In Yo Face Sistah!

Would you ever allow a stranger to tour your mansion when you are not home? Apparently the Pemberley estate, which is Darcy's house, is open to anyone who wants to come in and check it out. This must be another of those crazy English ways to show how much better you are than the rest but in a subtle way like Darcy himself. It is thanks to the literal open doors of his house that Elizabeth goes here with her uncles to tour the estate and is face to face with the unexpected.

The person that gave the tour to Elizabeth and her uncles was the house keeper of Darcy himself. If anyone has seen or read about The Help, you know how much a house keeper can come to hate their bosses. I expected this lady to completely bash on Darcy being a quiet man that keeps to himself and is not very known to his workers, you know very Beauty and The Beast, but all this lady said were praises about Darcy. This is the moment when someone jumps in and puts a hand in Elizabeth's face and says "In yo face sistah!" because the true meaning of prejudice is the ignorance towards other peoples realities.

Elizabeth is now practicing one of the greatest hobbies a person can have: daydreaming. After learning all these new sides about Darcy she is now staying awake at night trying to figure out what she thinks (feels) for him. Her thoughts are completely different from say, the thoughts she would have had 20 chapters ago:

"She certainly did not hate him. No; hatred had vanished long ago, and she had almost as long been ashamed of ever feeling a dislike against him, that could be so called. The respect created by the conviction of his valuable qualities, though at first unwillingly admitted, had for some time ceased to be repugnant to her feeling; and it was now heightened into somewhat of a friendlier nature, by the testimony so highly in his favour, and bringing forward his disposition in so amiable a light, which yesterday had produced. But above all, above respect and esteem, there was a motive within her of goodwill which could not be overlooked. It was gratitude; gratitude, not merely for having once loved her, but for loving her still well enough to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her manner in rejecting him, and all the unjust accusations accompanying her rejection." (pg 196)

See? This is what we all need, a good change in heart. With the change we begin not to judge a person for how they behave at balls, no. To truly understand who a person is you must get your own conlcusions based, according to this book, from the people that work for the person. I believe that when a person respects and esteems another as Elizabeth is saying here it is a way of admitting to yourself that you found someone who is an equal to you. Elizabeth is now only seeing the good things about Darcy and not the bad ones which could foreshadow the romance blossoming from her towards him.

Ready for another hand in the face, "In yo face sistah", moment? I don't know about the rest of the people who have read or are reading this book, but I hate Mr. Bingley's sisters. Those women have nothing better to do than comment on every little thing that is not to their satisfaction. So that is what was occurring when Caroline was, excuse my French, bitching about Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy. But then the In yo face sistah moment happened and it was as follows:

"Persuaded as Miss Bingley was that Darcy admired Elizabeth, this was not the best method of recommending herself; but angry people are not always wise; and in seeing him at last look somewhat nettled, she had all the success she expected. He was resolutely silent, however, and, from a determination of making him speak, she continued:

"I remember, when we first knew her in Hertfordshire, how amazed we all were to find that she was a reputed beauty; and I particularly recollect your saying one night, after they had been dining at Netherfield, 'SHE a beauty!--I should as soon call her mother a wit.' But afterwards she seemed to improve on you, and I believe you thought her rather pretty at one time."

"Yes," replied Darcy, who could contain himself no longer, "but THAT was only when I first saw her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance."(pg 201)

This is not the way to get a guy to like you. From the passage one can infer that Caroline thinks that by looking down on others and exposing their flaws, she will look more suitable than them. She doesn't know about the marriage proposal Darcy gave Elizabeth and this all just makes her seem airheaded. From what has been read recently one knows that Darcy is very opposite to Caroline and his personality truly complements itself with Elizabeth's. I felt some inner satisfaction when she was told of by Darcy and with this I hope that finally she will let him go and move on. How is that for a "In yo face" moment?