Saturday, December 4, 2010

In Pride and Prejudice, what does Elizabeth learn about Mr. Darcy as a result of her visiting Pemberley?

Symbolically the chapter shows 'natural beauty'; not grandoise or OTT (compare this to Rosings, for example). The physical, subtle and understated nature of the grounds shows Darcy's ''inherent'' natural beauty. When she sees his statue this is a revelation of his ''true'' self encapsulated.

There was a sub-genre in the Regency period called 'Great Country House Literature' (Johnson, one of Austen's biggest influences, is included in this genre). It is based on the fact that a house is a 'microorganism' of the person who stays there. So despite his wealth and supposed snobbery he does relish natural, Enlightened beauty.

Also some critics say that when Lizzy crosses the 'simple' bridge this can be interepreted as her 'crossing' over and defeating class boundaries towards him, eventually bringing them both together.

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