Nancy,
But that wasn't a disguise by Darcy, that was exactly who Darcy was - an
arrogant, narcissistic, aloof snob!
As Elizabeth herself accurately satirized him:
¡°I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it
himself without disguise.¡±
Don't you think that Elizabeth, in rewriting the history of their
courtship, has unwittingly begun to fit, to a tee, her own descriptors for
the other women who Darcy was beset by?:
"deference", "officious attention", "always speaking, and looking, and
thinking for [Darcy's] approbation alone", "persons who so assiduously
courted [Darcy]".
That's exactly what Elizabeth is doing in this speech. She deludes herself
into thinking she is different, when actually she WAS different, but now
has become just like the rest of them!
And maybe there¡¯s one more ¡°tell¡± in her speech ¨C she has become another
one of those assiduous female wooers of Darcy, because Darcy is "noble" -
"noble" not in the sense of ¡°very moral and good¡± but in unwittingly
referring to his aristocratic lineage ¨C and note how that fits perfectly
with the "joke" Elizabeth told Jane (only one chapter earlier, so it was
fresh in her mind!) about when Elizabeth first fell in love with Darcy,
i.e., about seeing Darcy's estate at Pemberley. We see now that Elizabeth,
in joking about when she fell in love with Darcy, flips the subject when
she sees him, and asks him the same question ¨C we are meant to connect
these dots!!!
In short, the only disguise going on in that speech is Elizabeth¡¯s
disguise, in her desperate attempt to disguise the sharp-tongued, deflater
of bloated male egos whom she was 45 chapters earlier, but which she has
stuffed down out of sight, so as not to rub Darcy the wrong way by making
fun of him ¨C in that regard, can someone help me locate the famous line
when the narrator says that Elizabeth becomes careful about making fun of
Darcy???
ARNIE
On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 12:41?PM Nancy Mayer via groups.io
<regencyresearcher@...> wrote:
To look arrogant and toplofty.judgemental, biased.
To be fair to Darcy, he was a wealthy bachelor and probably had women
falling at his feet when ever he stepped away from his own fireside. He put
up with Caroline and the Hursts because he enjoyed Bingley's company. They
couldn't follow him to his own house. At this time( when we first meet him)
he is a guest of Bingley, He is probably already tired of Caroline but
can't snub his host's sister too much.
Nancy
On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 3:04?PM Arnie Perlstein via groups.io
<arnieperlstein@...> wrote:
I just noticed something yesterday for the first time after countless
readings and considerations of the following memorable speech by
Elizabeth to Darcy in Chapter 60, which the narrator characterizes as the
result of ¡°Elizabeth¡¯s spirits soon rising to playfulness again¡± (a
characterization which, if you think about it, may equally plausibly
reflect the assessment by the author, or by Elizabeth herself, or both):
¡°¡The fact is, that you were sick of civility, of deference, of officious
attention. You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking,
and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused and
interested you, because I was so unlike them. Had you not been really
amiable you would have hated me for it: but in spite of the pains you took
to disguise yourself, your feelings were always noble and just; and in your
heart you thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you.
There¡ªI have saved you the trouble of accounting for it; and really, all
things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable. To be sure you
know no actual good of me¡ªbut nobody thinks of that when they fall in
love.¡± What I hadn¡¯t noticed before, as far as I can recall, is this line:
¡°in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself, your feelings
were always noble and just¡±
What do any of you understand Elizabeth to mean by Darcy¡¯s ¡°disguise¡±?
ARNIE
Arnie Perlstein