2) Please respond to the text. Use direct examples from the novel, and make predictions. Where do you see the novel going from here? What clues do you see Austen leaving for us to ponder? Also, please ask me questions. Let me know what you would like to discuss. What is confusing? What would you like to discuss further?
"Got Bingley?"
"Not if I can help it!"
"May I have the next dance...and your hand in marriage, Cousin Elizabeth?"
"I would rather marry a Wookie, sir!"
AAAARRRRHHHH! AAARRH!
(Translation: "Hey, babycakes! Wassup!")
I was surprised when Charlotte Lucas actually accepted Mr Collins marriage proposal, but it least it kind of got rid of him. I feel bad for Jane because it seemed that her and bingley were the only stable couple, and that they really cared about each other, and I wonder why he wouldn't think to write to her to even say goodbye. My favorite quote from Elizabeth so far came from chapter four "There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters.." I think it matches her character well, and find it kind of funny even though its a bit sad. It looks to me like the gardiners are like surrogate parents to the bennet girls, because they own parents are a crazy mom and a disinterested dad.
ReplyDelete-ali keamy
In this section, Jane Austen provides another example of great contrast between Elizabeth and her friend Charlotte. Facing his rejection, Mr. Collins seeks the company of someone outside the Bennett family, and above all people he finds kindness in Charlotte Lucas. Like Charlotte stated earlier in the novel, “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance...and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life”(18), and that is exactly what happens in these chapters. In a matter of just 3 days, Charlotte becomes the heir of Longbourn and Mr. Collins’s wife. She barely knows him, and has heard of his absurdities, but unlike Elizabeth, she does not need to have affections in marriage. After all, despite his creepy nature, “But still he would be her husband...it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune…”(104). Like Ali, I found this surprising, but it reveals the practicality of Charlotte and her situation. Understandably, the Bennett family does not take well to this revelation. Elizabeth is hurt and confused by her friend’s actions. Between Charlotte’s strange marriage and the separation between Jane and Mr. Bingley, it seems like Elizabeth may be asking too much for romantic feelings in her relations. While talking with Jane, “The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense’(114).
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ReplyDeleteIn this section I think we really see why the book is titled Pride and Prejudice. In the last section Elizabeth was shown to be prejudice in her condemning Mr. Darcy based purely on Mr. Wickhams testimony. In this section the whole Bennet family, excluding Jane, condemn him as well. They are so quick to believe the gossip because they were looking for a reason to denounce Mr. Darcy based on their first impressions of him and their close mindedness about him, “but by every body else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worst of men (95)”. It was only really gossip too, Wickham told Jane who told everyone else, and that is how rumors start and how other peoples opinions are shaped to the rumors. When Elizabeth said, “I should at present detest his very name, and wish him all manner of evil (103)”, it reminded me of her views on Mr. Darcy and her animosity towards him. Since she was talking about how this is how she would feel if she were scorned by a lover, I think her feelings for Darcy are much deeper than she thinks. Now that Elizabeth isn't completely enamored by Mr. Wickham she will start to see his real side and question his claims about Darcy. I agree with Sabine about how Lizzy might be changing her expectations after seeing how the Jane/Bingley and Charlotte/Collins relationships worked out. The loveless relationship based on status, money, and security is the one getting married while the love filled relationship has apparently ended. To Elizabeth it could seem like she should be taking the route Charlotte took because love may be too much to ask for.
ReplyDeleteIn chapters XXI to XXVI I found it so hysterical how Elizabeth kept bringing up Mr. Darcy in conversations that had nothing to do with him. Elizabeth is so determined to hate him and it’s an interesting contrast to Jane and Mr. Bingley's instant connection. Mr. Darcy doesn’t appear at all in these chapters but Elizabeth still finds a way to mention him. In the first few chapters every time Jane brought up Mr. Bingley or the Bingleys she refused to speak ill of them, saying that "If they believed him attached to me, they would not try to part us; if he were so they could not succeed" (94). while that entire time Elizabeth is telling her that the Bingleys forced Mr. Bingley to leave Jane behind because she wasn't wealthy enough. After Jane goes to stay with her aunt in London, she realized that Elizabeth was right and that she "have been entirely deceived in Miss Bingley's regard for me" (101). Will this cause Jane to pursue Mr. Bingley now that she’s in London and she knows his sisters don’t want them to be together?
ReplyDeleteI sense that Elizabeth is in denial of her feelings because of her misjudgements of Darcy & the account provided by Wickham that further clouds her initial conclusions; perhaps it is faulted to Elizabeth's logically driven nature, and as so she is in search of a logical reason to defer the existence of her attraction.
