"Pride and Prejudice", Commentary of Volume II, Chapter 11, " And this ", cried Darcyend of chapter

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This excerpt, taken from the second part of Volume II Chapter 11, of Pride and Prejudice, is located in the middle of Jane Austen's novel and deals with Darcy's first proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. The author has carefully structured the novel so that Darcy's proposal comes at the height of Elizabeth's anger towards Darcy. The heroine is still under the shock of Colonel Fitzwilliam's story, according to which Darcy saved Bingley from "a most imprudent marriage" with a girl, who, she infers is her sister Jane. At the same time, Darcy's feelings for Elizabeth have reached the point of compelling him to expose his heart to his beloved. Because the hero belongs to a higher social rank than Elizabeth, he takes for granted that the heroine will accept his proposal, just as Collins did when he proposed to Elizabeth in Volume I, Chapter 19. Nevertheless, Elizabeth refuses this marriage proposal.

Extraits

[...] Elizabeth attempts to use a reasoned language so as to show her ability to verbally spar with Darcy. Thus, each time Darcy says something, Elizabeth picks up his words and reapropriate them. For example, when Darcy uses the expression “civility” Elizabeth immediately appropriates the word and employs it twice against him, as shown line this some excuse for incivility, if I was uncivil?” Elizabeth also uses the metaphor of the construction lines 83-84: “that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built to immoveable a dislike”, which highlights the heroine's desire to master a structured language. [...]

[...] The haughty hero has become the “mortified” hero (l.78). Elizabeth seems therefore the winner of this squabble. However, once Darcy leaves Elizabeth, the latter cries half an hour” (l.94-95). The narration stops to unveil Elizabeth's feelings. Elizabeth's thoughts show that she is undergoing a moment of personal crisis, as the lexical field of agitation underlines: tumult of her mind” (l.92), “astonishment” (l.94), “agitating reflexions” (l.108). The three exclamatory sentences (l.95-96, l.96-97 and l.97-100) mimic her restless mind. Elizabeth suffers greatly as the expressions “painfully” (l.92) and “actual weakness” (l.93) suggest. [...]

[...] Nevertheless, Elizabeth remains prejudiced against Wickham and Darcy. She continues believing that Darcy has treated Wichkam poorly (l.102-105). Altogether, if this introspection text represents a halt in the action of the novel, it will accelerate the action towards Elizabeth's discovery of herself. It is both a digressive and a progressive movement. Elizabeth, as the paradigm of the Austerien heroin, or more generally of the nineteen century female reader, is led to evolve towards an ethical and autonomous reflexion. The squabble between Elizabeth and Darcy, as well as the introspection passage, underline that Elizabeth is undergoing a moment of transformation from ignorance to knowledge, from childhood to adulthood and above all, from hatred to love for Darcy. [...]

[...] It deals with two literary genres: the romance and the Bildungsroman. Therefore, it is highly symbolic because it epitomizes the hybridity of Jane Austen's novel. The text appears as a parody of the romance because the function of the marriage proposal is dismantled. It becomes a moment of disharmony and jarring voices. The narrator toys the romance by introducing elements of the realistic novel. For example, Darcy taxes Elizabeth with her unfavorable fortune, reminding her that marriage is a question of social rank and money. [...]

[...] "Pride and Prejudice Commentary of Volume II, Chapter 11, and this cried Darcy end of chapter The excerpt, taken from the second part of Volume II Chapter 11, of Pride and Prejudice, is located in the middle of Jane Austen's novel and deals with Darcy's first marriage proposal to Elizabeth. The author has carefully structured the novel so that Darcy's proposal comes at the height of Elizabeth's anger towards Darcy. The heroine is still under the shock of Colonel Fitzwilliam's story, according to which Darcy saved Bingley from most imprudent marriage” with whom she infers is her sister Jane. [...]