``To oblige you, I would try to believe almost any thing, but no one else could be benefited by such a belief as this; for were I persuaded that Charlotte had any regard for him, I should only think worse of her understanding, than I now do of her heart. My dear Jane, Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man; you know he is, as well as I do; and you must feel, as well as I do, that the woman who marries him, cannot have a proper way of thinking. You shall not defend her, though it is Charlotte Lucas. You shall not, for the sake of one individual, change the meaning of principle and integrity, nor endeavour to persuade yourself or me that selfishness is prudence, and insensibility of danger, security for happiness.''
``I must think your language too strong in speaking of both,'' replied Jane, ``and I hope you will be convinced of it, by seeing them happy together. But enough of this. You alluded to something else. You mentioned two instances. I cannot misunderstand you, but I intreat you, dear Lizzy, not to pain me by thinking that person to blame, and saying your opinion of him is sunk. We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does.''
``And men take care that they should.''
``If it is designedly done, they cannot be justified; but I have no idea of there being so much design in the world as some persons imagine.''
``I am far from attributing any part of Mr. Bingley's conduct to design,'' said Elizabeth; ``but without scheming to do wrong, or to make others unhappy, there may be error, and there may be misery. Thoughtlessness, want of attention to other people's feelings, and want of resolution, will do the business.''
``And do you impute it to either of those?''
``Yes; to the last. But if I go on, I shall displease you by saying what I think of persons you esteem. Stop me whilst you can.''
``You persist, then, in supposing his sisters influence him.''
``Yes, in conjunction with his friend.''
``I cannot believe it. Why should they try to influence him? They can only wish his happiness, and if he is attached to me, no other woman can secure it.''
``Your first position is false. They may wish many things besides his happiness; they may wish his increase of wealth and consequence; they may wish him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money, great connections, and pride.''
``Beyond a doubt, they do wish him to chuse Miss Darcy,'' replied Jane; ``but this may be from better feelings than you are supposing. They have known her much longer than they have known me; no wonder if they love her better. But, whatever may be their own wishes, it is very unlikely they should have opposed their brother's. What sister would think herself at liberty to do it, unless there were something very objectionable? If they believed him attached to me, they would not try to part us; if he were so, they could not succeed. By supposing such an affection, you make every body acting unnaturally and wrong, and me most unhappy. Do not distress me by the idea. I am not ashamed of having been mistaken -- or, at least, it is slight, it is nothing in comparison of what I should feel in thinking ill of him or his sisters. Let me take it in the best light, in the light in which it may be understood.''
Elizabeth could not oppose such a wish; and from this time Mr. Bingley's name was scarcely ever mentioned between them.
Mrs. Bennet still continued to wonder and repine at his returning no more, and though a day seldom passed in which Elizabeth did not account for it clearly, there seemed little chance of her ever considering it with less perplexity. Her daughter endeavoured to convince her of what she did not believe herself, that his attentions to Jane had been merely the effect of a common and transient liking, which ceased when he saw her no more; but though the probability of the statement was admitted at the time, she had the same story to repeat every day. Mrs. Bennet's best comfort was that Mr. Bingley must be down again in the summer.
Mr. Bennet treated the matter differently. ``So, Lizzy,'' said he one day, ``your sister is crossed in love I find. I congratulate her. Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions. When is your turn to come? You will hardly bear to be long outdone by Jane. Now is your time. Here are officers enough at Meryton to disappoint all the young ladies in the country. Let Wickham be your man. He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.''
``I must think your language too strong in speaking of both,'' replied Jane, ``and I hope you will be convinced of it, by seeing them happy together. But enough of this. You alluded to something else. You mentioned two instances. I cannot misunderstand you, but I intreat you, dear Lizzy, not to pain me by thinking that person to blame, and saying your opinion of him is sunk. We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does.''
``And men take care that they should.''
``If it is designedly done, they cannot be justified; but I have no idea of there being so much design in the world as some persons imagine.''
``I am far from attributing any part of Mr. Bingley's conduct to design,'' said Elizabeth; ``but without scheming to do wrong, or to make others unhappy, there may be error, and there may be misery. Thoughtlessness, want of attention to other people's feelings, and want of resolution, will do the business.''
