lecture 3Give a summery of the important things in chapter 6- 10
Jane Bennet got an invitation ÏÚæÉfrom Miss Bingley.
We have this dialogue between Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas.
We have Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. They are relativesÃÞÇÑÈ of the Bennets.
We have a new term in the feeling of Darcy towards Elizabeth. He is thinking about her as being just tolerableãÊÓÇãÍ. Now, he is talking about the fine eyes in her face. He begins to love her.
· When we read theses five chapters, we will know more about the characters.
· We meet new characters.
· There is a mention of Mr. Collins- a cousin of the Bennets- he is an important character.
· We are going to discover things about characters, about themes, about the narrative technique that Jane Austin is using.
· All the items are getting revealed and developed as we are reading.
The names of some of the places in the novel:
We have the name of Longbourn,. It is being repeated since the beginning of the novel till the end. It is one of the settings of the novel. It is the village where the Bennets are living. It is a very important place. The Bennets have their house in the village of LongbournThe Bennets own an estateãÞÇØÚÉ – it gives them the income ÏÎáof 2000 a year- it is a moderate ãÚÊÏá- ãÊæÓØsize estate- in this village, there is also this house that is called Netherfield. It is the house that was rented ÆÄÌÑby Mr. Bingley. It is not owned by him. He will be living there with his sister- the unmarried sister- Miss Bingley. Now, he has as a guest his married sister Mrs. Hurst She is staying with him for a time. Mr. Darcy also comes as a guest ÖíÝand is staying with him in that house.
Darcy has an estate of his own which is far from this neighborhood Pemberley He inherited this estate from his father. Whoever Lady is going to marry Mr. Darcy will be called lady Pemberley It is a very aristocratic and important estate.
· We have a place called Meryton . It is like a small market town. People live in Meryton are middle class period. They are not aristocrats.
· We have Mrs. Philips ,The aunt of the 5 daughters. She is living in Meryton . Because she is living there, it means that she is a middle class person.
· Mr. Bingley begins to like Jane. He is contemplating ìÊÃãámarriage. The sisters of Mr. Bingley , when they are talking about Jane, they say that she is beautiful and nice enough,, has a kind nature, but her family is not so good as she is. The mother is very vulgar æÞÍand talkativeßËíÑ ÇáßáÇã. The mother has a sister that lives in Meryton – it is something negative, a disadvantage ÚíÈagainst the girl. The aunt is married to a clerkßÇÊÈ- a lawyerãÍÇãí. The Bennets family is below the Bingleys.
· The places in the novel help us to understand the events. they refer to persons who love in these places, their social status- ÇáãßÇäÉ ÇáÇÌÊãÇÚíÉ
· Meryton is going to play an important role in the novel. It does not only have Mrs., Philips, it also has some shops. It is a nearby ÞÑíÈmarket town. There are shops that are called a milliner shopsãÍá áÈíÚ ÇáÞÈÚÇÊ ÇáäÓÇÆíÉ- an accessory ÇßÓÓæÑÇÊshop. It is near to the house of Mrs. Philips. This is going to play an important roleÏæÑ in the action. The two youngest daughters, Lydia and Catharine used to go morning visit to their aunt and go shopping. All the time they want to see the officers. Near Meryton there is the head quarterãÞÑ of a military regimentßÊíÈÉ ÚÓßÑíÉ. When the girls go there, they do not only see the aunt and go shopping, but they also meet these officersÖÈÇØ. The officers will play an important role in the novel.
· Meryton is the place where are the shops and where the middle class is living. There are some officers- some of them are married- some of them are not married. They have their head quarter near the town of Meryton.
Chapter 6
We have a conversation between Elizabeth and Charlotte-
THE LADIES OF LONGBOURN soon waited on those of Netherfield. The visit was returned in due form.
The ladies of Longbourn are Mrs. Bennet and her daughters.
The ladies of Netherfield are the two sisters of Mr. Bingley. The unmarried sister ids called Miss Bingley- Caroline Bingley- and the other sister is Mrs.Hurst- Her name is Luisa Hurst.
After the dancing party, the lady got acquaintedíÊÚÑÝ Úáì in the party. The ladies are now going to visit Netherfield. They are going to returníÑÏ ÇáÒíÇÑÉ the visit. The ladies of the two places, Longbourn and Netherfield know each other very well. They met in the party and now they are visiting each other.
