Lecture 17- Pride and Prejudice VI: Textual Analysis

[Music] [Music] hello Learners and uh this is the sixth video in which we are continuing our discussion of Jane Austin's novel Pride and Prejudice in the previous lecture I briefly introduced uh this U household uh that of s Sir William Lucas who are the immediate neighbors of the the benets and uh I I described how in sili Lucas's uh life and career we see a counterpart to that of Mr we see a very different understanding of wealth and how wealth can translate or or fail to translate into uh social capital or or or Social Power uh for Sir William Lucas it was not about wealth or rather it was not about wealth from trade uh rather it was more about the kind of validation or recognition one received from royalty and uh this person Sir William Lucas had decided to give up income from trade and U decided to settle as a knight and made uh a certain Choice he he had decided to give up a certain amount of wealth and uh translate whatever title he had received that is the the the Knighthood which made him Ser William Lucas and um satisfy himself with uh more recognition more proximity to to royalty and um Less in terms of absolute uh wealth and and this also is a signified in the last sentence of that court in which the narrator mentions that the proximity to uh St James had made uh sillum Lucas more courteous now uh in this household uh also there is a single woman uh who uh who faces exactly the same challenges the same uh scarce opportunities and the same um odds for for survival really which Mrs Bennett's daughters face uh This Woman's name is Charlotte and in this lecture we will understand how Charlotte's thinking on on on Love and Marriage and and property and her her her decision uh work as a foil they they help us uh understand the path that many women took but they clarify a path which the protagonist of this novel that is Elizabeth Bennett uh chooses and refuses uh not to take okay so U we've described the the first uh meeting of Mr bingly and and Mr Darcy and this uh this very social event in which Mr Darcy is identified as a disagreeable dislikable uh prideful conceited man um the scene in which Pride was established as uh if not a sin then uh a a very very bad thing to do and something which almost completely closes off uh any good uh any future good outcome for Mr Dari uh his his pride is almost an unforgivable sin uh immediately after that uh we we we are uh allowed to witness a conversation in which the the daughters the the single women who are supposedly uh trying to win the hand of of one or two of these single wealthy men uh they're having a conversation about the perceived pride of Mr Dari and uh one of these women is uh is is Charlotte who has a conversation with Elizabeth about Darcy's pride and U this is how the novel describes it shotte speaks first his pride said Miss Lucas does not offend me so much as Pride often does because there is an excuse for it one cannot wonder that so very fine a young man with family fortune everything in his favor should think highly of himself if I may so express it he has a right to be proud that is very true replied Elizabeth and I could easily forgive his Pride if he had not mortified mine now um I'll focus on this conversation at at some length but before I go on I want to notice first something very practical in Charlotte's understanding of Pride uh Charlotte notices that Darcy's Behavior Darcy's um actions uh his the the things Dary said and the things he refused to say the what he did and and what he what he refused to do they very strongly signify that he was a a proud and conceited man uh while agreeing with these facts Charlotte uh explains them and justifies them uh by referring to Darcy's uh background uh the the facts of Darcy's life uh what are these facts the fact is that he's a man with a great Fortune uh not only that he's also a fine young man right meaning he has a good appearance uh he has a good U personality and he has a good fortune all of these things uh dispose Darcy to think highly of himself right now of course uh he thinks maybe a bit too highly for himself and uh that that overreach uh in Charlotte's view is for forgivable and justifiable right it is justifiable because uh as a man he has a right to do that this is Charlotte's View and Elizabeth uh who we have just seen is one of the most Discerning uh most critically aware uh most objective and uh most considered observers replies uh also in agreement uh with shot's observation Elizabeth says that is very true and I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine right and uh we uh have just seen those of you who have read the novel this far will remember that in that uh first meeting uh when Darcy was perceived to be too uh too uh proud he had rejected U and and he had made a comment about Elizabeth as as someone who who smiles too much and and who is not as as handsome as as some of the others uh which is to say he he had made uh he had cast aspersions on Elizabeth's personality demeanor as well as her appearance and Elizabeth had found out she had overheard and uh she remembers that now and she uses that as her decision to not forgive Darcy's pride and the the Assumption in this statement is that wealth by itself uh does not con constitute the sole criteria for thinking highly of oneself uh even though Elizabeth as a single woman with no fortune uh may may have nothing with which to compete with with Darcy in terms of uh wealth or or income there is something in Elizabeth as well which gives her her as