''You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? But I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.''
"I shall not say that you are mistaken,'' he replied, "because you could not really believe me to entertain any design of alarming you; and I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know, that you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which in fact are not your own.''
Elizabeth laughed heartily at this picture of herself, and said to Colonel Fitzwilliam, "Your cousin will give you a very pretty notion of me, and teach you not to believe a word I say. I am particularly unlucky in meeting with a person so well able to expose my real character, in a part of the world where I had hoped to pass myself off with some degree of credit. Indeed, Mr. Darcy, it is very ungenerous in you to mention all that you knew to my disadvantage in Hertfordshire -- and, give me leave to say, very impolitic too -- for it is provoking me to retaliate, and such things may come out, as will shock your relations to hear.''
"I am not afraid of you,'' said he, smilingly.
"Pray let me hear what you have to accuse him of,'' cried Colonel Fitzwilliam. "I should like to know how he behaves among strangers.''
"You shall hear then -- but prepare yourself for something very dreadful. The first time of my ever seeing him in Hertfordshire, you must know, was at a ball -- and at this ball, what do you think he did? He danced only four dances! I am sorry to pain you -- but so it was. He danced only four dances, though gentlemen were scarce; and, to my certain knowledge, more than one young lady was sitting down in want of a partner. Mr. Darcy, you cannot deny the fact.''
"I had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party.''
"True; and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball room. Well, Colonel Fitzwilliam, what do I play next? My fingers wait your orders.''
"Perhaps,'' said Darcy, "I should have judged better, had I sought an introduction, but I am ill qualified to recommend myself to strangers.''
"Shall we ask your cousin the reason of this?'' said Elizabeth, still addressing Colonel Fitzwilliam. "Shall we ask him why a man of sense and education, and who has lived in the world, is ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers?''
"I can answer your question,'' said Fitzwilliam, "without applying to him. It is because he will not give himself the trouble.''
"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,'' said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.''
"My fingers,'' said Elizabeth, "do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault -- because I would not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman's of superior execution.''
Darcy smiled, and said, "You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you, can think any thing wanting. We neither of us perform to strangers.''
(Volume II Chapter 31)
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In this particular excerpt, which takes place in Lady Catherine's gathering where Elizabeth was also invited and was made to perform a piano piece. Darcy and Elizabeth engage themselves in a witty exchange and through their conversation, both realise they have a lot in common and Darcy managed to get into the good books of Elizabeth. This passage relates to one of Pride and Prejudice's concerns of Elizabeth and Darcy using witty exchanges yet in a way, "flirtateous" exchanges to understand the other party better. This is then the beginning of their blossoming relationship.
Flirtateous exchanges can be seen throughout this excerpt where Elizabeth first comments Darcy for this move towards her as one which was meant to frighten her. However, the reader knows that Elizabeth understands Darcy well enough than to think that his move was to scare her. She uses that as a pick-up line as well as to tell Darcy that she is brave and strong-willed, a woman who is different from the norm, and one who stands up for herself. Darcy then retaliates by giving another statement telling Elizabeth not to be judgemental. He is not rude in his speech which shows his gentlemanliness and his liking towards Elizabeth and cautious not to offend her.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, is judgemental and hasty in forming impressions of people. She is still biased against Darcy and tells Colonel Fitzwilliam as a hint to Darcy that Darcy is being rude to speak ill of her, in which he did not. This reflects Elizabeth's hastiness and thats she jumps into conclusions easily. She then goes on to complain that Darcy was not being gentleman during the ball in Hertfordshire as he refuses to dance with the many ladies waiting. This shows an irony as as much as Elizabeth detests Darcy, she cannot forget the incident in which Darcy refused to dance which shows the impact Darcy had left on Elizabeth. Elizabeth's interest towards Darcy can also be seen in her eagerness to find out the reasons why he hadn't danced with her during the Hertfordshire ball. She also takes this as a opportunity to find out his impression of her and was relived to know that he did not detest her.
Ironically, Darcy was being a gentleman, unlike what Elizabeth had described him to be as he frankly spills out the reasons to why he refused to dance during the ball. He admits that he is shy and is not outgoing enough to make small talk with the ladies while dancing. Hence to avoid the awkwardness, he chose not to dance as he did not want the ladies to feel offended if he remained silent throughout the dance. Here, the misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Darcy is then cleared as she finally finds out that Darcy did not actually looked down on her and hence refusing the dance.