``And do you impute it to either of those?''
``Yes; to the last. But if I go on, I shall displease you by saying what I think of persons you esteem. Stop me whilst you can.''
``You persist, then, in supposing his sisters influence him.''
``Yes, in conjunction with his friend.''
``I cannot believe it. Why should they try to influence him? They can only wish his happiness, and if he is attached to me, no other woman can secure it.''
``Your first position is false. They may wish many things besides his happiness; they may wish his increase of wealth and consequence; they may wish him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money, great connections, and pride.''
``Beyond a doubt, they do wish him to chuse Miss Darcy,'' replied Jane; ``but this may be from better feelings than you are supposing. They have known her much longer than they have known me; no wonder if they love her better. But, whatever may be their own wishes, it is very unlikely they should have opposed their brother's. What sister would think herself at liberty to do it, unless there were something very objectionable? If they believed him attached to me, they would not try to part us; if he were so, they could not succeed. By supposing such an affection, you make every body acting unnaturally and wrong, and me most unhappy. Do not distress me by the idea. I am not ashamed of having been mistaken -- or, at least, it is slight, it is nothing in comparison of what I should feel in thinking ill of him or his sisters. Let me take it in the best light, in the light in which it may be understood.''
Elizabeth could not oppose such a wish; and from this time Mr. Bingley's name was scarcely ever mentioned between them.
Mrs. Bennet still continued to wonder and repine at his returning no more, and though a day seldom passed in which Elizabeth did not account for it clearly, there seemed little chance of her ever considering it with less perplexity. Her daughter endeavoured to convince her of what she did not believe herself, that his attentions to Jane had been merely the effect of a common and transient liking, which ceased when he saw her no more; but though the probability of the statement was admitted at the time, she had the same story to repeat every day. Mrs. Bennet's best comfort was that Mr. Bingley must be down again in the summer.
Mr. Bennet treated the matter differently. ``So, Lizzy,'' said he one day, ``your sister is crossed in love I find. I congratulate her. Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions. When is your turn to come? You will hardly bear to be long outdone by Jane. Now is your time. Here are officers enough at Meryton to disappoint all the young ladies in the country. Let Wickham be your man. He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.''
________________________
This passage can be found in page 133-135 of the book.
This excerpt came shortly after how Elizabeth expressed marvel at how her sister, Jane is always preferring to see the good in others, especially in light of the issue of Mr Bingley. Elizabeth was sure that Mr Bingley's absence and sudden departure was due to the scheming of Miss Bingley and Miss Darcy but Jane chose to believe that perhaps, Mr Bingley's affection for her had indeed been non-existent in the first place.
This passage is significant as it allows us much insight into Jane's character. Here,we see here expressing much of her own thoughts and opinions, allowing us to judge her as a character. Although she has been emotionally hurt, she refused to be let down and believed that often it is "our own vanity that deceives us". Jane does not wallow in self-pity or point fingers, she instead reflected upon herself as an individual and seek to understand how she herself may have been at fault. At the first instance of this, we can portray her as being very meek and very apt of how she is always "thinking all the world respectable" but then, we realise that this shows how rational Jane is. She is not easily swayed by her emotions and would always think through the situation. In terms of language features, this can be represented by Jane's questioning. By questioning, she instils doubt in us readers to force us to view the matter in her perspective. This, can influence any judgements that we had made earlier on.
This excerpt also reminds us again of the issue of social class and marriage in those times. Miss Bingley's and Miss Darcy's intentions, as highlighted by Elizabeth her - "They may wish many things besides his happiness; they may wish his increase of wealth and consequence; they may wish him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money, great connections; and pride," reminds us again of how society viewed class and marriage back then.
Personally, this passage is one of my favourites because I feel that the characters bring across many themes and issues that can still be relevant to us today, especially so for women (refer to sentences highlighted in red, for example). The exchange between Jane and Elizabeth brought to pen and paper much insights and thoughts that I am sure many of us must have thought of before personally. There are many things that we can learn from this passage. We can reflect on what is voiced out by the characters and then shape our our perspectives.
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