DeleteI never liked the fact that Charlotte Lucas accepted Mr. Collins's marriage proposal. I understand why she does as she stated before, "I am not a romantic you know...I only ask for a comfortable home(81)". Marrying Mr. Collins will ultimately assure her of a sturdy roof over her head and food on the table, but most likely not a happy marriage. Looking back at the story you can see that Charlotte is an realist where as Elizabeth, Jane and the rest of the Bennett girls are more of the idealistic type, (more so the younger Bennett girls). Overall the news of the marriage is shocking to Elizabeth, and as Sabine said above it confuses Elizabeth. I think this will make her think about her relationship with Mr. Wickham, because as they do have romantic feelings for each other- Mr. Wickham is not as well off as some other characters in the novel.
ReplyDeleteWhat really got my attention in these few chapters was what happened with Mr.Collins and Charlotte. Just a few days after Elizabeth rejecting Mr.Collins, he immediately gets engaged to Charlotte. Charlotte isn’t the romantic type but she was able to get herself to accept Mr.Collinss’ Proposal. “It is impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen”(87). Maybe Charlotte decided to marry to possibly get it over with and live on with her life. Though Elizabeth was surprised and a bit mad at Charlotte for making a poor decision accepting the proposal , she tries to be happy for them. I do feel kind of bad for Jane for not getting in contact with Mr.Bingley and knowing that Miss Darcy may be trying to sweep him off his feet. Also the fact that Miss Bingley never really liked Jane adds to her stress. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling or going through right now in the book.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Walsh
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ReplyDeleteI find it to be a little strange that Mr. Collins proposed to charlotte three days after he proposed to Elizabeth and that she encouraged him. Charlotte may not be romantic and Mr.Collins is described as “neither sensible nor agreeable” (85) but i can't really get over how quickly they got engaged after Elizabeth rejected him. I was also a little surprised that Mr.Bingley did not say goodbye to Jane considering how well they were getting along. I think it probably had something to do with Mrs. Bennet since she kept talking about it like they were already married when they weren't even engaged. I feel bad for Jane but i am also glad that she realizes Miss Bingley isn't as kind as she originally thought while she is in London. Also i find it ironic that Elizabeth talks about believing in the “inconsistency of all human characters” (92) yet she seems pretty quick to judge certain people without thoroughly knowing them.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Mahoney
to your first point Brianna, I can understand the strange feeling of Collins and Charlotte getting married, yet when looking at the quick marriage through the perspective of all characters in mind, it seems clear the cause for it is justified. Charlotte just wants to get married and go through the stereotypical motions of a wife, and Collins, pressured by Lady Catherine I feel more than the book describe, Is in desperate desire for a wife. marrying three days after Elizabeth's rejection is just Collins 1) moving on as he did with Jane, and 2) indirectly telling Elizabeth she was only one of many,and trying to enrage her by marrying he best friend.I might be adding to much malice to Collins character, but He does try to get Elizabeth to regret her decision in chapter XXVIII when walking around his house.
DeleteSecondly on the matter of Mr. Bingley's sudden departure without any letters or forewarns, I believe the evil miss Bingley is behind it. She probably has held back letters from Bingley or played as a messenger between him and Jane, and has lied to separate the two. This might be a wild prediction but it is not of Bingley to just dissapear without a trace.
In this section, I got to see more about Miss Bingley's character. She has this plan of marrying Mr. Darcy, and Miss Darcy marrying Mr. Bingley. Which I thought was weird, but nobody else thought it was and that they just called it an "intermarriage" (82) like it was no big deal. I don't agree with Miss Bingley for actively keeping Jane away from Mr. Bingley and giving her the idea that she has no chance with him just so she can go through with her plan. I do believe that Jane will end up finding her way around Miss Bingley and getting closer to Mr. Bingley. Which sounds like a long shot considering that Miss Bingley has the upperhand on Jane considering her relation to Mr. Bingley.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I see Mr. Collins as a strange character, I am happy that he found someone (Charlotte) that can put up with him. Charlotte is the type of person who will take what she can get so it seems like a perfect match. I also enjoyed Elizabeth's Mrs. Bennet-esque reaction to the situation when she said "Engaged to Mr. Collins! my dear Charlotte,-impossible!" (86). I think Mr. Collins and Charlotte will somehow ironically end up having a better marriage than expected.
