The Annotated Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

  Elizabeth had the satisfaction of seeing her father taking pains to get acquainted with him; and Mr. Bennet soon assured her that he was rising every hour in his esteem.

  “I admire all my three sons-in-law highly,” said he. Wickham, perhaps, is my favourite; but I think I shall like your husband quite as well as Jane's.”32

  1. evils: painful difficulties.

  2. consequence: high social position.

  3. Of course, this dislike of Darcy is partly Elizabeth's own doing, as is, to an even greater degree, her family's belief in her hostility to him.

  4. suspicion: suspicion of others' truthfulness, inclination not to believe someone.

  5. Jane's astonishment has parallels with Elizabeth's earlier astonishment at hearing of Charlotte's engagement. The surprise in the two cases, however, stems from different sources. In the earlier case it came from Elizabeth's misunderstanding of Charlotte; in the present instance, it stems from Jane's prior ignorance of the important facts concerning Elizabeth and Darcy from the time of their encounter at Pemberley. As discussed below, Elizabeth said little to Jane about that encounter, nor did she inform Jane about Darcy's actions regarding Lydia and Wickham. Jane did hear Lydia's accidental revelation about Darcy's presence at her wedding, but she had no basis for connecting that with Darcy's feelings for Elizabeth. In fact, Jane's general lack of suspicion about other people means that she would be one of the last to guess a difficult secret; she would be especially unlikely to suspect that her own favorite sister, with whom she was generally so intimate, would have been harboring a strong romantic passion and keeping it from everyone.

  6. A statement expressing Jane Austen's own deepest feelings. In a letter to her niece Fanny (see cover) discussing marriage, she declares, “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection” (Nov. 18, 1814). It is also a sentiment appropriate to place in the mouth of Jane Bennet, one of the most affectionate of the author's characters.

  7. be be: this repetition appears in the original. If intentional, rather than a printing error, it would be meant to convey Jane's earnestness.

  8. Some commentators, including Sir Walter Scott in an early commentary on the novel, have seen this statement as a revelation of Elizabeth's true motives (i.e., mercenary ones) in accepting Darcy. That the statement, however, is meant primarily as a joke—and throughout this exchange Elizabeth is resorting to humor to lighten what is obviously a difficult ordeal—is indicated by Jane's subsequent entreaty to be serious. The germ of truth it does contain is that Elizabeth had, when visiting Pemberley, reflected on the advantages of being its mistress. But this was due less to its wealth, as impressive as that was, than to her perception of how much good someone in charge of it could do, and of what the beauties of Pemberley revealed about the taste and judgment of its proprietor.

  9. value: liking, regard.

  10. sly … reserved: secretive; the words have a similar meaning. Jane's redundant use of both words suggests how much she has been surprised by Elizabeth's uncharacteristic secrecy.

  11. another: Bingley, who would naturally have told Jane about his earlier encounter with Elizabeth and the Gardiners. Of course, Bingley had only a brief experience of seeing Elizabeth and Darcy together at that juncture, so he would not have had much to share with Jane about them.

  12. She presumably did not mention Bingley to Jane because she feared that this might lead to describing Bingley's continued affection for Jane, which in turn might have raised Jane's hopes at a time when no one could know if Bingley would ever pursue Jane again.

  13. information: knowledge of the matter.

  14. Mr. Bennet: this was Mr. Bennet in the original edition, but it probably should be Mrs. Bennet since it is she who replies; Mr. Bennet normally seems to be in the library when visitors call.

  15. It is possible that Bingley's obvious contriving to get Elizabeth and Darcy together, something that might embarrass Darcy a little, represents intentional teasing of Darcy, and a slight revenge on Bingley's part for Darcy's interference with his love life.

  16. owned: acknowledged.

  17. her work: her needlework.

  18. expressions: utterances, choices of words.

  19. no improper pride: Elizabeth's choice of words is significant. At earlier points she had questioned whether any degree of pride could be good or justified. She has now accepted some of Darcy's defense of pride—even as he has come to acknowledge the excessive and unjustified nature of the pride he actually did have.

  20. amiable: kind, good natured, worthy of being loved.

  21. A statement that is in line with this society's ideal of ultimate male primacy in marriage. Elizabeth does not directly respond to the statement, so it is impossible to know her view (or Jane Austen's view, for that matter). This lack of a rebuttal could signal that she, even with her clear desire for a man who will respect her and be willing to be teased by her, accepts this prevailing ideal, or it could result simply from her concern with more immediate matters during this conversation.

  22. The most poignant words Mr. Bennet utters. Their poignancy is only increased by their contrast with his usual cynicism. He clearly is thinking of himself and his own tragic mistake in choosing a marriage partner. He is too indolent and too resigned to try to correct any of the damage in his own case, but, temporarily abandoning his customary sarcasm and banter, he expresses a fervent wish that his favorite child avoid the same error. His fervor may be increased by his knowledge that she, as a woman and thus the one who would be legally and socially weaker under prevailing marital arrangements, could suffer even more from a bad partner than he has.

