“I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.”
After Jane fell ill on a visit last chapter, she and Lizzy have been staying in Bingley’s home with his sisters, Mr Darcy and Mr Hurst. Curiously, Bingley is yet to appear, but Mr Darcy made sure to get his appearance in.
The next day, Lizzy continues to attend to Jane whenever possible, and spends her mealtimes in a duel of wits with Bingley’s sisters. Almost all of this chapter entails one of these debates, which is a nice change from the parties.
At any given opportunity Mrs Louisa Hurst (It’s upon reading this name that I realise the dreary Mr Hurst from the last chapter is her husband. Silly me.) and her sister express the most dramatic and surely most sincere concerns for Jane as Elizabeth, still tired from her walk and her fear for Jane’s condition, gives little answer to their flood of questions. In no time at all, they drop back out of her good books, which sets the tone of the chapter nicely.
When she dares to quit the room to get back to her sister, the only reason she’s there, the Bingley sisters waste no time in talking behind Lizzy’s back for her poor manners, “pride* and impertinence”, “wild” appearance the day before and filthy petticoat. What do you expect her to look like after walking across the countryside in clothing in no way designed for it?
It’s here that Bingley pops up to defend Lizzy’s honour, stating that he did not notice the mud on her petticoat when she arrived. In all fairness, I did not notice him at the time either. But his choice of thing to defend Lizzy on suggests that his sisters are trying to downplay the eligibility of the Bennets somewhat, especially seeing as they try to broach the idea that Darcy’s interest in Lizzy’s eyes has faded thanks to the wild gleam the exercise brought them. He thinks quite the reverse, but stops mid-sentence and does not continue, so we are denied his reasoning.
The gossip then turns to the wider Bennet family, and the fact that they have an uncle living near Cheapsake (which does not conjure up the grandest of images, I admit) is cause for laughter from the sisters. Bingley, again, steps up to defend the Bennets and Darcy points out in his usual way that having family in such a poor place must hamper their relationship avenues somewhat, to which Bingley falls quiet. I do wonder if Charles (that’s his name) would join in with the elitist mockery if he was not trying to marry one of them.
With dinner out of the way, the Hursts and Miss Bingley decide to mock Lizzy with faint praise for preferring to read over playing the dull card games Mr Hurst delights in, and Mr Bingley, yet again, steps in to defend her. This is starting to feel chivalrous. Anyway, he offers her all the books in the house, which, considering she probably won’t be staying for more than a week at most, shows that he really does read as little as he says. Or maybe Ms Bennet is quite the voracious reader, in which case I envy her.
Scant details about Mr Darcy’s life are shared next : his family library at Pemberley (I did not think he actually lived in Bingley’s house full-time! Really.) is forever being stocked with more and more books by him (Is this Austen the author’s depiction of the ideal man? Probably not, but I too admire his interest in literature.) and his sister is about Lizzy’s height and is skilled with the piano “for her age”. How short is Lizzy to be compared to someone young enough for “for her age” to be in any way a viable compliment?
This prompts Mr Bingley to go on a tangent about the skills and accomplishments that every woman he meets is said to possess, revealing that the only women he knows that he isn’t related to are those introduced to him as potential wives who “paint tables” and similar nonsense thanks to the limitations of Regency era society on women. Darcy disagrees with him, if only to say that though many women have these talents, very few are “accomplished” in an intellectual capacity to be worth his time.
Lizzy, his “faithful assistant” (?) agrees with him and goes on to list all the qualities a woman like her “must have” to deserve anything, including singing, dancing and foreign languages. These poor rich girls! So much pressure around landing a husband! At least they don’t have to worry about mortal concerns too much.
Which leads nicely to Lizzy leaving the room again to check on Jane. Ms Bingley talks yet again behind her back to make Mr Darcy lose interest in her for reasons that I rather hope will be expanded on later on, because it could make for an interesting arc. He will have none of this and turns her comment on “meanness” back on her, decrying all underhanded tactics people used as “despicable”. Lizzy comes back in racked with concern for Jane and the household decide to send for the doctor again tomorrow. Bingley also takes the step of instructing his staff to care for “the sick lady” above all else, which I must say is a rather impersonal way to refer to the woman he’s meant to be courting.
Thoughts
- Good little look at society’s perception and treatment of women here
- Darcy has a life outside Bingley, or so I’ve heard
- Why are they all so formal amongst friends and family? Always “Mr Darcy” and never ‘Chuck’ or whatever his name is
- Jane has barely interacted with Bingley the whole time. What will her mother say?
*I have to admit, with every passing chapter, I grow more impressed with how Austen weaves in her eponymous themes so smoothly.
