"What fine eyes you have Mr. Darcy!"
"The better to see you with, Mr. Wickham..."
Friday, September 15, 2017
Due Friday, September 22nd - "Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen, Chapters XIII-XVIII
Using direct evidence from the text, share your thoughts on the events that transpired in the reading. What do you make of Mr. Collins? Elizabeth? Wickham? What do you predict will happen in the following chapters?
"What fine eyes you have Mr. Darcy!"
"The better to see you with, Mr. Wickham..."
"What fine eyes you have Mr. Darcy!"
"The better to see you with, Mr. Wickham..."
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Mr Collins weirds me out. I was confused at first why no one was bothered by the fact that he was going for his cousins children, but I then realized that it was nothing out of the ordinary for that time period, which also weirds me out. I don't trust that he actually intends to care for the Bennet daughters when he inherits the estate. I thought it was funny when the author said "Mrs Bennet, who quarrelled with no compliments, answered most readily." because it describes her character well. I noticed that the more balls they go to, the more messy the whole love and marriage thing becomes. People start rumors, people can't get over their pride, Mrs Bennet tries too hard, etc. It becomes annoying/hard to watch.
ReplyDelete-ali keamy
In these past chapters the reader is introduced to the character Mr. Collins. He is the closet male relative to Mr. Bennett (his cousin), so he is to inherit the Bennett estate. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of Mr. Collins because I find him a little strange. As Ali stated above, his interest in the Bennett girls is unnerving. I know this is normal for the time period, but the way he goes about it is just weird. He starts out kind of having interest in all of them until Mrs. Bennett hints that Jane is, "likely to soon be engaged"(48). And for her, "younger daughters she could not positively answer"(48). But for him to possibly show interest in the younger Bennett's such as Lydia and Kitty is weird to read about because not only are they fairly closely related, but those two are like age 15. He ends up fixing his eye on Elizabeth which adds to the drama in the story. I feel through all of Mr. Collins actions in these chapters he is Jane Austen's example of personal dislike for snobby and proud individuals, who did not get their rank by working for themselves- but by association.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about Mr. Collins. I'm not an expert on Victorian England history, but I can imagine that there were plenty of wealthy snobs with his sort of attitude at that time. -Trevor Albano
DeleteWhen Mr. Collins was introduced, Mr. Bennet and I already had the same expectations about him, "He was as absurd as he (Mr. Bennet) had hoped”. Mr. Collins appears to be this deceiving gentleman, who thinks that he's fooling the Bennets into believing that he's admiring them. Mr. Collins starts to admire the Bennet ladies, but then he admires “the hall, the dining room, and all its furniture” as if he is enthralled by the idea that this would be “his own future property”. Now enter Mr. Wickham, he's captured everyone's attention, and is described as a perfect human being. What had me at a halt on the reading was his encounter with Mr. Darcy. "Both changed colour, one looked white, the other red.". I like this particular line because it doesn't say who's doing what, and it shows that Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham have some sort of history. As the story continues I can confirm that Mr. Wickham isn't as great a person as he first appeared when he tries to hurt Mr. Darcy's reputation. A common theme in this novel appears to be that the personalities of the characters aren't as they first appear to be, which makes sense as to why the book was almost called First Impressions.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Mr. Collins is a good person who means well but I agree with Ali and Katy and think that he is socially awkward, very weird, and doesn't really know how to read people. He says that he has no reason “ to be dissatisfied with my reception. Mr. Darcy seemed much pleased with the attention” (68) when actually Mr.Darcy “was eyeing him with unrestrained wonder, and when at last Mr. Collins allowed him to speak, replied with an air of distant civility” (67). We already know that Mr.Darcy isn't really friendly to people he doesn't know and his response to Mr. Collins only reinforces that along with how Mr. Collins can't read people and doesn't really have good social skills. Mr. Wickham has acted like a nice person so far but i also feel like he isn't totally honest with people mostly because of the way he talks badly about Mr. Darcy and his sister to Elizabeth. Even Miss. Bingley told Elizabeth that “Mr. Darcy is not in the least to blame” (65) when it would make more sense that she would rather Elisabeth think badly of Mr. Darcy.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Mahoney
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ReplyDeleteEveryone knows someone like Mr. Collins, a person who is prideful without any characteristics to be prideful of. He is formal, unaware and conceited to a point where he provides comic relief. It will be interesting how his relationship with Elizabeth will play out since she is the opposite of her but he sees her as his future wife. Mr. Collins does not factor in love or even liking the person in how fit they would be to be married only wealth and position. On the other hand Elizabeth thinks little of Mr. Collins and actually cares about liking the other person before marrying them so she will not want to marry Mr. Collins. I predict Elizabeth will drop hints and try to inform Mr. Collins that she does not want to marry him but since he is so conceited and unaware that he will try to marry her anyway. The reading also shines a light on the importance of first impressions with the introduction of Mr. Wickham, a handsome, charismatic officer, superior to the other officers “in person, countenance, air and walk”. Elizabeth immediately takes a liking to him, he has a excellent first impression. When he starts talking about his relationship with Mr. Darcy, how Mr. Darcy took all the money that was meant for Wickham, Elizabeth takes his side based only on her positive first impression of Wickham and her negative first impression of Darcy, “lf it not so, let Mr. Darcy contradict it. Besides, there was truth in his looks”. Austen might be trying to say that first impressions can be misleading and you should not judge everyone as soon as you meet them, which Elizabeth likes to do.