Miss Bennet's pleasing manners grew on the good-will of Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley; and though the mother was found to be intolerable, and the younger sisters not worth speaking to, a wish of being better acquainted with them was expressed toward the two eldest.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst- the two sisters of Bingley have noticed that Jane has a pleasant manner. She is kind. She does not have any mean or cunningãÇßÑ thinking in her character.
Things are complicated.The rules of the social decorum ÇáÐæÞ ÇáÇÌÊãÇÚíare very complicated. The two sisters of Mrs. Bingley went to Longbourn and visited the Bennets. They say that Jane is very pleasant and sweet. Her second sister Elizabeth is not as beautiful as she is but she seems well-mannered. But the mother and the other sisters are intolerableÛíÑ ãÊÓÇãÍ. They can not tolerate knowing them.
By Jane this attention was received with the greatest of pleasure; but Elizabeth still saw superciliousness in their treatment of everybody, hardly excepting even her sister, and could not like them;
Jane and Elizabeth are sisters. They are close friends. They are both fine and good mannered young women. But their characters are totally different. Elizabeth is smarter. She is more critical äÇÞÏof people. Jane accepts every body, but Elizabeth is thinking.
Superciliousness= pride- arrogant ãÛÑæÑ
Elizabeth notices that although the sisters are behaving in a kind manner towards her and Jane, but they feel that they are superior to them. Elizabeth would not accept their attention as easily as her sister. This is what we mean by the different characters of the two sisters. The reaction of Elizabeth is different from that of Jane. Elizabeth notices that they are so proud. She does not very much like them.
· One of the methods of characterization= the way how characters are depictedíÑÓã and developed- through having a contrast ÊäÇÞÖwith other characters- a contrast in the reaction of two characters. Here, we have the two sisters. They are reacting towards Bingley's sisters, but their reaction is different. By showing the contrast of the reaction of the two characters, we come to know that they have different characters. So, it is one of the methods of characterization by contrasting characters to each other and by showing the different reaction of characters from each other.
though their kindness to Jane, such as it was, had a value, as arising, in all probability, from the influence of their brother's admiration.
These are the thoughts of Elizabeth. She is a smart one. All the time, she is analyzing things.
She says that it is true that she does not like the Bingley's sister. There is a certain value in their manner to her sister. It arises from the attention of their brother. It means that their brother cares about her sister that is why the two sisters, although they are proud, they have to pay attention to her. It has a certain value. They are proud, arrogantãÛÑæÑ, she does not like them, but she says that it is good that they are giving this attention to her sister because this means that their brother is also caring about her sister. This shows how very critical Elizabeth is. She is all the time judging íÍßãand analyzingíÍáá, thinking about anything that happens. Jane simply takes things as they are on the surface. She does not analyzeíÍáá things. She thinks that every body is nice.
It was generally evident whenever they met, that he did admire her and to her it was equally evident that Jane was yielding to the preference which she had begun to entertain for him from the first, and was in a way to be very much in love; but she considered with pleasure that it was not likely to be discovered by the world in general, since Jane united with great strength of feeling a composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner, which would guard her from the suspicions of the impertinent. She mentioned this to her friend, Miss Lucas.
These are the thoughts of Elizabeth. This is how she thinks of Mr. Bingley and her sister Jane. She says that everybody in the society can see that Bingley is attractedíäÌÐÈ to Jane. She knows that her sister is attracted to him and she seems to be about to fall in love with him- to get something more than admirationÅÚÌÇÈ. The good thing is that her sister has strong feelings but she can control her feelings and she can hide them so that not every body will know that she is in love. Because it would be a big scandal if anybody in the neighborhood ÌíÑÇäsuspectsíÔß that Jane is in love with Bingley before he proposes íÊÞÏã áÎØÈÉto marry her.
Elizabeth is talking about this social decorum. She is happy that her sister Jane is not breaking the rules of the social decorum. She is attracted to the man, but no body could know that she is attracted to him. It is because Jane is sweet to everybody. She is not only talking to Bingley. She is talking to everyone and being cheerfulãÈÊåÌ to them. No one noticed that there is something extra in her treatment to Bingley.
So, social decorum is very important to these people.
Elizabeth and Charlotte Lucas have a conversation on this topic- about the feeling of Bingley and Jane, whether they are going to get married or not. Through this conversation, we will get a very clear distinctionÊãííÒ between Elizabeth and Charlotte. They are close friends, but they do not think in the same manner. They think differently.
Now Charlotte is replaying to what Elizabeth said
It may, perhaps, be pleasant,” replied Charlotte, “to be able to impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark.
