Pride & Prejudice Notes: 31 - 36
Ch. 31
Col. Fitzwilliam like E “Mrs. Collins’ pretty friend had moreover caught his fancy very much” “they conversed with so much spirit and flow as to draw the attention of Lady Catherine herself, as well as of Mr. Darcy” 117
Lady C interrupts E and Col Fitz talking with “Of music! Then pray speak aloud. It is of all subjects my delight. . . There are so few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste. If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient. And so would Anne, if her health had allowed her to apply.” 118
Lady C rudely offers E the piano in the servant’s room
“Mr. Darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt’s ill breeding, and made no answer.” 118
Darcy and E spar at the piano—good scene to analyze
She begins to teach him moderation when Darcy claims that he did not dance at the ball because he is “ill qualified to recommend myself to strangers.”
“My fingers . . . do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapditity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I would not take the trouble of practicing. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any . . .”
“Darcy smiled and said, “You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. . . We neither of us perform to strangers.”
Ch. 32
Darcy begins to call on Elizabeth, sometimes alone, but he’s awkward and taciturn most of the time
“You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You cannot always have been at Longbourn.” What does he imply here?
123 “Col. Fitzwilliam occasionally laughing at his stupidity, proved that he was generally different.” Why is Darcy so awkward around E?
Ch. 33
“Younger sons cannot marry where they like”
“Unless they like women of fortune, which I think they very often do.”
“Our habits of expense make us too dependent, and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention to money.” What is he getting out? Mercenary or prudent?
Col. Fitz tell E. of how Darcy saved a friend from an imprudent marriage (Bingley and Jane!)
Ch. 34
Darcy’s proposal (see think write)
Ch. 35
Darcy’s letter
The truth about Wickham and a rationale for the Bingley separation
Detailed and persuasive
Ch. 36
E reads it angrily, and then goes back to re-read and begin to believe
139 “His countenance, voice, and manner, had established him at once in the possession of every virtue.” Wickham and the beautiful is the good.
E comes full circle on Wickham and begins to learn moderation from Darcy. She realizes her hubris
141 “How despicably have I acted . . . I who have prided myself on my discernment . . . How humiliating is this discovery!—Yet, how just a humiliation!—Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other . . . Till this moment, I never knew myself.” Reflect on this—what does it reveal about E?