Summary: Chapters 9–10
The next day, Mrs. Bennet arrives with Lydia and Catherine
to visit Jane. To Elizabeth’s dismay, Mrs. Bennet spends much of
her visit trying to convince Bingley to remain at Netherfield. During
her stay, Mrs. Bennet makes a general fool of herself, first by
comparing country life to the city and then by prattling on about
Jane’s beauty. Near the end of the visit, fifteen-year-old Lydia
asks Bingley whether he will hold a ball at Netherfield Park. He
replies that he must wait until Jane is fully recovered to hold
a ball.
In the evening, Elizabeth observes Miss Bingley piling
compliments upon Darcy as he writes to his sister. The conversation
turns to Bingley’s style of letter writing and then to Bingley’s
impetuous behavior, which entangles Elizabeth and Darcy in an argument
over the virtues of accepting the advice of friends. Afterward,
Miss Bingley plays “a lively Scotch air” on the pianoforte, and
Elizabeth again refuses to dance with Darcy. Her refusal only increases
his admiration, and he considers that “were it not for the inferiority
of her connections, he should be in some danger.” Miss Bingley,
observing his attraction, becomes jealous and spends the following
day making fun of Elizabeth’s family, inviting Darcy to imagine
them connected to his proud and respectable line.
That night, Miss Bingley begins reading in imitation of
Darcy—a further attempt to impress him. She chooses her book merely because
it is the second volume of the one that Darcy is reading. Of course,
being uninterested in literature, she is quickly bored and says
loudly, “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How
much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!—When I have a
house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent
library.”
Summary: Chapters 11–12
Miss Bingley spends the following night in similar fashion,
trying to attract Darcy’s attention: first by reading, then by criticizing
the foolishness of balls, and finally by walking about the room.
Only when she asks Elizabeth to walk with her, however, does Darcy
look up, and then the two women discuss the possibility of finding
something to ridicule in his character. He states that his only
fault is resentment—“my good opinion once lost is lost forever.”
Elizabeth replies that it is hard to laugh at a “propensity to hate
every body,” and Miss Bingley, observing Elizabeth’s monopolization
of Darcy’s attention once again, insists on music.
The next morning, Elizabeth writes to her mother to say
that she and Jane are ready to return home. Mrs. Bennet wishes Jane
to stay longer with Bingley, and she refuses to send the carriage.
Elizabeth, anxious to be away, insists on borrowing Bingley’s carriage
and she and her sister leave Netherfield Park. Darcy is glad to
see them go, as Elizabeth attracts him “more than he liked,” considering
her unsuitability as a prospect for matrimony.
Analysis: Chapters 9–12
The continuation of Elizabeth’s visit to Netherfield accentuates
the respective attitudes of Miss Bingley and Darcy toward their
guest: jealousy on the part of the former, admiration on that of
the latter. Elizabeth poses a separate threat to each of them. Miss
Bingley fears her as a rival for Darcy’s affection, and Darcy fears
that he will succumb to his growing attraction to her despite the
impracticality of marriage to one of such inferior rank and family.
The anxiety created by class-consciousness thereby becomes a self-perpetuating,
warping institution. Darcy, concerned that he may affect his own
reputation by linking it to the poor reputation of another, tries to
avoid talking to Elizabeth entirely on the final day she spends
at Netherfield. He must tie himself up in a sort of logical knot;
class-consciousness transforms Elizabeth, who is perfect for him,
as something to be feared. Miss Bingley demonstrates how, once a class
system develops, it maintains its coherence. Miss Bingley feels threatened
by Elizabeth and knows she cannot compete with Elizabeth on the
basis of her virtues or talents. Her means of defense is to bring
class-anxiety to bear; by the luck of her birth, Miss Bingley has been
stamped as superior. She now uses the entire social institution of
class to maintain her superiority, even though all logic and experience
show that superiority to be a lie.
