easy for him, either, though!

Mrs. Bennet’s greatest wish in life is to see her daughters well-married. At the time, well-married for the upper-classes usually meant being married to someone wealthy; it didn’t usually include loving or even actually caring for one’s husband or wife. Women wanted someone who could take care of their material needs and men wanted a woman to give them an heir and take care of the household. This seems to be the type of marriage Mr. And Mrs. Bennet have. It’s hard to tell if they have any affection for each other at all, even after about 20 years of marriage.

S: When you read it with that in mind it’s easy to see why Mr. Bennet might be annoyed or frustrated. Rather than having a son to inherit everything he might be constantly worried about whether or not his daughters will be taken care of after he’s gone, and with the area in which they live being apparently lacking in eligible bachelors, it’s no wonder he chooses to call upon Mr. Bingley.

R: Right, that’s a good point. And Mr. Bingley and company put in an appearance at their first local ball and make quite an impression. Mr. Bingley dances twice with the eldest Bennet daughter Jane, which is as much as one can do without starting gossip about a couple. We learn that Jane finds Bingley’s sisters to be fine women, but while everyone is excited about Mr. Bingley’s friend Mr. Darcy and his fortune, he soon shows himself to be proud and unapproachable. He turns his nose up at the local women, directly snubbing Elizabeth Bennet within her hearing, and refusing to dance or even speak with anyone not of his own party if he can help it. Elizabeth manages to find it humorous and brush off the insult.

S: There’s too much gossip for my liking during the ball. It makes me think less of Elizabeth, which is a bummer because I assumed I’d really like her character from the first introduction. However, it occurs to me that I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing: telling others of someone’s rudeness in order to make myself feel better or validate myself. 

I also really dislike Mr. Darcy. At the moment, he reminds me of a much quieter version of Mr. Willoughby and that makes me wary of him.

I do like Mr. Bingley, although knowing his family is new money makes me wonder if they are going to spend it wisely. I’m not sure if I like his sisters yet. So far they appear to very much like Jane but I do dislike that they seem to have no control over their spending; it would appear they are rather spoiled.

R: It’s difficult to not defend Darcy at this point because I know the outcome of the story. If I were coming to the book with no prior knowledge, then Darcy’s behavior is almost entirely indefensible, despite Mary Bennet’s attempt to do so later on. As he is now, he is reprehensible, which doesn’t excuse the gossiping that goes on about him after the ball. So far Mr. Bingley seems to be the only wholly unspoiled character.

Finally, we meet another local family, the Lucases, whose eldest daughter Charlotte is good friends with Elizabeth. She opines that Mr. Darcy has every right to his pride because of his station in life. Elizabeth agrees, but laments that he hurt her pride with his comment at the ball (I wonder if she’s being facetious here), but also promises that she will never dance with Mr. Darcy, even if he offers.

S: That’s a good observation about wondering if Elizabeth is being facetious. I read it as more of a truth said as an aside: she doesn’t want pity from anyone for having been snubbed by the wealthiest bachelor who has visited, but she does feel hurt; since Miss Lucas is her closest friend she feels she can be completely honest. 

I don’t mind Miss Lucas or Mary at the moment. I think Mary’s explanation between pride and vanity is really interesting, and makes me rethink my initial emotion regarding Mr. Darcy. At the moment I still dislike him, but I can see where they are coming from in his defense. I’m sure he has to be very careful who he selects as friends and what he does (‘…ten thousand a year…’), but should one abide rudeness, even in characters in stories?

I am really surprised at how short the chapters are, and yet how much information can be gleaned from them. At the moment I can’t tell how I’m going to like this book. It moves so quickly, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but after reading the somewhat slower and more demure Sense and Sensibility this one almost gives me whiplash of the mind!