ReplyDelete-Conor Walsh
From the very beginning of Mr. Collins character introduction, I found him to be quite unusual. Many a times I found myself very uncomfortable with his comments, and ways in which he went after his cousins, speifically Elizabeth. Espeically after Mrs. Bennette hinted at her possible "connections" to Mr. Darcy. I also felt that Mrs.Bennettes push for Elizabeth to possibly marry Mr.Collins rather worse than her push for Jane to marry Mr.Bingely. " ...it was not long before her mother gave her to understand that the probablity of their marriage was agreeable to her" (60). Though that may have been due to the fact that Mr.Bingely is already quite fond of Jane. However, I found Mr. Wickham's character to be very likeable, but mysterious. Specifically in terms of his relationship to Mr. Darcy and his family. Being a " godson" and losing trust and respect from Mr. Darcy after the passing of both their fathers. It caused me to wonder if whether or not what Jane and Miss. Bingely had mentioned were true; something happened between them, of great significance, that caused a hostility.
ReplyDelete-Skye Padovani
I think I may be starting to understand what the title of the novel has to do with the story, especially in relation to Elizabeth and her mother. Both of them will not change their minds or even try to reconsider Mr. Darcy as a good person which implies "Prejudice" like the novel's title. And "Pride" seems to have to do with a lot of different characters we have met so far, such as Mr. Darcy with the quote, "My good opinion once lost is lost forever."(39) and just the entire manner of speech of Mr. Collins. He seems to have too high of an opinion of himself and is even described to be "self conceit[ed] of a weak head"(47), and seems to think he's doing the Bennet family a favor by trying marry Elizabeth "excessively generous and disinterested on his part."(48) As for Mr. Wickham, he seems extremely likeable, but as far as most stories go, the amazing person that shows up out of nowhere is generally the person to look out for. Like those Nigerian Prince email scams. In this way I agree with what Connor said.
ReplyDelete-Yuval Shechter
In these chapters we meet Mr. William Collins, who will inherit Mr.Bennet’s Property. We are also introduced to Mr.Wickham, a stranger who has had a dark past with Mr.Darcey. Mr.Wickham is introduced by Mr.Denny “Mr.Wickman was the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned.”(chapter 52). Mr.Wickham tells Elizabeth that Darcey’s father was very close to him, and that Darcey cheated him out of a church position. Bangles says that this story is lie and that Darcey never cheated Wickham out of anything. I feel like that they used to be close but something may have happened to split them up. I feel like sometime soon in the next chapters we will find out the truth behind these characters and their stories.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Walsh
The introduction of Mr. Wickham is unsettling. He's this charming character that Elizabeth likes and bonds with over their mutual dislike of Mr Darcy. I'm going to be straight up and say that I don't trust Mr. Wickham, he's almost TOO likable, if that makes any sense. The way that he talks about Mr. Darcy by saying things like "We are not on friendly terms, and it alway gives me pain to meet him, but I have no reason for avoid him..." (53) where he's playing the victim and placing all the blame on Mr. Darcy is concerning. Mr. Wickham is saying that even though Mr. Darcy has wronged him, he'll be the bigger person and be civil. He was being very vague about what happened, only giving details that seemed to help his case, and using Mr. Darcy's pride against him. From what I've read so far, I really like Mr. Darcy and he has a good sense of who people are. Even though he can be cruel with his words, he's loyal to those he likes as you can see through his friendship with Mr. Bingley. So Mr. Wickham acting like he did nothing wrong, and Mr. Darcy just started to be cruel to him out of the blue seems fishy and untrue. Mr Wickham is playing into Elizabeth's feelings and turning her more against Mr. Darcy, and I think that Elizabeth started to develop a blind rage towards Mr. Darcy - it's kind of like when you get mad at someone without knowing the whole story just because your friend is mad at them.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that the book was almost called "First Impressions" because through chapters 13-18 you can really start to see the impact that first impressions have with people. This is best shown through Elizabeth's interactions with Mr.Darcy and Mr.Wickham. Elizabeth didn't like Darcy from the moment they met because of how he carried himself but I can predict that her feelings are going to be quite opposite by the end of the book. On the other hand, Elizabeth was pleased with Mr.Wickham from the start which was heavily influenced by his good looks. The fact that even Miss.Bingley tried to persuade her in the drawing-room and says "for as to Mr.Darcy using him ill, it is perfectly false; for, on the contrary, he has always been remarkably kind to him, though George Wickham has treated Mr.Darcy in a most infamous matter. I do not know the particulars, but I know very well that Mr.Darcy is not in the least to blame"(page 65). Not even this can convince Elizabeth that Darcy is anything more than a greedy, entitled and in general, disrespectful man. I am curious to see how Elizabeth's opinions on these specific characters change throughout the next few chapters. I also would like to know if Mr.Wickhsm is as honest of a man as he holds himself to be.
