Pride & Prejudice, ch. 7: Walk The Walk

Love these portraits! Credit to Flo Minowa, who has created portraits for
several Jane Austen characters.

So a town in a country is different from a city (the city, London, which confusingly is referred to as just “town.” Got that? Good). Longbourn is its own “village,” while another village, the happenin’ Meryton, is home to the Bennets’ lower-ranking in-laws. It’s funny that the more pedestrian Meryton is the place to be for gossip and action, although it’s not an accident that the two most vacuous Bennet sisters go there for entertainment. Then again, Meryton is where the boys are, and that’s pretty much the name of the game.

Still … is anyone else starting to feel claustrophobic?

The soldiers here don’t go overseas to fight (in this case, it’s Napoleon), but hang around in case of invasion (question mark). So they’re kind of doing their own thing, which includes staying at inns, going to parties, gambling, flirting with the local teens, and providing a source of mindless gossip. Mr. Bennet rolls his eyes at Kitty and Lydia for their excitement while their mom encourages their starry-eyed view of the soldiers. And once again, the prize for Best Parent By Default goes to no one.

But then Jane receives a ridiculous letter from Miss Bingley inviting her to tea, which means that Mrs. Bennet’s eldest daughter is once again her favorite (for now). Mama Bennet hatches a plan for Jane to ride over to Netherfield on horseback, increasing Jane’s chances of a) staying overnight if it rains and b) meeting up with Bingley. The logistics of carriages and spare horses ensure that Jane won’t be sent home. We learn that the Hursts have a carriage but no horses, and the Bennets have horses but those horses have to pull double-duty (seriously, it is so easy for a modern reader to forget that the Bennets run a farm).

Jane agrees to the plan, rides over, and does indeed end up staying the night. While Mrs. Bennet is preening her feathers, a letter arrives from Jane saying that she’s fallen ill. I remember the first time reading this that I was convinced that the cold would somehow do lasting damage to Jane. I can’t fully explain why, but I think Lizzy’s sense of urgency must have had something to do with it. She sets off with her younger sisters and then takes a detour to Netherfield, defying the muddy paths and stiles in her way.

I feel like this episode (the walking three miles to visit a sick sister) serves as a second introduction to a character we’ve heard from, but haven’t necessarily seen in action—witty remarks and decent piano skills aside. It shows that Lizzy is a proper main character because what she does has an effect on the plot. This also goes back to the point I made in chapter 1 about the reader siding with the characters who propel the story along. Interestingly, here Mrs. Bennet is in the same position that her husband occupied, that of threatening to hinder the flow of the narrative. Pa Bennet remains in his natural state of ignoring what’s going on around him. But Lizzy’s actions here essentially prove that she’s not just a charming joke machine: she takes her relationship with Jane very seriously.

Yeah, yeah, insert joke about first and second impressions here ...

Anyway, Lizzy arrives sweaty and tracking in a little bit of mud and everybody has to make a thing about it. The Bingley sisters “[hold] her in contempt” for walking “so early in the day, in such dirty weather, and by herself,” while Mr. Darcy is in “doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone” (though he has plenty of mental space to contemplate Lizzy’s glowing skin). And my super-modern, super-feminist self wants to be all, Why all this judgment, guys? But further research has given me more context to work with: Lizzy’s a young unmarried woman who’s got a reputation to maintain, and her independent streak isn’t a good thing for said reputation. Basically, these characters are judging her for putting herself in a theoretically vulnerable position (despite the fact that she knows her way around the area and that she’s traveling in broad daylight, but, okay, maybe I’m nitpicking, grumble grumble).

Jane is not doing well and wants Lizzy to stick around, which is notable if only because I think this is the only time in the novel that Jane asks someone to do something for her. Aw. Of course Lizzy stays (Caroline Bingley even steps up her hostess game, so good on Caroline). And now, we settle in for a stay at Netherfield.

Next chapter: A overlong discussion on Elizabeth’s cardio work-out, the ladies compare Cheapside of London to Pemberley of Derbyshire, and Mr. Darcy’s ideal woman.