-Trevor Albano
I see the novel heading in an interesting direction regarding Jane and Miss. Bingley. She seems to be the person responding to Jane's letters to Mr. Bingley, and tormenting her endlessly about "her brother's being partial to Miss Darcy"(91), and similar things. These interactions lead me to believe that there will be some kind of karma back to Miss. Bingley since novels usually have the good side win. I was really not surprised about Charlottes decision to allow Mr. Collins to marry her since she was always practical about the marriage stuff, but I was surprised at how badly Elizabeth took it. Instead of spinning it for the best since she is Lizzy's friend, Elizabeth says that Miss Lucas is "sacrific[ing] every better feeling to worldly advantage"(87).
ReplyDelete-Yuval Shechter
Question:
Do you think it would be ok to quote the movie as well as the book?
resources are resources, so I say yes, I would just be mindful of the proportion between the two
DeleteYes.
DeleteThis is the part of the novel where everything seemly turns bad, especially for Mrs. Bennett. Elizabeth has an opportunity to marry Mr. Collins, someone who could provide a good life for her and set up the other daughters for marriage, but instead she refuses and Ms. Lucas ends up marrying him. Like most people have already said I am glad that Elizabeth denied Mr. Collins but I can understand why Charlotte Lucas pursued Mr. Collins marriage. The context of 1800s England, her only option was to marry someone and Mr. Collins probably had the most to give to her. It is like choosing your job for the money not because you are interested in it. I do not understand why Elizabeth is so bad at Charlotte for marrying Mr. Collins, “Elizabeth felt persuaded that no real confidence could ever subsist between them again.”(126) it means that Mr. Collins will not want to marry her and it is what her friends wants. It is going to be an awkward scene when the Bennets visit Mr. Collins. Another relationship that has gone awry is Jane and Mr. Bingley’s, it was going so well that Mrs. Bennett was telling people that they would sone be engaged when suddenly the Bingleys leave and say they will not return, “the whole party have left Netherfield by this time, and are on their way to town—and without any intention of coming back again”(112). I want to agree with Elizabeth, that Mr. Bingley is keeping Mr. Bingley from returning because she wants him to marry Ms. Darcy. This is keeping in character for both Mr. Bingley and Ms. Bingley but it is odd that she has so much control over him. I think that Jane and Mr. Bingley will meet again and end up getting married. Another relationship put on hold with the Bingleys leaves in Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s if Bingley is never going to return, Mr. Darcy will certainly not return. All of the Bennet daughters relationships are seemingly in shambles but I predict that they will pick back up again.
ReplyDelete-Conor Walsh
In the first few chapters you learn that the few plans for the girls to be married are cancelled because Bingley is planning on marrying Darcy’s sisters, Georgiana. Its sad for Jane because she actually cared about him. Also Mr. Collins proposed to Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas, and she has accepted. Mr. Bennett encourages Elizabeth to continue her interest in Mr. Wickham. Mrs. Gardiner also warns Elizabeth that Wickham’s lack of fortune doesn't make a good match. Later, she informs Elizabeth that Wickham is interested in another girl who has inherited a large fortune. Many of the girls felt that “hope was over, entirely over”
ReplyDeleteI have sympathy for poor Jane; given how much she fancied Bingley (and it was reciprocated), the thought of her efforts being unsuccessful meant that Jane was left in the mist of her own anxiety; fearful of the actions of Bingley, who did not care to write a response settling her angst. But Jane is a character who is emotional by nature, is strong when she is struck with uncertainty, “With a stronger voice she soon added, "I have this comfort immediately, that it has not been more than an error of fancy on my side, and that it has done no harm to anyone but myself.” I hope that in the future that Bingley will sense his mistake and finally address Jane immediately as he should have had done.
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ReplyDeleteI’ve always been suspicious of Ms. Bingley, but after chapter XXI, I think my suspicions were justified. In the beginning she appeared very kind to Jane and the Bennet family. It first it seemed like this was because she wanted to get to know her future sister in law, but really she was looking for dirt to dissuade her brother from marrying her. When she writes to Jane, she makes it sound like she wants to see her; however, when Jane does visit her, it is clear she did not mean what she wrote in the letter. Jane confesses to Elizabeth that she had been “entirely deceived in Miss. Bingley’s regard for me”(101). Likely, Caroline was just covering her bases. In the letter she reveals that she wants her brother to marry Georgiana Darcy writing that she and Louisa hope “to entertain of her being hereafter [their] sister”(81). She likely disapproves of the Bennet family and hopes that her brother’s marriage to Georgiana will lead to her marrying Mr. Darcy. I think she also wanted to separate Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth because she knows her prefers her company. She hopes that by having Darcy to herself, he will change his mind and pursue her. The Caroline we see in this chapter is manipulative and self-serving.