How Does Austen End The Story In Chapter 61?
Although I haven’t written in comments quite what I was looking for in my study of Pride and Prejudice, I now have an essay with the above title. It’s to be handed in next Wednesday so I can take it in on Friday to get the teacher to look through it and suggest improvements. Here’s what I have right now. I’ll also publish the final part.
Jane Austen opens the final chapter in her novel describing Mrs Bennet’s ‘delighted pride’ with visiting ‘Mrs Bingley’ and suggests they talk of ‘Mrs Darcy’. The narrator wishes that Mrs Bennet’s daughters would ‘make her sensible’ for the sake of the family in marrying so well. Indeed, Austen starts to talk about her novel as though her story is over, retelling the reader events that now seem done and gone. Similar to how the story is opened in the first chapter Austen seems to use her own voice in recalling the ending of character’s tale, although chapter 61 varies to chapter 1 in that the ‘truth universally acknowledged’ could be considered the voice of Mrs Bennet or a sentiment of the time.
In the next paragraphs the novelist tells us how the character of Mr Bennet ‘missed his second daughter exceedingly’, that he is ‘delighted’ in visiting Pemberley often and spontaneously. It is also written that the Bingleys’ move to a ‘neighbouring county to Derbyshire’ so that Jane and Elizabeth are within thirty miles of each other. Suggesting it is not ‘desirous’ for Mr Bingley’s easy temper nor Jane’s ‘affectionate heart’ to be in the vicinity of Mrs Bingley’s mother’s nerves.
The author continues to write in the past tense and not through the voices of her characters including Kitty, whose ‘improvement’ in the company of her older sisters and in superior society is noted as ‘less ignorant’ than her younger sister, Mrs Wickham. Kitty is invited to many balls by her younger sister but is not allowed by her father, something which is alluded to in an earlier chapter.
We are not told explicitly that Lydia herself is aware of Mr Wickham’s ‘ingratitude and falsehood’ that the reader knows of, but Mr Wickham is resolved that Elizabeth must because of her marriage to Mr Darcy. The Wickhams’ do not address Mr Darcy directly but Lydia does write to Elizabeth to congratulate her and relay that she now has ‘not enough money’ to live on.
Miss Bingley is ‘deeply mortified’ by Darcy’s marriage but has dropped all her resentment in order to still retain the right to visit Pemberley. She ‘paid off every arrears of civility’ to Elizabeth and grows ‘fonder than ever’ for Georgiana.
Georgiana’s home is now Pemberley and she has the highest opinion of Elizabeth who, as we read, seems to inspire Georgiana with her ‘lively’ and ’sportive’ manner. Elizabeth also teaches Georgiana that how she, Elizabeth, talks to her husband may not be a way in which a brother ten years Georgianas senior would allow Georgiana herself to do.
The final paragraphs of the chapter and the story are taken up with summarising what Lady Catherine has said in an indignant letter about the marriage of her nephew her offences Mr Darcy is ‘prevailed on to overlook’ and to seek reconciliation. Lady Catherine is resolved to ‘wait on them at Pemberley’ but it seems without a great change in her character. The Gardeners now find themselves in the warmth of Mr Darcy’s gratitude for bringing Elizabeth into Derbyshire giving the opportunity to unite him with Elizabeth which is a complete change of view for them and Mr Darcy.
The summaries of the character’s changes and circumstance leave the reader with a sense of contentment and happiness and perhaps a sense of faith in the nature of life with this romantic novel whose characters suggest all is possible with love, ‘open pleasantry’ and with ‘reviewed knowledge’ in the settings of Regency England.
This is exam question a section a
See Also
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- » AO3
» How Austen Tells Her Story
» The English Assignment Pride and Prejudice
» Foil
» Characterisation
I had this essay marked and received a B.
Comments on the sheet were:
Good link. For the opening paragraph linking the end and the start of the novel
Suggesting was underlined in the second paragraph with the note ‘This suggests’. I understand this to be an error in that I should have placed a comma after ‘each other’ to carry the sentence on or started the new sentence as the teacher suggests.
Fourth paragraph starting We are not told… I placed an apostrophe after The Wickhams’ like so when it should have been The Wickham’s. Glad I have this now.
The next paragraph, Miss Bingley … makes no reference to the author, the people being characters and so forth, they could be real people was written against this.
I completely missed an apostrophe in the next paragraph … then years Georgiana[']s senior ….
In the second to last paragraph I made a slight grammatical error and should have ended the sentence … ‘about the marriage of her nephew.’ and started a new one with .. Her offenses …
..and finally in the last paragraph I again used an apostrophe in the wrong place… the characters['] changes….
Changing all these things would have given me an A, I have a solid start!
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