Pride & Prejudice, ch. 12: Exit Strategy
I don’t know what it means that Jane doesn’t wish to stay a whole week at Netherfield, as her mother clearly intends. There are a few possibilities: 1) that Jane doesn’t want to look like she’s taking advantage of Bingley’s hospitality, 2) that she doesn’t want to look like she’s manipulating circumstances in order to snag Bingley, 3) that she genuinely misses her home, and/or 4) that she doesn’t like seeing Elizabeth not getting along with people. I can see her reason(s) being a combination of all four considerations mentioned above. Lizzy is aware that if they stay even longer, the sisters will be “considered as intruding themselves needlessly long.” Too bad for Mrs. Bennet, then, that her daughters outsmart her by simply asking Bingley to borrow his carriage.
I also don’t know why Miss Bingley is one of the voices pressing Jane to stay one more day, though as it turns out, neither does Miss Bingley. Since “her jealousy and dislike of one sister much exceeded her affection for the other,” it would make more sense for her to hurry them away as soon as possible. And yet she seems confused—or at least annoyed—that she initially got caught up in extending Jane’s stay.
A lot of you guys have pointed out how the Bingley sisters talk about their friends (“friends”?) in the London tonne—they crack wise, they belittle, they gossip. Not a single shred of affection there. Also, Caroline’s cooing over Miss Georgiana Darcy a few chapters ago is at best superficial and at worst damaging; by stating that Georgiana’s “design for a table” is “infinitely superior” to another’s, she’s deliberately setting up a needless comparison between two women. What I’m getting at is how Caroline and her sister view friendship among women as competition. Caroline is even trying to impart this worldview to Darcy’s sister. Elizabeth has a competitive spirit as well, as shown with Darcy, but they compete over ideas (philosophies, modes of conduct, points of view). The Bingley sisters, on the other hand, compete with people.
Darcy, hilariously, has a cunning plan to put a stop to Elizabeth’s “hope of influencing his felicity:” he’s going to straight-up ignore her for the rest of her stay. What’s clear here is his belief that the spirited interactions he and Lizzy have shared might be construed as encouragement on his part. Now, to be fair, looking at things from Darcy’s point of view, he has Caroline in one ear cracking wise about marriage to Lizzy and he’s seen the money-hungry Mrs. Bennet fawn over Bingley’s property. Lizzy’s attempt to quell her mother’s rudeness could be read as insincere meekness, especially if Darcy were inclined to be cynical (I go back and forth on whether this is a logical interpretation or just my imagination). And I think there’s evidence that Darcy is, in general, inclined to be cynical. On top of all this, he greatly dislikes Caroline’s behavior toward both of them. Maybe he fears that Caroline’s joking might put the idea in Lizzy’s head for real (he did suppose that the two might have “secret affairs to discuss” at least once). My point is, his supposition that Elizabeth would be looking for a sign of mutual interest isn’t completely bonkers.
… But it seems that way because we know what Lizzy really thinks about him. Darcy’s pride has kinda-sorta got in the way of perceiving Lizzy’s true feelings (she is convinced that he’s unlikable and inflexible, in addition to having heard his unflattering assessment of her beauty). But I think there’s also room to speculate about Darcy’s relative inexperience. He has “never been more bewitched by any woman as he was by [Elizabeth].” His self-preservative efforts to ignore Lizzy come across as laughable given that their actual dynamic doesn’t match up with romantic expectations. Why does Darcy read Lizzy’s disagreements as potential flirtation or interest in him?
It’s especially interesting because, at this point in the story, these two characters are convinced that they know each other when nothing could be further from the truth.
At chez Bennet, Ma is annoyed that Jane and Lizzy found a ride home. Pa, however, is relieved, which is the first time in the novel he has shown an emotion other than detached amusement. Considering that Lydia and Kitty have been gossiping about the soldiers and middle sister (sigh) Mary’s mental state is that of a college freshman enamored with her Intro to Philosophy class, Mr. Bennet has earned my sympathy for the second time in the novel. Let’s see if it lasts.
Chapter the next: A new addition to the Bennet household causes a stir.
Just came across your blog via Mr. Darcy's Extensive Readers on FB. Really enjoyed this post! I don't have profound answers to give regarding Jane, Miss Bingley, and Darcy's motivations in this chapter--but my lack of profundity has never stopped me before, so here I go:
ReplyDelete1. Why does Jane not wish to remain at Netherfield longer? The four suggestions you provide are good ones. I'd say #1 (not wishing to abuse hospitality) and #2 (not wishing to appear manipulative) are the strongest bets. #2 is very important because Jane's consistent effort not to appear too forward is what helps set up the conflict later in the novel over Mr. Darcy's misinterpretation of Jane's feelings for Bingley.
2. Why does Miss Bingley urge Jane and Elizabeth to remain at Netherfield, when she so clearly wants Elizabeth out of there? I always assumed it was fake politeness on Caroline's part. Austen describes Caroline Bingley as being a good hostess, even if she is a snot, and so I think Caroline feels obligated to offer the, Oh no, please don't leave so soon! response that even less snotty people give when they're trying to be polite (if not sincere).