ReplyDeleteWith the addition of Mr. Collins, the Bennett family further becomes an embarrassment at balls. Mr. Collins, a clergyman of Catherine de Bourgh, is introduced in Chapter 13 as the inheritor of Longbourn, and his strange and snobby demeanor is disliked by his relatives and the audience alike. His connection with de Bourgh gives him the illusion that he’s entitled to all parts of high society. So, when Elizabeth pleads with him not to talk to Mr. Darcy, the nephew of Catherine de Bourgh, “You must therefore allow me to follow the dictates of my conscience on this occasion, which leads me to perform that I look on as a point of duty. Pardon me for neglecting to profit by your advice...though in the case before us I consider myself more fitted by education and habitual study to decide on what is right than a young lady like yourself”(83). And like Brianna mentioned, Mr. Darcy did not like that Mr. Collins approached him and “was eyeing him with unrestrained wonder...Mr. Darcy’s contempt seemed abundantly increasing with the length of his second speech, and at the end of it he only made him a slight bow, and moved another way”(83), to which Mr. Collins believes “Mr. Darcy seemed much pleased with the attention”(83). I think that this obliviousness to others and his sense of entitlement will peak in the following chapters. He wants to marry Elizabeth, and he is blatantly unaware that she has no intention of wedding him. So, with this in mind, I think he’ll continue to stay at Longbourn and might even try to propose to Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteIn these few chapters, we are introduced to Mr. Collins. He will be inheriting the Bennett’s estate, he is also Mr. Bennett’s cousin. He said he would care for the daughters once the estate is his, but I wouldn't hold your breath. “He must be an oddity, I think,’ said she ‘I cannot make him out. There is something very pompous in his stile.” Elizabeth immediately thinks that Mr. Collins is eerie. As Katy stated above, it is alarming that he shows such interest in the Bennett girls. But again, this was appropriate during the time period.
ReplyDelete- Andrew Nelson
Mr. Collins is trying to be humble but you can see the underlying mirth that he is going to get that house, this fact is also amusing because Jane Austen was able to put a very realistic behavior into
ReplyDeletea character. It is interesting that he is also trying to look for a wife and is looking at Elizabeth because Mrs.Bennet said that Jane looks in a really good position to marry Mr.Bingley. It is also interesting where the new character Wickham does not enjoy Darcy’s presence and quite actively tries to avoid it as in the 18th chapter Mr.Deenly had to tell Lydia and Kitty about why Whickham could not come to the ball hosted by the Philips. It is also nice to see that Elizabeth is not offended by Wickham because up until now other than her parents she criticizes everyone she sees. Wickham is trying to talk bad about Darcy and I don't like it because I believe that Darcy is different from everyone and like every other human being they usually like to keep their money for themselves and their family like when Wickham tells Elizabeth why he hates Darcy ”..... the late Mr. Darcy …… He meant to provide for me amply, and thought he had done it; but when the living fell, it was given elsewhere…. and no less certain is it, that I cannot accuse myself of having really done anything to deserve to lose it.”(Chapter 16). This shows that Darcy is just looking out for his family because if Wickham wanted that money he would have taken it when he could have
- Aadith Arasu
Curiously, Mr. Collins believes the that he has no right to have an opinion addressing Mr. Darcy; ironically however he would have every right to have one. He seems (ill) determined in every manner to following his own inclinations, while also 'sugarcoating' things a bit too much such as “My dear Miss Elizabeth, I have the highest opinion in the world in your excellent judgement in all matters within the scope of your understanding; but permit me to say, that there must be a wide difference between the established forms of ceremony amongst the laity, and those which regulate the clergy." (ch. 18) Based on his words, it would seem as if he was waiting all this time for a pleasing opportunity to come along-and he iwill cease not to take hold of it. It can be also be deduced that Collins indeed has what may seem to be the presence of the (stereotypical) Victorian gentleman, but in truth revealed, Mr. Collins is a headstrong individual (border-lining on being disdainful). When it comes to 'condemning' Elizabeth, he believes it is a point depiction of duty and himself more understanding of such matters as "which on every other subject shall be my constant guide, though in the case before us I consider myself more fitted by education and habitual study to decide on what is right than a young lady like yourself.” (ch. 18).