  23. suspense: state or period of waiting to learn about something, often involving anxiety and uncertainty.

  24. economy: exercise of frugality; this would be to accumulate money in order to repay Mr. Gardiner.

  25. backward: reluctant, hesitant.

  26. great: important or high-ranking socially.

  27. pin-money: regular allowance given to a married woman for clothes and other private expenses (the term originated from the traditional importance of pins in clothing). The annual amount was often guaranteed as part of the settlements drawn up before marriage.

  28. Darcy has already been described as having a house in London (see p. 44). Maintaining a house there, in addition to one in the country, was normal for very wealthy people.

  29. distracted: mad, frantic.

  30. In fact, Darcy's wealth is comparable to that of a Lord (meaning a titled aristocrat).

  31. special licence: a marriage license granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the English church, that allowed a couple to marry whenever and wherever they wished. Only wealthy and prominent people would be able to procure such a license, so it carried great social prestige. In addition, a special license allowed one to marry in a home or private building-in contrast to a regular license, which, in addition to specifying the parish, required marriage in a chapel or church. Thus marriage by special license offered the maximum possible privacy, something that had become highly valued in weddings during this period.

  It is uncertain whether in the end Darcy and Elizabeth bother with a special license: it turns out that they get married on the same day as Bingley and Jane (presumably as part of the same ceremony), and nothing is ever said about a special license for the latter two.

  32. This statement could be interpreted in more than one way. Clearly Mr. Bennet does not value Wickham in the same way he values Bingley and Darcy. The question is whether he is being purely sarcastic, because he despises Wickham, or whether he is being sincere in a way, because he val ues Wickham in the same way as he values Mr. Collins, i.e., as someone to laugh at. On the one hand, he recently referred to Wickham's impudence and hypocrisy and compared those qualities as sources of amusement to Mr. Collins's absurdity; on the other hand, Wickham is not someone who can be continually laughed at like Mr. Collins, and in contrast to the other man Wickham has caused Mr. Ben
net the only genuine distress he has experi enced over the course of the book. The question is thus not easy to answer. It is possible there is an element of both meanings in Mr. Bennet's words.

  Chapter Eighteen

  E lizabeth's spirits soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. “How could you begin?” said she. “I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?”

  “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

  “My beauty you had early withstood, and as for my manners—my behaviour to you was at least always bordering on the uncivil, and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?”

  “For the liveliness1 of your mind,2 1 did.”

  “You may as well call it impertinence at once. It was very little less. The fact is, that you were sick of civility, of deference, of officious attention. You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them3 Had you not been really amiable you would have hated me for it; but in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself, your feelings were always noble and just; and in your heart, you thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you. There —I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it; and really, all things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable. To be sure, you know4 no actual good of me —but nobody thinks oithat when they fall in love.”

  “Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane, while she was ill at Netherfield?”5

  “Dearest Jane! who could have done less for her? But make a virtue of it by all means. My good qualities are under your protection, and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible; and, in return, it belongs to me to find occasions for teazing and quarrelling with you as often as may be; and I shall begin directly by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point at last. What made you so shy of me, when you first called, and afterwards dined here?6 Why, especially, when you called, did you look as if you did not care about me?”

  “Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.”

  “But I was embarrassed.”

  “And so was I.”

  “You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”

  “A man who had felt less, might.”7

  “How unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer to give, and that I should be so reasonable as to admit it! But I wonder how long you would have gone on, if you had been left to yourself. I wonder when you would have spoken, if I had not asked you! My resolution of thanking you for your kindness to Lydia had certainly great effect. Too much, I am afraid; for what becomes of the moral, if our comfort8 springs from a breach of promise, for I ought not to have mentioned the subject?9 This will never do.”

  “You need not distress yourself. The moral will be perfectly fair. Lady Catherine's unjustifiable endeavours to separate us, were the means of removing all my doubts. I am not indebted for my present happiness to your eager desire of expressing your gratitude. I was not in a humour10 to wait for any opening of your's. My aunt's intelligence11 had given me hope, and I was determined at once to know every thing.”12

  “Lady Catherine has been of infinite use, which ought to make her happy, for she loves to be of use. But tell me, what did you come down to Netherfield for? Was it merely to ride to Long-bourn and be embarrassed? or had you intended any more serious consequence?”

  “My real purpose was to see you, and to judge, if I could, whether I might ever hope to make you love me. My avowed one, or what I avowed to myself, was to see whether your sister were still partial to Bingley, and if she were, to make the confession to him which I have since made.”

  “Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine, what is to befall her?”