In the later part of the excerpt, we also find out that Elizabeth and Darcy are very compatible with one another and that Elizabeth actually enjoys the company of Darcy. She openes up to Darcy even though she supposedly detested him and this gives us a hint that Elizabeth might actually like Darcy in the end. Both of them have a lot in common in which they are both uncomfortable with strangers and therefore explaining their coldness towards each other in the earlier part of the book. This can be seen when Elizabeth defends herself against Lady Catherine's criticism by saying she too, is not comfortable in performing for strangers. This confirms Darcy and Elizabeth's compatibility as well. The excerpt then clears the bad air between Elizabeth and Darcy and it is because of their alikeness in character which caused misunderstandings to be formed initially.
Hence this passage is my favourite in Pride and Prejudice as it reveals the diferent side of Darcy and therefore allowing Elizabeth to understand him better. The realisation that both Elizabeth and Darcy are alike in character is also important as it acts as a turning point for Elizabeth as her bad impressions of Darcy are beginning to change and would accept him and grow to love him eventually.
In this particular excerpt, which takes place in Lady Catherine's gathering where Elizabeth was also invited and was made to perform a piano piece. Darcy and Elizabeth engage themselves in a witty exchange and through their conversation, both realise they have a lot in common and Darcy managed to get into the good books of Elizabeth. This passage relates to one of Pride and Prejudice's concerns of Elizabeth and Darcy using witty exchanges yet in a way, "flirtateous" exchanges to understand the other party better. This is then the beginning of their blossoming relationship.
Flirtateous exchanges can be seen throughout this excerpt where Elizabeth first comments Darcy for this move towards her as one which was meant to frighten her. However, the reader knows that Elizabeth understands Darcy well enough than to think that his move was to scare her. She uses that as a pick-up line as well as to tell Darcy that she is brave and strong-willed, a woman who is different from the norm, and one who stands up for herself. Darcy then retaliates by giving another statement telling Elizabeth not to be judgemental. He is not rude in his speech which shows his gentlemanliness and his liking towards Elizabeth and cautious not to offend her.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, is judgemental and hasty in forming impressions of people. She is still biased against Darcy and tells Colonel Fitzwilliam as a hint to Darcy that Darcy is being rude to speak ill of her, in which he did not. This reflects Elizabeth's hastiness and thats she jumps into conclusions easily. She then goes on to complain that Darcy was not being gentleman during the ball in Hertfordshire as he refuses to dance with the many ladies waiting. This shows an irony as as much as Elizabeth detests Darcy, she cannot forget the incident in which Darcy refused to dance which shows the impact Darcy had left on Elizabeth. Elizabeth's interest towards Darcy can also be seen in her eagerness to find out the reasons why he hadn't danced with her during the Hertfordshire ball. She also takes this as a opportunity to find out his impression of her and was relived to know that he did not detest her.
Ironically, Darcy was being a gentleman, unlike what Elizabeth had described him to be as he frankly spills out the reasons to why he refused to dance during the ball. He admits that he is shy and is not outgoing enough to make small talk with the ladies while dancing. Hence to avoid the awkwardness, he chose not to dance as he did not want the ladies to feel offended if he remained silent throughout the dance. Here, the misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Darcy is then cleared as she finally finds out that Darcy did not actually looked down on her and hence refusing the dance.
In the later part of the excerpt, we also find out that Elizabeth and Darcy are very compatible with one another and that Elizabeth actually enjoys the company of Darcy. She openes up to Darcy even though she supposedly detested him and this gives us a hint that Elizabeth might actually like Darcy in the end. Both of them have a lot in common in which they are both uncomfortable with strangers and therefore explaining their coldness towards each other in the earlier part of the book. This can be seen when Elizabeth defends herself against Lady Catherine's criticism by saying she too, is not comfortable in performing for strangers. This confirms Darcy and Elizabeth's compatibility as well. The excerpt then clears the bad air between Elizabeth and Darcy and it is because of their alikeness in character which caused misunderstandings to be formed initially.
Hence this passage is my favourite in Pride and Prejudice as it reveals the diferent side of Darcy and therefore allowing Elizabeth to understand him better. The realisation that both Elizabeth and Darcy are alike in character is also important as it acts as a turning point for Elizabeth as her bad impressions of Darcy are beginning to change and would accept him and grow to love him eventually.
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