Pride & Prejudice, ch. 40: The Smart One And The Pretty One

Something different for our Jane: a winsome
1940s-era outfit, because why not?
Credit to PippaFashions.

I think we’ve arrived at a place in the book where we can really get into Jane Bennet.

One of the things I’d hoped to get out of this re-read was a new understanding of these characters and their actions (especially after a decade or so of gaining a new understanding of the historical context). Something I didn’t expect was seeing a more mature version of Jane, who I now think I’ve rather taken for granted. Various analyses of P&P (including study guides that do the bare minimum) tend to dismiss Jane as more of a necessary plot device than a character. This interpretation must have stuck with me, because I am surprised now to find that Jane is something of a Cassandra: continually doubted, dismissed, and ignored by those who think they know better or see her naiveté as a weakness.

That all being said, this chapter does open with Jane learning something for the first time and goes on to emphasis her ignorance. However, the narrator never characterizes Jane as a fool or frames her ignorance as an obstacle. Rather, Austen uses Jane’s surprise as way for us to look at Lizzy and Darcy through another character’s eyes—which dovetails nicely with the larger theme of gaining new perspectives to become wiser. Remember, this pretty elder sister, a woman who Lizzy has put on a pedestal due to her “angelic” view of the world, has a better perspective on things than people give her credit for. She’s a voice of reason when Charlotte agrees to marry Mr. Collins, she cautions restraint when Lizzy is in a rush to believe Wickham over Darcy, and she tries to give Bingley the benefit of the doubt even after he leaves her behind. Spoiler: these all turn out to be pretty good calls. And she points out in this chapter that she “never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the appearance of [goodness]” unlike Lizzy had, giving us a look at how Darcy appears to those who are not offended by his haughtiness.

So it’s pretty interesting that she’s shocked (but not surprised) at Darcy’s love for Lizzy, since her “strong sisterly partiality … made any admiration of Elizabeth appear perfectly natural,” and that her second instinct is to feel sorry for Darcy for the rejection he received. Jane, who constantly seeks a balance in perspective, had no clue that Darcy was even remotely attracted to Lizzy. This reinforces just how odd Darcy’s behavior has been, at least in the context of a typical courtship.

But Jane does have her blinders, as is revealed when Lizzy tells her the truth about Wickham. As she “would willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind, as was here collected in one individual,” Wickham’s petty wickedness is all the more horrible. At least our sensitive sis is on the ball, fully feeling the weight of what Darcy has revealed in the process of outing Wickham: “[H]aving to relate such a thing of his sister! It is really too distressing.” Can I get an aww here?

And she tries to have it both ways, so resistant is she to the idea of Wickham being so awful. Lizzy sets her straight—“[t]here is but such a quantity of merit between them just enough to make one good sort of man”—and admits that she is “inclined to believe it all Mr. Darcy’s.” We also get to see some of the regular smart-alack Lizzy crop up, as she lightly mocks Jane’s outpouring of distress and shock. Eventually she admits that she wanted Jane to reassure her that she “had not been so very weak and vain and nonsensical as I knew I had!” 

Good old Jane comes close to chiding Lizzy for the “very strong expressions” that she used “in speaking of Wickham to Mr. Darcy.”* For her part, Lizzy is able to articulate her frustration in her former treatment of Darcy: “I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him,” she moans. Before, she didn’t care about being “just” in her attitude toward him. She just wanted a target on which to practice her wit. I like this point. It feels pretty universal; haven’t we all had a weird coworker or friend that we took a bit too much delight in mocking? It was easier for Lizzy to think of Darcy as staid and “implacable,” too, because that way she could convince herself that there was no use in trying to please or placate him.**

Demonstrating her newfound appreciation for Jane’s advice, Lizzy asks her whether they ought to make public what they now know about Wickham. Jane cautions that it doesn’t seem like the right thing to do, positing that Wickham might be trying to atone for his past. Lizzy agrees with her sister’s conclusion, though not her reasoning; her points are more practical and less wishful thinking. And I have to say, even with knowing how this ends … their reasoning is pretty sound? And I agree with their conclusion? I mean, especially with Wickham going away, it seems like a non-problem. All I’m saying is that Darcy’s kid sister doesn’t deserve to be brought down with the likes of Wickham.

Notably, Lizzy hides the other piece of news she got from Darcy’s letter: the real circumstances of Bingley leaving for London and not coming back. And it’s hard to blame her when Jane is showing signs of a broken heart. Talk about a no-win situation. Of course the Mother of the Year has to butt in—she’s super angry at Bingley and has decided never to talk about him again, but of course in a special way that still allows her to ask if anyone knows if he’s planning to summer at Netherfield. How can anyone miss Mr. Collins when Mrs. Bennet is around? I think she’s got him beat in the verbal whiplash department. She’s also vicious in her jabs about Charlotte’s housekeeping and financial management skills, barely hiding her jealousy. Hey, it’s not Charlotte’s fault that your eldest daughter couldn’t snag the new rich guy fast enough, lady.

Soon to come: And unexpected invitation, an unorthodox plea, and an unknowingly disgraced Wickham. 

*David Shapard points out that Jane (and Lizzy) dropping the “Mr.” from Wickham shows how he has fallen in respectability in their estimation. This more than anything is indicative that Jane is persuaded that Darcy’s story is true and that Wickham really is the scoundrel he now seems to be.

**If you go with this interpretation, this is another funny example of her being right about something in the broad sense but getting the details wrong. Darcy’s feelings in general do not change much and there is a certain stubbornness to him. Only his slow-to-change feelings resulted in him falling harder for Lizzy.