Charlotte is a very logical person. She is a young woman. She thinks that she can hideíÎÈÆ her affectionãÔÇÚÑ from the object of it- from the one whom she loves. She can hide her affection from any one in the society, but she should not hide it from her lover, she might lose him. She may give a hint or else she will lose him.
She is a very reasonable and sensibleÍÓÇÓ person. She thinks on things on the logical way. It is very bit different from Elizabeth.
There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely—a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.
She is as if commenting íÚáÞ Úáìon life in general. She is wise, like a mother although she is young. She is rationalÚÞáì, using her mind. She is not emotionalÚÇØÝí.
She is saying that every relationship can begin by liking, but it should be encouragedíÔÌÚ otherwise it would remain just preferenceÊÝÖíá; it will not develop into something else.
She is afraid that if Jane hides her feelings from every one including the young man- the object of affection- then she is going to lose the young man.
In nine cases out of ten a woman had better show more affection than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.”
She seems to be making like statisticsÇÍÕÇÆíÇÊ.
She insists on the same meaning that Bingley like Jane, it is better that she show him that she loves him.
This is the way that Charlotte is thinking. It would be better for Jane to give him a hint ÇÔÇÑÉthat she loves him or to encourage him so that she will secure him as a husband.
Elizabeth disagreesíÎÊáÝ with Charlotte. She is going to defend íÏÇÝÚher sister.
But she does help him on, as much as her nature will allow. If I can perceive her regard for him, he must be a simpleton indeed not to discover it too.”
Jane helps Bingley in the form that her nature will allow her.
Elizabeth thinks that as she can see that Jane likes Bingley, so Bingley could also see it. if he does not see it, he is a stupid man.
Remember, Eliza, that he does not know Jane's disposition as you do.”
“But if a woman is partial to a man, and does not endeavor to conceal it, he must find it out.”
Charlotte says that Elizabeth can see that because Jane is her sister, but Bingley is just a stranger. He met her few times. He does not know her well. If she does not encourageíÔÌÚ him, he will not know that she likes him.
Elizabeth does not want Jane to do anything, to go out of her nature.
Charlotte points to a very wise fact- she is like the voice of wisdom- the voice of reason.
“Perhaps he must, if he sees enough of her. But though Bingley and Jane meet tolerably often, it is never for many hours together; and as they always see each other in large mixed parties, it is impossible that every moment should be employed in conversing together. Jane should therefore make the most of every half-hour in which she can command his attention. When she is secure of him, there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses.”
If they spend time with each other, he would know that she likes him. They meet often but they do not stay for many hours together. As they always see each other in large mixed parties, with many people around them, it is impossible that they would converse together.
She is saying a very convincing ãÞäÚpoint. They do meet but they are never alone. They only stay with each other for only few minutes in the midst of many people. She should give him a chance to discover her. Because the society will never allow it to happen, because of the social decorum, then Jane has to do something, to give a hint to encourage him till she secures him then she can have all the time and leisure æÞÊ ÇáÝÑÇÛwith him.
Elizabeth is going to give an important remark.
Your plan is a good one,” replied Elizabeth, “where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married; and if I were determined to get a rich husband, or any husband, I dare say I should adopt it. But these are not Jane's feelings; she is not acting by design. As yet she cannot even be certain of the degree of her own regard, nor of its reasonableness. She has known him only a fortnight. She danced four dances with him at Meryton; she saw him one morning at his own house, and has since dined in company with him four times. This is not quite enough to make her understand his character.”
Charlotte can convince anyone. She convinces Elizabeth. The desire of Jane is not to get married. Jane is not acting by desire. She has known him for only 2 weeks. This is not quite enough to make her understand his character.
All this tells us many things about the characters, the wise, logical, rational Charlotte Lucas who is using her mind, never using her heart. We find Elizabeth who is smart, clever, but she is impulsive, using her feelings towards her sister or her feelings in general. She does not want her sister to do anything to try to show her preference for the man in a very open way.
The dialogue also gives us a hint to the important theme in the novel which is the theme of marriage.
There are two types of marriage. A young woman would have a desire to get married to a respectable man who is handsome and rich. If this was the design, the plan of Jane, may be she should encourage the man. But there is another sort of marriage that Elizabeth seems to be defending. She says that her sister does not have any desire to catch a husband. She likes Bingley but still she is not sure of her feelings, she still thinks that she needs to know him better, she might think of him as a husband if she gets a better chance of knowing the nature of the character of this man. It seems that the two Bennet sisters- Jane and Elizabeth are thinking of marriage which is built on knowing the man, understanding him, getting to respect and love him, not just the fact that he is rich and handsome. Whereas Charlotte thinks that it is acceptableãÞÈæá for a young woman to try to get a husband on a certain condition that he is rich, handsome or pleasant.
