P & P #12: Ch. 10- 12

Quote 1: "If he [Mr. Bingley] wants our society, let him seek it. He knows where we live. I will not spend my hours in running after my neighbors every time they go away, and come back again" (253).

Since the Bennets do not know the story behind Mr. Bingley's disappearance, it is only appropriate to feel disheartened by him. Jane's heart has been wounded. No matter how often she says she is recovering from it or becoming emotionally strong, the incident has still broken her heart. Mrs. Bennet is being extremely insensitive towards this and very inconsiderate. It does not seem to matter that her family should not be waiting hand and foot on a man that hurt their daughter: "She [Mrs. Bennet] does not know, no one can know how much I suffer from what she says" (253). When Mr. Bingly did come, Mrs. Bennet only embarrassed her family even more. This is not going to encourage a marriage between Mr. Bingley and Jane. Mr. Bennet was correct in saying this quote. A person with wealth is no different than a common man, except for their money. It is not the job of one person to constantly maintain an acquaintance with the other. The other also needs to put in the effort. Mr. Bennet is also following up on what he said in the previous chapters: "I have at last learnt to be cautious" (228). He is taking this matter as a father should, not joking about it like he usually does, whereas Mrs. Bennet's concern has nothing to do with her daughter's feelings, but simply to show off that Mr. Bingley came to visit them before anybody else.

Quote 2: "Let me first see how he behaves, it will then be early enough for expectation" (255).

Elizabeth continues to believe that Mr. Darcy is not interested in her. She is beyond confused when he does not act the way he did at Pemberley. Something she must remember is that Mr. Darcy holds his composure very well. She did not know he loved her until the day he proposed to her. Mr. Darcy may feel that it is not the right time or place to be acquainting with Elizabeth because there is a bigger issue of Mr. Bingley and Jane's relationship to be worried about. Mr. Darcy is a calculated man, and we can see that anything he has done, has been done for a reason, so Elizabeth should not fret! It seems as though Elizabeth does not want to share her feelings for Mr. Darcy to Jane because she wants to confirm what is going on between them to herself first, she feels embarrassed for admitting she was wrong about him, or Elizabeth is simply waiting to find an excuse to fall out of love with Mr. Darcy. Only Elizabeth knows and feels guilty that her family is being rude to the man they all owe so much to. What is ironic about Elizabeth's feelings is that she was so quick to judge Mr. Darcy and express her hatred toward him to everybody when they first met, but now that she is slowly falling in love with him, she has not admit to it yet.