ReplyDeleteHonestly, with his first impressions toward Elizabeth, I would not be shocked to sense the fact that she finds him truly disdainful in many a matters.
Mr. Collins didn’t bother me as much as he did some people. To me he just seems like a man of those times, albeit he is a rather strange and weird man as Ali and Katy pointed out. Many of the factors that make him unlikeable to me also seem like things that might be common in his level of society like his pompous nature and feeling of grandeur. Mr. Wickham is bad news though. In his dialog with Elizabeth about Darcy, I often find that he is making himself seem like the bigger man and sacrifices things, like going to the ball, as to seem like he doesn’t want to cause issues with Darcy. Although we have seen that Darcy can rub people the wrong way (very) often, he hasn’t shown any tendencies that would cause somebody to be so bothered by his mere presence as Mr. Wickham has expressed. Elizabeth hopefully soon realizes Mr. Wickham isn’t the perfectly agreeable guy she thinks he is.
ReplyDelete- Dominique Devani
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Collins is the kind of man who likes the sound of his voice and is too obtuse to comprehend why anyone wouldn’t. In chapter 14, he even admits to “sometimes amusing himself with suggesting and arranging such little elegant compliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions”(46). Despite taking the time to practice speeches in his head, he remains unfathomably boring. Like Mr. Darcy, he comes off as prideful, but unlike Mr. Darcy, he has very little to be proud of. He’s just a clergyman who makes a modest income and associates with the magnificent Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Though I find his personality distasteful, I do not think he has malicious intentions(unlike Mr. Wickham-a man whose last names sounds quite similar to wicked(Coincidence?)). Mr. Wickham seems dangerously charming, and for a man who claims to not want to bad mouth Mr. Darcy, he seems to have a lot to say about him. He is described as having an “appearance was greatly in his favour... all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address. The introduction was followed up on his side by a happy readiness of conversation—a readiness at the same time perfectly correct and unassuming”(49). He seems almost too charming, and if I’ve learned anything about Jane Austen, a character is never who they seem to be.
It was so shocking to me the way that Mr.Collins was acting when asking for Elizabeth's hand in marriage. Now adays if someone were to act like that it would be completely creepy and unacceptable but back then it was just like he was incredibly snobby and entitled. After Elizabeth rejecting his proposal around 5 times, Mr.Collins continues to insult her and say "in spite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you. Your portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications"(page 75). It amazes me that Mr.Collins thinks that belittling her will make her feel like she needs to marry him. I truly admire how even with the extreme pressure of not only Mr. Collins but her own mother as well, Elizabeth manages to stay strong and really fight for what is best for her. I'm intrigued to see what other ways Elizabeth will continue to follow her own path in the chapters ahead.
ReplyDeleteI feel that as the story is progressing Elizabeth is coming to more quick conclusions and getting more kind of anxious like in the part where Mrs.Gardiner warns her about whickham I feel that she is taking it sarcastically and although I don’t think that money is the most important part of marriage in those times if I was in Elizabeth’s position I would be thinking about my family and try to find a way were both money and affections are part of the marriage, but if it doesn’t happen then I would settle for money and hope my siblings to have a better chance than me. And like Emily said I also have sympathy for Jane and Bingley and wish their relationship will come together and end in a happy manner. Everything seems to turn bad at this point like with Bingley and Jane, The Bennet’s ruining it for them by their false proclamation’s and their behaviour, and also the other hasty decisions are coming to light and you can see some of them noticing these mistakes.
ReplyDelete