All this is important not only because it tells us about the characters, or about the theme of marriage and the two different types discussed about marriage, but because it tells us something that is very important, about the way that Jane Austin is following in making the characterization. She is always preparing the readers. She will never surprise the readers. Readers are always prepared. We know that Charlotte is wise. She thinks that a woman might try to get her a suitable husband and love is not a necessity, not one of the basic necessities of marriage. She can marry a man even if she does not love him.
Later on, when Charlotte gets married, she is going to make a choice. She will choose a certain man. If we are not prepared to the fact that she is a rational woman and that she is not thinking about her feelings that she is ready to marry without love if there are other conditions that make the marriage suitableãäÇÓÈ. If we had not known this, we would have been surprised by her choice of marriage.
So, characters are very well constructed. We are very much well prepared to the characters.
Another example to show that we are prepared by Jane Austin to know about the characters is when we are told that Lydia and Catharine used to go shopping and visiting their aunt. With the pretence íÊÙÇåÑof going to the milliner, they want to see the officers. We are prepared with many things about the character of Lydia. She is the youngest of the 5 daughters. She is the favorite of the mother. She is very young- 16 years old. She should not be introduced to society at this very early age. But because the mother favors her, she takes her with her whenever she goes. Lydia is very frank and open. She talks to everyone about whatever comes to her mind. She meets Mr. Bingley. She just knew him once in the dancing ball. Then, she meets him another time, she asks him to make a dancing ball at his house and invite them. She has no shyness ÎÌáat all.
After many chapters, Lydia is going to bring a scandal to the family. She will elope with Wickham, one of the officers. Because we are prepared to her character, we are not surprised that she behavesíÊÕÑÝ in that manner.
Chapter 7
We have an authorial commentary. She speaks about the property of Mr. Bennet.
MR. BENNET'S PROPERTY consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation
He is an owner of land. He owns a moderate estate. The estate is getting them an income ÏÎáof 2000 a year.
When the father dies, the land is not going to the daughters. It will go to the next male relative- Mr. Collins- this is the laws of inheritance at the time of Jane Austin.
The daughters will not inherit íÑËtheir father. They will find themselves without any money or any property because the land is entailed to one of the male elatives.
This is a reference ÇÔÇÑÉ Çáìto the realistic laws of inheritance in England at that time.
This passage is telling us that the novel is realistic- about the law of inheritanceÞÇäæä ÇáãíÑÇË. It tells us about the state of affairs for the daughters- that they have a very poor chance of getting married.
It also prepares us for a fact that will happen later. The family has this male relativeÞÑíÈ. He will be one of the characters of the novel. He may say that if he proposes to one of the daughters, they are going to welcome him, because if he marries one of the girls, the money, the estate is going to stay with one of the daughters. So, he will think of making a proposal of marriage for one of the girls felling that he is a very good man to propose
; and their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his. Her father had been an attorney at Meryton, and had left her four thousand pounds.
This tells us that the mother is from the middle class. She has her own money, her own fortune that is enough for her needs but it is not enough to be divided among the five daughters. Her father left her 4000 pounds.
We get to know that the Bennets are middle class. They are not very rich, especially in case of the death of the father. Till now, they are o.k. they have the fortune of the father and of the mother. But if the time comes and the daughters are getting married, each one is supposed to take a sum of money with her when she gets married. This sum is not going to be a very big one.
She had a sister married to a Mr. Philips, who had been a clerk to their father, and succeeded him in the business, and a brother settled in London in a respectable line of trade.
Mrs. Bennet has a sister married to Mr. Philips. He was working with the father of Mrs. Bennet. When the father died, he got the office of his father.
She has a brother who settles in London. He is a merchant.
Bingley's sisters are talking about the Bennet family, they say that although the girl herself is O. k, she seems to be polite and well married; they will make reference to Jane's uncle who lives in a poor district in London, and to her aunt.
The Bingley sisters are going to send a note of dinner invitation to Jane only. They will not invite even Elizabeth. The mother is going to be very happy because her daughter is going to Bingley's house that he might meet her and like her. But, she discovers that he will not be there.
It is raining. She will send her daughter on a horse back. They may ask her to stay the night there and she will see Bingley the next day.
