Charlotte is discussing Darcy's rude comment about Elizabeth at the first dance in the novel. He had passed Elizabeth by, and at Bingley's suggestion that he dance with her, Darcy stated rudely, "She is tolerable, but not handsome enought to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men." Later as Jane, Charlotte and Elizabeth discuss this comment, and Darcy's tendency to be "eat up with pride", Charlotte comes in with the above comment. What she is saying here is that if anyone has the right to feel pride, it should be Darcy, who has a fine family, fortune, and "everything in his favour".
This comment could be significant because first of all, Elizabeth agrees. She states, "That is very true...and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine." After her pride is wounded, she becomes the one too prideful to move past her prejudices of him. Even though she does not come from a "fine family" or substantial means, she herself becomes guilty of pride, after mocking and hating his. And, the kind of "pride" that Darcy has is less due to his circumstances, and more to a social awkwardness that he later confesses to. Elizabeth's is born only from her heart. It is also significant because of Austen's theme of pride, class distinctions, and romance in relation to all of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment