by Jane Austen
Yours, Oc.
This letter gave Elizabeth some pain; but her spirits returned as she considered that Jane would no longer be duped, by the sister at least. All expectation from the brother was now absolutely over. She would not even wish for any renewal of his attentions. His character sunk on every review of it; and as a punishment for him, as well as a possible advantage to Jane, she seriously hoped he might really soon marry Mr. Darcy's sister, as, by Wickham's account, she would make him abundantly regret what he had thrown away.29
Mrs. Gardiner about this time reminded Elizabeth of her promise concerning that gentleman, and required information; and Elizabeth had such to send as might rather give contentment to her aunt than to herself. His apparent partiality had subsided, his attentions were over, he was the admirer of some one else. Elizabeth was watchful enough to see it all, but she could see it and write of it without material pain. Her heart had been but slightly touched, and her vanity was satisfied with believing that she would have been his only choice, had fortune permitted it. The sudden acquisition of ten thousand pounds was the most remarkable charm of the young lady, to whom he was now rendering himself agreeable; but Elizabeth, less clear-sighted perhaps in his case than in Charlotte's,30 did not quarrel with him for his wish of independence.31 Nothing, on the contrary, could be more natural; and while able to suppose that it cost him a few struggles to relinquish her, she was ready to allow it a wise and desirable measure for both, and could very sincerely wish him happy.32
All this was acknowledged to Mrs. Gardiner; and after relating the circumstances, she thus went on: —”I am now convinced, my dear aunt, that I have never been much in love; for had I really experienced that pure and elevating passion, I should at present detest his very name, and wish him all manner of evil.33 But my feelings are not only cordial34 towards him; they are even impartial towards Miss King. I cannot find out that I hate her at all, or that I am in the least unwilling to think her a very good sort of girl. There can be no love in all this. My watchfulness has been effectual;35 and though I should certainly be a more interesting36 object to all my acquaintance, were I distractedly37 in love with him, I cannot say that I regret my comparative insignificance. Importance may sometimes be purchased too dearly.38 Kitty and Lydia take his defection much more to heart than I do. They are young in the ways of the world, and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome young men must have something to live on, as well as the plain.”
1. A common romantic convention, which Mrs. Gardiner is alluding to jokingly, is for opposition to love, especially on the part of a parent or other authority figure, to encourage that love. Examples of this abound in the literature of the time, including one in Jane Austen's favorite novel, Sir Charles Grandison, by Samuel Richardson. She herself plays with, and ridicules, this idea in the funniest of her youthful stories, “Love and Friendship.” In it some very foolish characters, in conformity with the best romantic doctrines, pride themselves on never complying with their parents’ advice, even when the parents advise them to do what they already desire. For example, one young man refuses his father's suggestion of marriage to a particular woman with the words, “Lady Dorothea is lovely and Engaging; I prefer no woman to her; but know, Sir, that I scorn to marry her in compliance with your wishes. No! Never shall it be said that I obliged my Father.”
2. Mrs. Gardiner's warning has a strong basis: given Elizabeth and Wick-ham's mutual want, or lack, of fortune, it is difficult to see how they could support themselves. Army salaries for a lower officer like Wickham were barely enough to support the officer himself; nor could they rely on finding opportunities for making more money, for such opportunities tended to be limited in this society, especially for those lacking powerful connections. Jane Austen herself, when young, seems to have been obliged to terminate a love affair with a man because they both lacked sufficient fortunes to marry each other.
Jane Austen also indicates consistent support for such practical decisions in her writings. Her novels suggest that, while it is wrong to marry only for money and without love, it is also wrong to marry without regard to money. In Sense and Sensibility the sensible heroine accepts as a matter of course that she will be unable to marry the man she loves unless he can manage to secure an adequate income for them. Mrs. Gardiner's caution is thus meant to be seen as wise advice, even without regard to the issue of Wickham himself and his character.
3. Elizabeth denounces Darcy because she believes it is his injustice to Wickham that has prevented the latter from having the means to support a wife.
4. A curious statement, since all Mr. Bennet has been shown saying about Wickham is his joke about Elizabeth being jilted by him. Elizabeth may be unconsciously attributing her own preferences to her father.
5. Elizabeth's words reveal the difficulty in accepting such sensible but painful advice as her aunt has offered, for after first agreeing that it would be wise to resist the temptation of falling in love, she then suggests doubt about that conclusion. The statement indicates her honesty about herself—in other words, she never imagines that she is immune from error. It also conforms to Jane Austen's general view of humanity, for she never supposes that any person can be perfect, and she almost never creates characters who do not have at least some weakness or failing. In a letter commenting on a man who wished for ideal heroines in novels, something found in other writers of the time, she states, “pictures of perfection as you know make me sick & wicked” (Mar. 23, 1817).
6. his first object: what he seeks or strives for most.
7. conscious: knowing (possibly in a guilty sense).
8. A hint of criticism regarding Mrs. Bennet's constant invitations to others while the Gardiners are visiting.
9. wonderful: extraordinary, amazing. The idea is that usually such advice is resented.
10. affected: moved. It does not say whether Elizabeth is moved by feelings of happiness for Charlotte, as would be the convention, or by other feelings such as regret or pity.
11. Such a quick invitation to visit, along with her emphatic vow of writing, indicates that Charlotte is fully aware that company other than her husband's will be desirable.
12. Maria: Charlotte's sister.
13. unreserved: frank, uninhibited.
14. furniture: furnishings.
15. roads: in this period local roads depended for their upkeep on the vigilance of the local authorities, which could vary greatly. Thus in many areas the roads were poorly maintained, and travel on them was very difficult. This made good roads something to be praised in a new neighborhood.
16. in spirits: cheerful, lively. The implication, which Jane does not allow herself to imagine but which will soon be reinforced and confirmed, is that Miss Bingley is not in spirits because she does not wish to see Jane or to continue their friendship. Before Jane's coming to London the only letters Miss Bingley seems to send her are the ones in which she tells Jane they will not be returning to Netherfield and speaks of her brother's marrying Miss Darcy—in other words, letters for the purpose of ending Jane's interest in Bingley, not letters sent out of genuine friendship.
17. It can be guessed that they wish to leave quickly in order to get rid of Jane, and that Jane's letter went unanswered because it had been disregarded, not lost. One reason they have for wishing her gone is to prevent her accidentally running into their brother, and thus alerting him to her presence in London—since, as revealed later, he has been deliberately kept from this knowledge.
18. accident: chance, an unforeseen event.
19. discover: reveal.
20. morning: period from the beginning of the day until dinner (usually around four or five p.m.). Thus Jane was waiting almost all of each day.
21. Standard etiquette dictated that visits, such as Jane has already made on Miss Bingley in London, be returned within a reasonably short time. Miss Bingley's violation of these norms indicates her wish to break off her acquaintance with Jane.
22. event: final outcome.
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23. The matter is not as hard to comprehend as Jane supposes. Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst probably did find Jane a better companion than anyone else in the area when they were at Netherfield, and therefore away from their London friends, and when they did not fear a love between their brother and Jane. Even then, the only important action they took was to invite her to come for the day while the men were out; they never really sought the intimacy Jane imagined to be there.
24. Even in this letter Jane refuses to face up fully to the truth. This unwillingness or inability to change her excessive innocence, which will appear again when Jane learns more about this whole affair, points to a crucial difference between Jane and Elizabeth. The latter also makes serious errors, but unlike Jane she draws the full lessons from her errors and as a result changes her character for the better.
25. In other words, Jane supposes that Miss Bingley's neglect stems from her desire to keep Jane away from Bingley, and keep him from renewing his love. This is why Jane calls it needless anxiety, since she believes that Bing ley does not love her anymore.
In fact, the very information Jane provides could lead to a contrary inference, for if Miss Bingley, who presumably knows her brother well and has regular contact with him, continues to harbor anxiety about his affection for Jane, then such affection may still exist. Jane, however, will not permit herself to imagine that.
26. amiable: kind, affectionate.
27. Later this is revealed to be untrue.
28. A clue that Bingley is not partial to Miss Darcy and that he may still like Jane.
29. She may mean that Jane would benefit by no longer having any reason to hope for Bingley. But the sentence as written implies that it would be a benefit to Jane, as well as a punishment for Bingley, if he were made unhappy by marriage to Miss Darcy. Such thoughts—and Jane is the last person to take any pleasure in another's misery, or even to wish to have her own merit vindicated by someone's rejection of her proving to be a mistake—testify to how much disappointment and anger are distorting Elizabeth's judgment and better instincts.
30. In other words, she criticized Charlotte for marrying purely for money (and correctly so, implies the author), but fails to criticize Wickham for attempting the same thing.
31. independence: financial independence.
32. These words suggest that Elizabeth's attraction to Wickham may have stemmed as much from her dislike of Darcy and her pleasure at having her negative judgment of Darcy confirmed, as it stemmed from any affection for Wickham. Her main reaction to the latter's abandonment of her is not to wish it had not happened or to regret what she has lost, but to attempt to justify his actions and thereby also to justify the wisdom of her judgment of him. Thus pride regarding her judgment proves to be her strongest emotion, a characteristic of Elizabeth that appears at other points.
33. A satirical reference to romantic notions of extreme love that Jane Austen consistently ridicules.
34. cordial: affectionate, warm. The term implied more heartfelt and sincere benevolence than it does currently.
35. Meaning her success in avoiding a serious infatuation with Wickham.
36. interesting: important.
37. distractedly: madly.
38. In other words, the pain of losing a person one deeply loved would be too high a price to pay for the importance one would acquire among others for being such a jilted lover. Elizabeth is again referring, at least in part, to romantic conventions of love, in this case the celebration of those who are consumed, or even rendered unhappy, by madly passionate love.