much right as Darcy to think highly of herself and therefore while Darcy is not wrong to think highly of himself he is certainly very wrong and um this this sin is is most UN unforgivable uh the fact that he had has mortified Elizabeth's Pride uh now this conversation goes on and U Mary who's among the youngest of the Bennett sisters uh makes a comment about Pride which which I will read because it demonstrates uh a certain Trend in in literary publishing uh a convention in the uh literary culture of 18th century England which Austin was very aware of and to which Austin makes uh makes a response uh Mary uh makes contribution to this discussion of Pride uh whether it is Justified or not and and how it can be perceived uh Mary speaks uh Pride observed Mary who piqued herself upon the solidity of her Reflections is a very common failing I Believe by all that I have ever read I am convinced that it is very common indeed that human nature is particularly prone to it and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self- compeny on the score of some quality or other real or imaginary vanity and pride are different things though the words are often used synonymously a person may be proud without being vain Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves Vanity Vanity to what we would have others think of us now in the very first page we have been introduced to Mary as someone who reads A Lot Mr Bennett has introduced Mary as someone who reads many books and makes extracts right uh now the 18th to 19th century English publishing scene was uh full of a great deal of Innovations in printing now because uh printing was a new thing and a lot of people were quite excited by the commodity of of uh Printed Matter uh people enjoyed U buying books uh reading books and also storing and gifting books uh you could say that the modern culture of Book trade was inaugurated in 18th century England uh one consequence of this U uh exotic perception of print was that there was a trend of publishing extracts Not only was there a trend of publishing extracts but there was also a perception that the best way to read and understand a book was to make extracts of uh quotable or memorable portions from it and Mary is one such reader uh in fact the narrator convinces us or conveys to her readers that Mary was uh was an aid reader of books by the fact that she made extracts now what kind of books were did Mary Read uh among the books that were greatly popular in 18th century England were conduct books uh books that uh describe the ideal behavior for men and women but more importantly which focused on how women should conduct themselves in order to both secure a husband and uh having secured a husband having achieved matrimony uh how they should conduct themselves and how they should manage their households in order to secure the well-being of their families now in this conduct uh literature there was a great deal of advice on emotional matters and it is some such advice that Mary has read and which Mary is citing uh in this instance uh as you can tell the distinction between pride and vanity is uh quite sensible uh quite objective and there's there's nothing disagreeable about it but this paragraph has the quality of revealing a person who is quite impressed with what she has read and is is quite excited by the knowledge that it gives her and uh is is quite happy to share this knowledge with with others even though it may be quite obvious to to others the the fact that that she's sharing and and additionally it also clarifies exactly what Elizabeth and Charlotte have been talking about uh immediately before this this passage that uh yes Pride itself is not a bad thing uh the fact that Darcy is perceived to be proud uh is um does not disqualify him from any human sympathy but rather it was his behavior towards others which uh which has made him as disliked as he is at this point in the novel now a little bit later uh it has become very clear to everyone that uh Mr Bingley has a great deal of interest in Jane who's among the Elder of the Bennett sisters and there's a conversation that that Charlotte has with Elizabeth in which uh Charlotte who we've just uh seen speak about Darcy as someone who has a right to be proud and I I mentioned earlier that Charlotte seems to have a very practical notion of uh the value of wealth and and how wealth can shape or dispose a man's behavior towards others now it is this individual Charlotte who gives some advice to to Elizabeth and and hopes that Elizabeth can pass this on to her sister Jane with regard to securing the hand of Mr Bingley in marriage right and and this is what uh Charlotte uh says if a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it she may lose the opportunity of fixing him and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark there is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment that it is not safe to leave any to itself we can all begin freely a slight preference is natural enough but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement in nine cases out of 10 a woman had better show more affection than she feels Bingle likes her sister undoubtedly but he may do he may never do more than like her if she does not help him on now I just mentioned that uh there were a great deal of conduct books books that sought to describe the ideal Behavior Uh the the most perfect kind of disposition uh Speech and an action which women should display if they were to secure a wealthy man's uh hand in marriage and uh Charlotte here is echoing some of