The moment has arrived. The most talked about Lady has been introduced in chapter 29. Lady Catherine De Bough has made her debut to the reader. My personal view of such said lady is as expected. She reminds me of Mr. Collins but with more class and way more critical. Oh high society how you make me sigh with your celebrities. Because that is what Lady De Bough is to the characters in Pride and Prejudice, their Lady GaGa. She represents the ultimate lifestyle and what most of the characters want.
Elizabeth decided to go and see Charlotte in her new house in Hunsford. Lady Catherine knowing her servant Mr. Collins had guests invited them to her humble abode. This basically was a dinner in which Lady Catherine showed how much better she is than everyone. For example in page 23 we find her criticizing the Bennet girl's upbringing. Elizabeth shares that her and her sisters don't draw, only one plays and sings, and they never had a governess. This is all blasphemous to Lady Catherine who doesn't hold back when seeming shocked by their upbringing. From all this we can infer that Lady Catherine is very high in her ranks compared to the Bennet´s and that she is old school about how people are brought up. She seems like a traditional woman who likes to get into peoples business.
Lady Catherine is a relative of Mr. Darcy and he appeared when Elizabeth was in town, along with his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth mingled with Fitzwilliam and they got along perfectly. It starts to get interesting when Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth, and Fitzwilliam are gathered around the pianoforte. This is what occurred:
"I am not afraid of you," said he, smilingly.
"Pray let me hear what you have to accuse him of," cried Colonel Fitzwilliam. "I should like to know how he behaves among strangers."
"You shall hear then--but prepare yourself for something very dreadful. The first time of my ever seeing him in Hertfordshire, you must know, was at a ball--and at this ball, what do you think he did? He danced only four dances, though gentlemen were scarce; and, to my certain knowledge, more than one young lady was sitting down in want of a partner. Mr. Darcy, you cannot deny the fact."
"I had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party."
"True; and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball-room. Well, Colonel Fitzwilliam, what do I play next? My fingers wait your orders."
"Perhaps," said Darcy, "I should have judged better, had I sought an introduction; but I am ill-qualified to recommend myself to strangers."
"Shall we ask your cousin the reason of this?" said Elizabeth, still addressing Colonel Fitzwilliam. "Shall we ask him why a man of sense and education, and who has lived in the world, is ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers?"
"I can answer your question," said Fitzwilliam, "without applying to him. It is because he will not give himself the trouble."
"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done."
"My fingers," said Elizabeth, "do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault--because I will not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe MY fingers as capable as any other woman's of superior execution."
Darcy smiled and said, "You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting. We neither of us perform to strangers." (page 132, Pride and Prejudice)}
This passage caught my attention because it is the first time Darcy is described as smiling, as well as sharing personal thoughts to the people with him and revealing a little more about him to the reader. From the passage we can imply that Darcy somehow respects Elizabeth and she is not as tormented by him as she pretends to be. I believe it is very interesting how Elizabeth her skills on the pianoforte with Darcy's social skills. She makes it seem as if they are connected by their lack of practice in the fields they are talking about but does it in a way that strikes Darcy and makes him smile once again. I think that Darcy is just painfully shy and is lacking some social skills, not only that but he is very demanding of the world around him. And Elizabeth who knows her world all too well can joke about him being shy and describing it as "something dreadful" in a teasing way. Even if they don't admit it to themselves the reader can certainly imply that Darcy and Elizabeth share more in common than what they think.
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