The other day I spent a lovely evening watching the first half of Pride & Prejudice (the Firth version, of course), while doing my silk ribbon embroidery. I mastered the French Knot! I'm particularly proud of that. I also tried the Daisy stitch. It's coming along. I'll post pics tomorrow.
Just a quick note here - I'm beginning to notice the prejudice more in Lizzy than I have in previous readings of P&P. It's especially glaring in her scene with Col. Fitzwilliam, when they are walking in Rosings Park and he tells her about Darcy's triumph in separating Bingley from an undesirable lady and Lizzy knows it's Jane.
She's pretty mouthy in this scene and says things that are fairly rude if you ask me, though I suppose her wit is supposed to disguise that. If there is any there. I didn't see the wit so much as her being pissy and feeling justified in acting so because of how Jane was slighted.
For example, within about two minutes of him joining her, about 8 exchanges of dialogue, mostly brief sentences about his surprise at meeting up with her and when he and Darcy are going to leave Kent, he says, of himself, "...A younger son, you know, must be inured to self-denial and dependence."
And she answers (with nary a mention of a twinkle or a smile), "In my opinion, the younger son of an Earl can know very little of either. Now, seriously, what have you ever known of self-denial and dependence? When have you been prevented by want of money from going wherever you chose, or procuring any thing you had a fancy for?"
Nice, Lizzy. It was a pleasant walk with a charming man and you're acting like you're itching for a fight about privilege. Unprovoked, as well.
A page later she says, "I imagine your cousin brought you down with him chiefly for the sake of having somebody at his disposal. I wonder he does not marry, to secure a lasting convenience of that kind. But, perhaps his sister does as well for the present, and as she is under his sole care, he may do what he likes with her." Again - no twinkle or smile. It's kind of brassy to speak of Miss Darcy - a young woman she has never met - in this manner.
To his credit, the Colonel only responds that he and Darcy share guardianship of Miss Darcy and ignores the rest.
So I was more sensitive to her behavior during Darcy's first proposal and her refusal and really noticed how much she overreacts. Sure he's being rude, and he hurt Jane through his actions, but she really goes overboard. It shows her prejudice all right, but without enough build up, I think, especially after the last full, real scene we had with them was the one at the pianoforte, where neither side showed any malice or even irritation in their comments. It was, flirtatious even.
An overreaction as a means of revealing the depth of Lizzy's prejudice is fine but it also feels to me that her change here is rather sudden. Until now she's teased, and her teasing had an edge to it, but you also felt like it didn't touch her much. Then, here, all the claws are out all at once, starting with the walk with Fitzwilliam.
The proposal just doesn't feel like a justifiable breaking point on this reading. Lizzy's shift could have used a smoother transition/build up. It doesn't feel earned. Perhaps I was blinded to it before by the overall romantic idea one has about the book. One practically races through it to get to the happy end.
Interesting to feel this new way about her after all the times I've read it.
Comments