such some such advice when she advises Elizabeth that uh that Jane should not be so subdued or subtle in reciprocating Mr bingley's affections she should be a little more forthright she should be a little more public in her display of of her preference and and her affections for for Mr Bley because uh it is the the the burden of this kind of emotional labor lies heavier on women because they stand to lose more if the object of that affection in this case uh the the the wealthy man Mr Bingley remains ignorant of of their affections and they also stand to gain more if the object of their affection understands exactly how they feel uh so far so good this seems to be a very practical advice it seems to be a logical consequence of the the financial and social inequality of which we have received enough evidence so far and further Charlotte explains and Charlotte speaks a sentence which is quite remarkable for being an extremely py explanation of the relationship between uh love and and security Charlotte writes and she's speaking about Jane and Mr Bingley when she is cure of him there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses so in this sentence we understand what love means and how love is not so much a coincidental serendipitous uh circumstance of Fate but rather it is purely an effect of certain calculations what are these calculations the Cal calculations are that Jane does not have a fortune uh Bingley has a great Fortune further there are some more calculations as well uh there is one uh Mr Bingley but there are many Bennett sisters um in addition to the Benet sisters there are other single women uh in want of a great Fortune right to reverse the uh novel's opening sentence and therefore there is a great inequality uh while there are at least five or six women who are vying for the hand of this one man uh he is only one and they are many this is a calculation uh and within this calculated Universe Shon believes that Jane should first secure bingle's affections and then she can go about falling in love at leisure right now it seems to uh Charlotte in in this sentence that the choice the the Leisure of falling in love is is a luxury that only certain people can afford and uh in in in shot's view Jane is not someone who can afford that luxury right uh let us see how Elizabeth reacts to such a statement such an understanding of a very calculated relationship between love and security Jane replies your plan is a good one where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married and if I were determined to get a rich husband or any husband I dare say I should adopt it but these are not Jane's feelings she is not acting by Design as yet she cannot even be certain of the degree of her own regard nor of its reasonableness so Elizabeth's view is U an extremely different view it is PED apart it it is almost a diametrical opposite to What U Charlotte has has just said uh let us try and understand the view that Elizabeth has has just put forward J J's view or or Jane's uh intention in this whole interaction according to Elizabeth and and she assumes the right to speak on behalf of Jane uh Jane's plan is not merely to secure uh a good marriage right and therefore Charlotte's advice Elizabeth Fields is misplaced uh it would be U it would be good advice if Jane's intention was simply to get married uh and and Elizabeth puts it thus if I were determined to get a rich husband or any husband right but Elizabeth argues that that is not Jane's desire in fact uh she is not acting by Design now this view uh flies in the face of what Mrs Bennett articulated on the very first page which is that uh which is this very ironic comment on design uh Mrs Bennett knows that nobody has any overt design and yet Mrs Bennett feels that she she can produce and impose a covert design what is that covert design the the the covert design is that Mr Bingle will fall in love with one of her daughters and here we have that design uh slowly falling into place we we see that there is uh a great deal of potential for Mrs Bennett design to achieve its purpose without looking like it was designed right and uh the the difference between Charlotte's and Elizabeth's views are that Charlotte has has taken the facts too literally and uh has cre created a design an a script based on the facts based on the the the scarcity and the inequality and we can say that uh Charlotte's view is a highly economic uh understanding of love and uh decides that love can be a luxury that that can be indulged in once the material scarcity has been solved on the other hand Elizabeth's view is a much more holistic understanding of Love uh love is not simply security uh love is not simply a luxury but rather uh love is the means to a hope for happiness right and here Elizabeth feels that uh like herself Jane 2 does not have the goal of being married to a wealthy husband but rather the the larger goal is to find a degree of Happiness from life and for which marriage to a husband or a rich husband uh may be one means of of securing the same now uh in response to this uh very different understanding of Happiness uh luxury love and and material Comfort uh Charlotte says this I wish Jane success with all my heart and if she were married to to him tomorrow I should think she had as good a chance of Happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a 12 Monon happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance if the dispositions 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 contrive to grow sufficiently like afterwards to have