Pride and Prejudice York Notes

The scene is a defining moment in Austen’s telling of the story. The confrontation of Lady Catherine and Elizabeth is like a battle between the old and the new, when selfish arrogance meets true gentility.

Lady Catherine’s patronising but ignorant self-importance has already been almost comically exposed in the visits to the Rosings, but here her character is revealed by Austen in all its viciousness. She has come confident in her demand that Elizabeth should deny any intention of marrying Darcy and from the start she is prepared to use bullying tactics – she is ‘not to be trifled with’. When Elizabeth refuses to be roused by her taunts she becomes increasingly agitated and resorts to threats, delivered in powerful, rhetorical language: ‘You will be censured, slighted and despised’. She even attacks and insults Elizabeth directly, calling her an ‘Obstinate, headstrong girl!’ Eventually, the conversation comes to a head when Lady Catherine accuses Elizabeth of being a young woman with upstart pretensions and ‘without family, connections, or fortune’, which focuses on their key social and class differences.

Until this point, Elizabeth has remained calm during Lady Catherine’s ranting and has answered in a non-committal way. However, here she loses patience and shouts that just as Darcy is a gentleman, she is a gentleman’s daughter. This shows that she has as much right to be proud as Lady Catherine.

The scene is important to our understanding because we see the same old Elizabeth once again. She refuses to give in to Lady Catherine and shows herself to be an independent woman. The conversation also leads her to take true pride in herself, despite the shame she feels because of the way her family has acted. The scene also shows that the days of the automatic superiority of the aristocracy are over.

Finally, the scene has an important part to play in the development of the plot. Lydia has married, Jane is engaged to Bingley and the story seems almost over until this dramatic event, which is made even more dramatic in the film with Keira Knightley, as it takes place in the dead of night. After the visit, Elizabeth’s mind is thrown into turmoil as she dares think again of marriage and Darcy confirms later that, ironically, it was Lady Catherine’s attempt to prevent the engagement that was instrumental in bringing it about. The scene, therefore, is both highly dramatic and a narrative turning point.