  “I am more likely to want13 time than courage, Elizabeth.14 But it ought to be done, and if you will give me a sheet of paper, it shall be done directly.”15

  “And if I had not a letter to write myself, I might sit by you, and admire the evenness of your writing, as another young lady once did. But I have an aunt, too, who must not be longer neglected.”

  From an unwillingness to confess how much her intimacy with Mr. Darcy had been over-rated, Elizabeth had never yet answered Mrs. Gardiner's long letter, but now, having that to communicate which she knew would be most welcome, she was almost ashamed to find, that her uncle and aunt had already lost three days of happiness, and immediately wrote as follows:

  I would have thanked you before, my dear aunt, as I ought to have done, for your long, kind, satisfactory, detail of particulars; but to say the truth, I was too cross to write. You supposed more than really existed. 16 But now suppose as much as you chuse; give a loose17 to your fancy, indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford, and unless you believe me actually manied, you cannot greatly en. You must write again very soon, and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last. I thank you, again and again, for not going to the Lakes. How could I be so silly as to wish it!18 Your idea of the ponies is delightful. We will go round the Park every day. I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world, that he can spare from me. You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas. Yours, Oc.

  Mr. Darcy's letter to Lady Catherine, was in a different style; and still different from either, was what Mr. Bennet sent to Mr. Collins, in reply to his last.

  Dear Sir,

  I must trouble you once more for congratulations. Elizabeth will soon be the wife of Mr. Darcy. Console Lady Catherine as well as you can. But, if I were you, I would stand by the nephew. He has more to give. 19

  Yours sincerely, Oc.20

  Miss Bingley's congratulations to her brother, on his approaching marriage, were all that was affectionate and insincere. She wrote even to Jane on the occasion, to express her delight, and repeat all her former professions of regard. Jane was not deceived, but she was affected; and though feeling no reliance on her, could not help writing her a much kinder answer than she knew was deserved.

  The joy which Miss Darcy expressed on receiving similar information, was as sincere as her brother's in sending it. Four sides of paper were insufficient to contain all her delight, and all her earnest desire of being loved by her sister.21

  Before any answer could arrive from Mr. Collins, or any congratulations to Elizabeth, from his wife, the Longbourn family heard that the Collinses were come themselves to Lucas Lodge. The reason of this sudden removal was soon evident. Lady Catherine had been rendered so exceedingly angry by the contents of her nephew's letter, that Charlotte, really rejoicing in the match, was anxious to get away till the storm was blown over.22 At such a moment, the arrival of her friend was a sincere pleasure to Elizabeth, though in the course of their meetings she must sometimes think the pleasure dearly bought, when she saw Mr. Darcy exposed to all the parading23 and obsequious civility of her husband. He bore it however with admirable calmness.24 He could even listen to Sir William Lucas, when he complimented him on carrying away the brightest jewel of the country,25 and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at St. James's,26 with very decent composure. If he did shrug his shoulders, it was not till Sir William was out of sight.

  Mrs. Philips's vulgarity was another, and perhaps a greater tax27 on his forbearance; and though Mrs. Philips, as well as her sister, stood in too much awe of him to speak with the familiarity which Bingley's good humour encouraged, yet, whenever she did speak, she must be vulgar. Nor was her respect for him, though it made her more quiet, at all li
kely to make her more elegant. Elizabeth did all she could, to shield him from the frequent notice of either, and was ever anxious to keep him to herself, and to those of her family with whom he might converse without mortification; and though the uncomfortable feelings arising from all this took from the season of courtship much of its pleasure, it added to the hope of the future; and she looked forward with delight to the time when they should be removed from society so little pleasing to either, to all the comfort and elegance of their family party at Pemberley.

  1. liveliness: thus Darcy has recognized the basic quality in Elizabeth that is so opposed to his character—though it is possible that Darcy, in using the term, is thinking of its meaning of energy and vigor as well as its meaning of playfulness and lightheartedness.

  2. mind: character.

  3. Miss Bingley is the obvious example of this, and Darcy's disgust with her was generally apparent. It is also probable there were others like her, for a man of his wealth and social standing would be considered such a catch that many women of an ambitious and flattering kind could seek to ingratiate themselves as Miss Bingley did.

  4. know: this could be a printer's error since “knew” seems more logical.

  5. Darcy's response is wholly serious; even as he praises Elizabeth's liveliness, he maintains his characteristic gravity and does not reciprocate her playfulness.

  6. This would be when he and Bingley had returned to Netherfield.

  7. Darcy's silence toward Elizabeth because of his strong feelings forms the complete contrast with someone like Mr. Collins, who could propose to Elizabeth without hesitation precisely because no genuine feelings existed to interfere.

  8. comfort: happiness.

  9. In other words, it would seem a bad moral for their story if they owed their marriage to Elizabeth's having spoken to him about a subject that she should never have known about (since Lydia had committed a breach of confidence by revealing to Elizabeth the secret of Darcy's presence at her wedding).