3. Why does Darcy mistake Elizabeth's snarky disagreement as a form of flirtation and interest? I like your theory that Darcy hasn't been in love before and is in fact inexperienced in the ways of flirtation. But I also wonder if this is one of those very human responses of seeing what one wants to see. Austen shows us how much Darcy does not like the more obvious flirtations of Caroline Bingley. This may be the only kind of flirtation he's known till now.. (After all, there's only one Elizabeth Bennet.) The fact that he falls in love with Elizabeth even as she disagrees with him suggests he finds sparring a turn on (and isn't that the reason so many of us have fallen in love with Darcy?). He likes Elizabeth's snark--and so it serves his own desires to see that snark as flirtation. This is why I love to imagine a marriage between the two in which they spar till their dying day. I also think it's why there's so much fanfiction out there (you asked about fanfic in the FB post, I think?). So many of us Austenesque authors love to keep the snark going. ;-)
What are your thoughts on Darcy's misunderstanding of Elizabeth's behavior? Whether it's inexperience or just a desire to see what he wants to see, how do you feel about this plot device? After all, it is potentially problematic--that he so misunderstands her, yet claims to love her. Do you think Darcy's feelings for Elizabeth change over the course of the novel (from one kind of love to another)? Why does he still love her, even when he finds out he was wrong about her? Perhaps these are questions for a later chapter discussion. If I'm able, I hope to stop by again. Thanks for posting such interesting discussion questions!
You know I always assumed that Wickham's "best friend" that Darcy referred to was Darcy's father. I never thought or got the sense that Darcy and Wickham had been childhood friends.
DeleteI think Miss Bingley’s “Oh, no, you’re not going!” is a just a social reflex. She would be conspicuous if she didn’t join in, so she does.
ReplyDeleteI think you are the right track about Darcy being socially inexperienced. At first glance it seems impossible. But when I think about what his life has probably been like, it makes sense.
Like all men, the first woman he knows well is his mother, who is the sister of Lady Catherine de Bourgh! I will assume Lady Anne Darcy resembled her sister only partially, but that would be enough. (The sisters were close enough to plan their children’s marriage when the children were hardly more than babies.) Although her son would be the emotional center of Lady Anne’s life, I don’t see her as the huggy-kissy, down-on-the-floor-playing sort of mother. I see formality and high expectations for her son but no confidential conversations.
His sister is so much younger than he is that he would have probably been away at school for most of her childhood. When they were home he and Georgie Wickham would have seemed like gods to the little Georgina, but Darcy would have noticed how much more at ease she was with Georgie.
I have not seen many comments anywhere on the fact that Darcy’s closest friend when he was growing up was George Wickham. This would have been true, not because of any particular liking between them, but because they were living close to each other. If Darcy was not a bit jealous of George’s ability to make friends easily, he was not human. I think as they grew up Darcy was the boy who always tried to do what was expected of him and “be good,” but who did it so well no one noticed. George was the scapegrace who was always in trouble but who was always forgiven because of his charm. No wonder Darcy can say, “As for myself, it is many, many years since I first began to think of him in a very different manner. The vicious propensities—the want of principle, which he was careful to guard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who had opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments . . .”
So Darcy learns to distrust charm, with good reason, and this confirms him in his strict adherence to good manners and good morals. He was no doubt warned from an early age to be careful around ladies, as his wealth and social position would make him a target for fortune hunters. He would also have been told to be careful not to accidentally raise the expectations of a young lady. That would be very bad manners.
But then comes Bingley, and Bingley’s family. In the Bingley family Darcy is exposed for the first time to an affectionate, relaxed family party. The three Bingleys make jokes, tease each other, and have all sorts of fun which Mr. Darcy has never experienced. And they are very ready to include him. What fun they are – after a lifetime of very limited fun. This is one of the reasons I think Miss Bingley had a good chance of eventually becoming Mrs. Darcy. She is nice looking, has good manners, has an adequate fortune, and most important of all, she is the ONLY unmarried woman he feels comfortable with. Patience and careful maneuvering to keep him away from any rivals might well have done the trick. But then he met Elizabeth.
I wrote a reply to Christina's questions some time ago but I see now it didn't post. I didn't make a copy of course, so naturally I can't recall it, except for this: I think Darcy mistakes Elizabeth's conversation as flirtation because he assumes all chicks are into him, so to speak. We see evidence of this later, in his first proposal, where he has no doubts of being accepted no matter how much he disparages her family. I also think this is why he puts up with Miss Bingley--he thinks this is just how women are, all cutting each other to get his attention. Darcy comes to appreciate that Elizabeth is not like his stereotype, and this is the first wave of admiration that leads to his proposal, but he doesn't come to really deeply appreciate her until after that, when he finds she doesn't actually think he's the perfect guy, and even goes so far as to call him "ungentlemanlike." It's a big learning curve for him, which is why the second proposal is so much more gentle and respectful and sweet.
ReplyDeleteAs usual ... :-)
ReplyDeleteI see Darcy's "inexperience" (which I had never thought to name such before) as inexperience with women of Lizzy's level. As one of the richest men in England, he would have been pursued doggedly by women like Caroline. He has to maintain a reputation as a good man, so would not want to be seen as encouraging a woman of quality whom he had no intention of marrying.
Might he eventually marry Caroline? maybe, but only if a woman of his societal status and intellectual level never crosses his path. And now a woman at his intellectual level (but not quite his societal status, though higher than Caroline) has crossed his path, and he's in considerable difficulty, believing she's not good enough for him, but strongly attracted to her.
It's a hard society both for women who need men to live comfortably, and for men who are expected to maintain society's expectations in their relationships with women.