their share of vexation and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life so we see uh in in addition to being an economic understanding of love in which love is a luxury Charlotte also has a very cynical understanding of marriage and and not just a cynical understanding of marriage but it is a cynical understanding of uh interpersonal relationships as as well uh it is cynical because Charlotte believes that even though people may appear to be compatible before marriage they continue to grow incompatible uh in in small and imper imperceptible degrees after marriage therefore happiness is entirely a matter of chance and happiness cannot be made the goal of one's one's activity rather the goal should be survival the goal should be uh material Comfort the goal should be some source of wealth property Etc and later on happiness or its lack can be managed so this is um this is a view that Charlotte Lucas articulates and here Charlotte is speaking for many women in Jane Austin's England the point of this very uh sophisticated very clearly expressed View and and very well written and and very easy to understand view is to establish U One path that the novel uh describes some women as taking but this is also the path that the novel gives us to understand that the protagonist Elizabeth does not take uh much later in the novel and and this is uh and now this is the uh only instance in which we will Fast Forward a great deal to read a a portion from the uh 22nd chapter uh much later in the novel we see that uh Elizabeth receives a proposal of marriage from uh a person named Mr Collins uh this person Mr Collins is a is a highly disagreeable character in in in in many ways I won't go into the details of exactly why Mr Collins appears disagreeable but um the point is that Elizabeth refuses this proposal uh immediately after Elizabeth refuses The Proposal from Mr Collins he proposes to charlot and Charlotte accepts that proposal uh when Elizabeth finds out that that Charlotte has accepted this proposal she's quite shocked and this is what Charlotte ra said in response and I'm going to read I see what you are feeling replied Charlotte you must be surprised very much surprised So lately as Mr Collins was wishing to marry you but when you have had time to think it all over I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done 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'm convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as Fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state right so it seems to be um a very statistically and mathematically uh very logical and persuasive argument I say mathematically and and statistically because uh Charlotte has always had a very practical view of happiness uh and also a very realistic view of the opportunities uh and more importantly the lack of opportunities that uh faced women like like herself uh this is uh an indication of of irony and and the way in which the narrator describes the accuracy and the persuasiveness of Charlotte's thought that uh readers can make up their own mind about whether this is in fact a true and and a safe bet on happiness uh and and I'll just read the last sentence again and we can then unpack what the novel is trying to convey through through these words I'm not a romantic you know I never was I ask only a comfortable home and considering Mr Collins's character connections and situation in life I'm convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as Fair as most people can boast so it seems that uh Charlotte knows that the only thing guaranteed by her acceptance of this proposal is a comfortable home anything more than that is U is left to fate it it's a Gamble and she is is quite aware of that uh she knows that it is a risk but she also accepts that it is a better risk that this state of risk that this state of uncertainty that the the danger of uh unhappy of of being unhappy in a comfortable home is a very good and um doable and an actually much better situation for her to be in than the lack of a comfortable home and the hope of Happiness so if Charlotte were to reverse the situation that would be much worse than than what she has so here is what U Elizabeth has given up and and here is what Charlotte has gained when Elizabeth refused Mr Collins's proposal and Charlotte accepted it Elizabeth has given up a comfortable home and she has gained the hope of of Happiness on the other hand Charlotte has given up the hope of happiness and she has U gained a comfortable home this is how it appears from the narrator's description of the scene of course Elizabeth thinks from from Elizabeth's perspective Charlotte has given up every chance of happiness in fact Charlotte has guaranteed for herself that while she gets a comfortable home she will be condemned to unhappiness however it is a left to the readers to decide whether the choice uh that that Charlotte has made whether it uh whether it is in fact a good choice whether it is in fact the right choice or the wrong choice now of course uh the the narrator is also aware that no choice is perfect that in fact um choices are simply uh decisions that one makes to uh prioritize one thing and to subordinate another thing and so Charlotte's Choice uh is is a decision to prioritize material comfort and to subordinate uh emotional or intellectual Comfort now it is left to readers to to decide whether this is a choice they would like Elizabeth to make or not and we'll find out exactly how Elizabeth goes about making this choice in the subsequent lectures [Music] a [Music]