Pride & Prejudice, ch. 45: Caroline, Stop Trying To Make “Fetch” Happen
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Meeting Georgiana again, both Lizzy and Aunt Gardiner are in a better position to judge of her behavior the her “embarrassment” borne of “shyness and the fear of doing wrong, would easily give to those who felt themselves inferior the belief of her being proud and reserved.” And man oh man, having Caroline Bingley as an assumed BFF is not doing her any favors, as both Caroline and Mrs. Hurst are so stuck-up that they almost put a damper on the party. Happily (and notably), Georgiana’s lower-born baby-sitter au pair companion Mrs. Annesley is there to facilitate conversation and encourage her charge in carrying out her hostess duties. Poor Georgiana is basically a fawn on shaky newborn legs when it comes to being the lady of the household, and you’d think that her dear friend Caroline (who has some experience doing the same at Netherfield and is doing her best to attract her friend’s brother) would take this opportunity to hog Georgiana’s attention. But no. She’s jealous as all get out and she doesn’t care who knows it. Ugh, Caroline. Why can’t you have a more upbeat arc? Take a freaking lesson from Alexis Rose.
While all this is going on and Lizzy is wondering where in the world is Fitzwilliam Darcy, the guests are being bombarded with an awesome buffet—with “pyramids of grapes, nectarines, and peaches”! Combined with “cold meats” and “cake,” this is one hell of a spread. I think I get a little hungry every time I read this chapter.
But then Darcy does arrive, and Caroline makes it all about her again. Darcy’s interest in Lizzy is pretty much an open secret and everyone is eagerly watching to see what they do next. Darcy starts to help his sister talk more to Lizzy, but then Caroline ruins it with a rude question about Wickham—obviously with the aim of “mak[ing Elizabeth] betray a sensibility which might injure her in Darcy’s opinion.” Of course, Caroline doesn’t realize the “pain she was then giving her beloved friend [Georgiana],” since Darcy understandably didn’t let the Bingleys in on his little sister’s aborted elopement. Here the narrator informs us that Lizzy’s intuition was correct: Darcy had intended, or at least hoped, to save Bingley for his sister.
Darcy, the narrator adds, “[did not mean] that it should affect his endeavor to separate [Bingley] from Miss Bennet.” There is a deep level of vulnerability in this moment, when only the narrator can articulate Darcy’s more selfish motivation (implying that he cannot face this truth about himself yet). And the reasons governing his wish are sympathetic, even endearing. Practically-speaking, he has very little to gain from marrying his sister, an heiress, to a nouveau-riche land-renting gentleman whose only major social connection to high society seems to be Darcy himself. His motivation springs from the love of his sister and his friend. This puts a major dent in the characters’ perception that Darcy only values those in his own rank (as well as proof that he’s even less like his aunt than Lizzy currently believes).
But at the same time … by definition, Bingley would have to be separated from Jane in order to marry someone, anyone else. So Darcy apparently told himself that he wasn’t prejudiced in his desire to break up Jingley just because he also wanted Georgie to hook up with him at a later date. And in claiming that Jane just wasn’t that into Bingley, he covered up this other motivating factor of yeah, Bingley pretty much belongs to my sister, so hands off, a factor that would make him more inclined to think/hope/assume his assessment of Jane is right. And that’s wrong. Like, so wrong that Darcy doesn’t want to acknowledge it.
Speaking of not acknowledging things, Lizzy does a good job of not sinking to Caroline’s level. However, it’s poor Georgiana who ends up suffering the most, as the indirect mention of Wickham makes her shut down for awhile. And thanks to Lizzy’s composed response, Darcy winds up thinking even better of her. Wow, Caroline. Just wow.
And we’re not done! The Caroline Bingley Is Always Wrong parade is still going! While Darcy is escorting the Gardiners and Lizzy to their carriage, Caroline goes on a nasty tirade of Lizzy’s faults hoping that Georgiana will join in. Nope! Georgie has already heard her brother talk in glowing terms about Lizzy and cannot find a single fault. Then Darcy returns and Caroline starts complaining to him about Lizzy’s summer tan, her unremarkable teeth and eyes, and her stubborn independent spirit. All of these hit a brick wall, so she changes gears and reminds Darcy of what he himself once said about Lizzy: “She a beauty! I should as soon call her mother a wit” (he must have said this well after the assembly, when he first declared Lizzy to be average-looking, and before the get-together at Lucas Lodge).
One can imagine that Darcy is at his wits’ end as he replies, “[T]hat was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance.” Now that he has all but confirmed that he’s totally into Lizzy, Caroline is all but defeated—this is the last time we hear directly from her in the book, though not the last time she appears. About the best thing I can say about her is that she has the self-preserving instincts of a cockroach.
Meanwhile, Lizzy is still too timid to ask her aunt her opinion of Darcy, which is too bad as Aunt Gardiner really wants to tell her. Although this is a curious character growth for Lizzy—this time, instead of declaring her own opinion as loudly as possible, she would almost rather hear from someone else. Unfortunately, one gets the feeling that she’s still too humbled to express her feelings and desires. I’d like to say that she’s got plenty of time to build up to it, but …
Soon to come: Bad news from home results in an abrupt cancellation in vacation plans and a painful confession to Darcy.
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