Pride & Prejudice, ch. 18: Medley: Shall We Dance?/Bad Blood/Sorry Not Sorry [part 2]
And now, finally …
The Darcy Stuff
Darcy’s request for a dance throws Lizzy for a loop. Charlotte advises her to keep her feelings about the Wickham-Darcy drama close to her vest, but of course that’s not how our Lizzy does things. At least, not in this chapter. Get out of here with that polite indifference! Lizzy doesn’t have time for—
Oh, no. This is her mom in her, isn’t it? Lizzy is behaving just like her loudmouth mother. Cf. “What is Mr. Darcy to me, pray, that I should be afraid of him?” Now, Lizzy isn’t being a loudmouth in this situation, but she is disregarding Charlotte’s grounded advice in much the same way that Mrs. Bennet ignores her second-oldest daughter’s words of caution. I do think, however, that Lizzy is following her own set of principles while her mom’s reaction reflects her general lack of awareness. But they both act out of pride.
So the dance begins in silence, which is a funny thing to imagine for two fictional characters who are best known for their spirited ar…
The Darcy Stuff
Darcy’s request for a dance throws Lizzy for a loop. Charlotte advises her to keep her feelings about the Wickham-Darcy drama close to her vest, but of course that’s not how our Lizzy does things. At least, not in this chapter. Get out of here with that polite indifference! Lizzy doesn’t have time for—
Oh, no. This is her mom in her, isn’t it? Lizzy is behaving just like her loudmouth mother. Cf. “What is Mr. Darcy to me, pray, that I should be afraid of him?” Now, Lizzy isn’t being a loudmouth in this situation, but she is disregarding Charlotte’s grounded advice in much the same way that Mrs. Bennet ignores her second-oldest daughter’s words of caution. I do think, however, that Lizzy is following her own set of principles while her mom’s reaction reflects her general lack of awareness. But they both act out of pride.
So the dance begins in silence, which is a funny thing to imagine for two fictional characters who are best known for their spirited ar…