She is planning for her daughter to meet Bingley. She thinks that it is her duty as a mother to secure good husbands for her daughters.
Mr. Bennet does not object to her. He tells her that if Jane dies, she will die in pursuit on Bingley. He is all the time making fun of his wife.
There is humor, but there is realism at the same time. There are mothers like that.
So, we have this realism combined with humor.
It is from Miss Bingley,” said Jane, and then read it aloud:
“My Dear Friend: If you are not so compassionate as to dine to-day with Louisa and me, we shall be in danger of hating each other for the rest of our lives; for a whole day's tete-a-tete between two women can never end without a quarrel. Come as soon as you can on receipt of this. My brother and the gentlemen are to dine with the officers.
Yours ever,
“Caroline Bingley”
This is the invitation sent by Miss Bingley to Jane.
It is a written note.
What is the style of this written note?
It is not the same style of the novel. This is a different style. It is supposed to be the style of Caroline Bingley. It is supposed to tell us about her character.
The style is very complex and sophisticatedãÚÞÏ. She is not speaking in a simple manner.
It is a formal style in an indirect manner. She pretendsíÊÙÇåÑ to be informalÛíÑ ÑÓãì. She pretends to be making a joke.
she tells Jane if she does not come, she will be alone with her sister Luisa. They will have tete-a-tete that usually ends with a quarrelíÊÔÇÌÑ.
She pretends to be joking, but we feel that there is something artificial ãÕØäÚand very affected- not natural, not simple.
She uses French words to show that she is better than her.
This gives us a hint about the character of Caroline Bingley. We can feel that she is a well educated woman. She comes of a good family. She is supposed to have good income, but she is very supercilious= arrogant- proud. She is very condescending to people. She is acting as if people are below than her. She has a condescending ãÊÝÇÎÑattitude.
· One method of characterization that Jane Austin is using is using a written note by a character that it can tell us about the character.
Jane will go to visit these people. It will be raining heavily. She will go on horse back. She will be very wet. After dinner, she is going to catch cold and feverÍãì. Next morning, she will send a letter to Elizabeth.
My Dearest Lizzy: I find myself very unwell this morning, which, I suppose, is to be imputed to my getting wet through yesterday. My kind friends will not hear of my returning home till I am better. They insist also on my seeing Mr. Jones; therefore do not be alarmed if you should hear of his having been to me; and, excepting a sore throat and headache, there is not much the matter with me.
Yours, etc.”
Her style is simple. Jane is a very caring person. She knows that her family is going to be worried when they hear that the doctor is sent for to see her. She does not want her family to worry or to get anxiousãÊÍÝÒ.
She mentions that the Bingley's are kind to her. They are well mannered and hospitableãÖíÇÝ. She is always saying nice things about people.
She is not the exaggerating type of people. She is not exaggerating íÈÇáÛher sickness. She wants things to be understood as being simple.
· When we are talking about characterization- how the characters are constructedíÈäì, there are many techniques. Direct commentary is one of the techniques, the technique of narration and the technique of characterization. Dialogue between characters can be one method of showing us the characters. Written documents like notes or letters can tell us things about characters. Contrasting two characters together is another method. Action is one way of depicting íÑÓãcharacters.
When Elizabeth discovers that her sister is ill, she is going to do something that will show us that she is very impulsive. When she has strong feeling about something, she would not care about what people would say.
Her action shows her character. She decides to go to see Jane alone. There are no horses , so she decides to walk although it is raining very hard. She walked through the mud ÇáØíäand the rain. When she went there, she did not care at all about her appearance. She was disheveledÛíÑ ãÑÊÈ, her dress was dirty, and her hair was not tidy. She was sure that the Bingley's sisters are going to wonder how she comes in this appearance, uninvited, alone. She knew that they were going to criticize her and to say negative comments about her but she did not care. She only cares about her relation with her sister. Her relation with her sister comes first. She does not care about anything else.
This is one of the few actions that we find someone breaking the rules of social decorum that is supposed to be respected by everybody.
Elizabeth cares about the rules of the social decorum but she cares more about her sister. She is not a one who does not respect the social decorum. She is a very committed person, a very respectable ãÍÊÑãyoung lady. But when it comes to her feelings with her sister, she is impulsiveãäÏÝÚ. She will act upon her feelings. She will do whatever her heart will tell her in this situation.
· This is what is meant by action telling us about the characters.
The mother wants her daughter to stay long in the Bingley's house. She wants her to get married.
Finished