Pride and Prejudice #8

"It is natural that obligation should be felt, and if I could feel gratitude, I would now thank you.  But I cannot - I have never desired your good opinion, and you have certainly bestowed it most unwillingly.  I am sorry to have occasioned pain to anyone.  It has been most unconsciously done, however, and I hope will be of short duration" (Austen 161-62).

Elizabeth's reaction to Mr.Darcy's propensity reflects her personality.  She is vexed by how Mr.Darcy would propose to her by talking about the inferiority between them, such as their social status.  His action parallels the actions of the upper class, similarly to Lady Catherine and her snobbish persona.  Elizabeth becomes odious because this is the second time she has been proposed to in a manner she is not fond of.  Elizabeth is the protagonist searching for true love and felicity.  Comparing the awful proposal of Mr.Collins to the awful proposal of Mr.Darcy, they both are paltry in the eyes of Elizabeth.  Looking at Austen's syntax, she has straight forward simple sentences to demonstrate Elizabeth being one sides with her anger.  Looking at the verb tense being used, there is a play on conditional versus reality.  Elizabeth thinks of what she should say, but in the moment, she does the opposite.  Many of the verbs are in the negative to demonstrate her resentment and anger for Mr.Darcy, which foreshadows her anger for him when he admits to ruining her sister's relationship with Mr.Bingley.

Pride and Prejudice #7

The reader becomes acquainted with the apex of social status.  Lady Catherine "was a tall, large woman, with strongly-marked features, which might once have been handsome." (Austen 139).  Austen does not randomly choose these words for no apparent reason.  Austen utilizes masculine diction in order to demonstrate the power Lady Catherine wields.  Words such as tall and large give the reader a physical and analytical image of Lady Catherine being socially above everyone else.  The reader must be fastidious in Lady Catherine's description because she is the second woman in the novel to be brought upon as handsome.  Previously, Elizabeth is professed by Darcy to be "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt [himself]" (12).  The word handsome implies a connotation of not one’s physique, but one's social status.  In chapter three, Darcy is not tempted by Elizabeth because his robotic persona categorizes Elizabeth by her social status, one below his own.  Looking at Lady Catherine, her social status parallels her characteristic of being handsome.   Lady Catherine is nothing close from being obsequious; she reflects her social class by being insolent.  When she converses with Elizabeth about Elizabeth's misfortune, Lady Catherine discreetly displays her iniquity: "Your father's estate is entailed on Mr.Collins ... I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line.  It was not thought necessary in Sir Lewis de Bourgh's family" (140-41).  Lady Catherine affronts the Bennet family by speaking down upon their social class.  Lady Catherine would never dream of losing her property to another person, and risk degrading her own status.

Dream Proposal

If the lady of my dreams were to propose to me, I would want the moment to be special.  There has to be the "je ne sais quoi" factor, something significant about our relationship.  The event leading up to the proposal does not have to be exquisite or cliche.  All that matters is the significance of the relationship, something out of true love.  A proposal that I love dearly is the proposal of my father to my mother.  It was in the 1980s and in Cambodia.  My dad was madly in love with my mother, and she returned the same affection.  Time went by and simplistically, my father let out the question "Will you marry me?"  In awe, my mother consented on one condition, that she would marry him once she finished school.  He consented to her request.  Unfortunately, this was the time period of the Khmer Rouge.  My father and mother were exported to America separately; my father landing in Massachusetts and my mother landing in New York.  Coming to a new land, they did not know the language.  Both of them tried to research on each others whereabouts.  Writing letters became the only possible way of communication.  My father found out that she lived in New York, but he needed to find out where.  Both of my parents decided to get a college degree.  My dad graduated first.  He decided to take a trip to New York as a reward for graduating.  Coincidentally, he recognized a face in the distance.  It was my mother.  It took a moment, but she started to realize that it was my dad.  They kept their promise and got married.  This story always gets me because something as simple as a proposal could result in a journey to be treasured forever.

Pride and Prejudice #4

"You forget that I have made no answer.  Let me do it without farther loss of time.  Accept my thanks for the compliment you are paying me.  I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than decline them" (Austen 93).

Mr. Collins' celerity catches Elizabeth by surprise.  By proposing marriage to this young woman, Mr. Collins is rejected by Elizabeth in the most amiable fashion.  Even though Elizabeth utilizes words such as impossible and forget, she responds to Mr.Collins with respectful diction such as compliment and honor.  Her cordial acknowledgment to his actions demonstrates that she understands that he is a rich individual that any lady like herself would die for.   The only problem is that she does not feel a connection; Elizabeth is the type that looks for a love marriage rather than a mercenary marriage.  Due to society's standards, Elizabeth and her sisters feel constrained to create connections with any gentleman of high caliber.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth has a mother than continuously pesters her on marriage.  Looking at the relationship between mother and daughter, they are foils in their beliefs on the types of marriage, mercenary versus love.

Pride and Prejudice #2

"I never saw such a woman.  I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance as you describe, united" (Austen 35).

As Mr. Darcy expresses his ideal characteristics of a woman, Elizabeth is vexed by his speech.  She proclaims that she has never seen a woman that meets his requirements.  His assertion demonstrates that Mr. Darcy has high expectations for women.  Austen utilizes the repetition of "I never saw" to demonstrate Elizabeth's disgust towards Mr.Darcy.  She symbolizes women in general, showing how she does not agree with these characteristics because she exceeds them.  The reader can assent that the emphasis on the word "I" shows the banter between a female and a male. Women were thought to be taciturn and laconic because they were basically bound to their fathers and husbands.  Women had to put a lot of effort in order to get society's respect.  The fact that Elizabeth quarrels with Mr.Darcy shows that she can overcome society's prejudice and speak up for herself.  She knows that Mr.Darcy's list means nothing to her; all that matters is her own thought on what makes a perfect woman.