Chapter Four
With no greater events than these in the Longbourn family, and otherwise diversified by little beyond the walks to Mery-ton, sometimes dirty and sometimes cold, did January and February pass away. March was to take Elizabeth to Hunsford. She had not at first thought very seriously of going thither; but Charlotte, she soon found, was depending on the plan, and she gradually learned to consider it herself with greater pleasure as well as greater certainty. Absence had increased her desire of seeing Charlotte again, and weakened her disgust1 of Mr. Collins. There was novelty in the scheme, and as, with such a mother and such uncompanionable sisters, home could not be faultless, a little change was not unwelcome for its own sake. The journey would moreover give her a peep at Jane; and, in short, as the time drew near, she would have been very sorry for any delay. Every thing, however, went on smoothly, and was finally settled according to Charlotte's first sketch. She was to accompany Sir William and his second daughter. The improvement of spending a night in London was added in time,2 and the plan became perfect as plan could be.
The only pain was in leaving her father, who would certainly miss her, and who, when it came to the point, so little liked her going, that he told her to write to him, and almost promised to answer her letter.3
The farewell between herself and Mr. Wickham was perfectly friendly; on his side even more. His present pursuit could not make him forget that Elizabeth had been the first to excite and to deserve his attention, the first to listen and to pity, the first to be admired; and in his manner of bidding her adieu, wishing her every enjoyment, reminding her of what she was to expect in Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and trusting their opinion of her—their opinion of every body—would always coincide, there was a solicitude, an interest which she felt must ever attach her to him with a most sincere regard; and she parted from him convinced, that whether married or single, he must always be her model of the amiable and pleasing.
Her fellow-travellers the next day, were not of a kind to make her think him less agreeable. Sir William Lucas, and his daughter Maria, a good humoured girl, but as empty-headed as himself, had nothing to say that could be worth hearing, and were listened to with about as much delight as the rattle of the chaise.4 Elizabeth loved absurdities, but she had known Sir William's too long. He could tell her nothing new of the wonders of his presentation5 and knighthood; and his civilities were worn out like his information.
It was a journey of only twenty-four miles, and they began it so early as to be in Gracechurch-street by noon. As they drove to Mr. Gardiner's door, Jane was at a drawing-room window watching their arrival; when they entered the passage she was there to welcome them, and Elizabeth, looking earnestly in her face, was pleased to see it healthful and lovely as ever. On the stairs were a troop of little boys and girls, whose eagerness for their cousin's appearance would not allow them to wait in the drawing-room, and whose shyness, as they had not seen her for a twelvemonth,6 prevented their coming lower. All was joy and kindness. The day passed most pleasantly away; the morning in bustle and shopping,7 and the evening at one of the theatres.8
Elizabeth then contrived to sit by her aunt.9 Their first subject was her sister; and she was more grieved than astonished to hear, in reply to her minute enquiries, that though Jane always struggled to support her spirits, there were periods of dejection. It was reasonable, however, to hope, that they would not continue long. Mrs. Gardiner gave her the particulars also of Miss Bingley's visit in Gracechurch-street, and repeated conversations occurring at different times between Jane and herself, which proved that the former had, from her heart, given up the acquaintance.
Mrs. Gardiner then rallied10 her niece on Wickham's desertion, and complimented her on bearing it so well.
“But, my dear Elizabeth,” she added, “what sort of girl is Miss King? I should be sorry to think our friend mercenary.”
“Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive? Where does discretion end, and avarice begin?11 Last Christmas you were afraid of his marrying me, because it would be imprudent; and now, because he is trying to get a girl with only ten thousand pounds, you want to find out that he is mercenary.”
“If you will only tell me what sort of girl Miss King is, I shall know what to think.”
“She is a very good kind of girl, I believe. I know no harm of her.”
“But he paid her not the s
mallest attention, till her grandfather's death made her mistress of this fortune.”
“No—why should he? If it was not allowable for him to gain my affections, because I had no money, what occasion could there be for making love12 to a girl whom he did not care about, and who was equally poor?”
“But there seems indelicacy13 in directing his attentions towards her, so soon after this event.”14
“A man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant decorums which other people may observe. If she does not object to it, why should we?”
“Her not objecting, does not justify him. It only shews her being deficient in something herself—sense or feeling.”
“Well,” cried Elizabeth, “have it as you choose. He shall be mercenary, and she shall be foolish.”
“No, Lizzy, that is what I do not choose. I should be sorry, you know, to think ill of a young man who has lived so long in Derbyshire.”
“Oh! if that is all, I have a very poor opinion of young men who live in Derbyshire;15 and their intimate friends who live in Hertfordshire are not much better. I am sick of them all. Thank Heaven! I am going to-morrow where I shall find a man who has not one agreeable quality, who has neither manner nor sense to recommend him. Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all.”
“Take care, Lizzy; that speech savours strongly of disappointment.”16
Before they were separated by the conclusion of the play, she had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to accompany her uncle and aunt in a tour of pleasure which they proposed taking in the summer.