This is another quote I had seen I think on a journal at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, but I couldn’t place it. It’s actually Darcy, talking to Miss Bingley. He tells her he’s been thinking of Elizabeth’s fine eyes, and she asks, “When am I to wish you joy?” To which he replies:
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy.”
Pride & Prejudice, volume 1, chapter 6
I’m afraid he is right!
Filed under Darcy, Imagination, Love, Marriage, Miss Bingley, Pride and Prejudice
“‘Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
Lizzy giving Jane a bit of a hard time about Bingley, just after they’ve met at the Meryton ball (tongue in cheek, of course).
Pride & Prejudice, volume 1, chapter 4 (emphasis mine)
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Filed under Elizabeth Bennet, Humor, Jane Bennet, Love, Mr. Bingley, Pride and Prejudice
“I would not let Martha read First Impressions again upon any account, & am very glad that I did not leave it in your power.—She is very cunning, but I see through her design;-she means to publish it from Memory, & one more perusal must enable her to do it.”
letter to Cassandra, First Impressions later became Pride & Prejudice, Martha is Jane and Cassandra’s dear friend Martha Lloyd, who lived with them after their father died and eventually married their brother Frank
June 11, 1799 [21]
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Filed under Letters, Martha Lloyd, Pride and Prejudice
Happy Valentine’s Day, gentle readers! I looked for something from Jane that would be rather inspiring about love, but she actually has more sharp than flowery comments (as you would expect), so I offer you this from dear Lizzy, one of Austen’s oft-quoted lines on the nature of love:
“‘I never saw a more promising inclination. He was growing quite inattentive to other people, and wholly engrossed by her. Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable. At his own ball he offended two or three young ladies by not asking them to dance, and I spoke to him twice myself, without receiving an answer. Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?‘”
Lizzy to her Aunt Gardiner, attempting to explain just how “violent” Bingley’s affections for Jane are
Pride & Prejudice, volume 2, chapter 2 (emphasis mine)
Filed under Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Love, Men, Mr. Bingley, Pride and Prejudice
One last thought from Charlotte on marriage:
“‘I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.'”
Charlotte Lucas to Lizzy, after her engagement to Mr. Collins
Pride and Prejudice, volume 1, chapter 22
Filed under Character, Charlotte Lucas, Marriage, Money, Money and Marriage, Mr. Collins, Pride and Prejudice
“‘ . . . it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.'”
Charlotte Lucas to Lizzy
Pride and Prejudice, volume 1, chapter 6
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Filed under Charlotte Lucas, Marriage, Pride and Prejudice
“‘Well,’ said Charlotte, ‘I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him to-morrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a twelve-month. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the disposition of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation . . .'”
Charlotte Lucas to Lizzy, on Jane’s liking Mr. Bingley
Pride and Prejudice, volume 1, chapter 6 (emphasis mine)
Oh, dear Charlotte.
Filed under Charlotte Lucas, Happiness, Marriage, Pride and Prejudice
“‘We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing if you really liked him.'”
Mr. Bennet, trying to ascertain Lizzy’s feelings about Darcy
Pride and Prejudice, volume 3, chapter 17
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Filed under Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, Love, Marriage, Men, Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
“‘To be sure, you knew no actual good of me-but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.'”
Lizzy to Darcy, on how their relationship began
Pride and Prejudice, volume 3, chapter 18
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“You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.” [Elizabeth]
“A man who had felt less might.” [Darcy]
Lizzy and Darcy reflecting on the rough progression of things, how when it finally came down to it, they were both embarrassed and awkward.
Pride & Prejudice, volume 3, chapter 18
This is very similar to something Knightley says in Emma. These men and their emotions-it is not that they don’t have them, it’s that they simply don’t know how to express them.
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Filed under Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, Love, Men, Pride and Prejudice
The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman (May, 2012)
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith