In the disguised maneuvering towin Darcy, Pemberley becomes the image to which charactersrespond with their own kinds of pride.
How people react to Pemberley reveals a lot about their character.
9 Matching Annotations
- Nov 2025
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moodle.cornellcollege.edu moodle.cornellcollege.edu
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Miss Bingley
Lizzy vs Miss Bingley -- both react to Pemberley in ways related to self-pride.
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Elizabeth,at this time a little too self-centered, is unwilling to accept thisfact with all that it necessarily implies.
Reminding us that Lizzy is also arrogant in the beginning -- she thinks too highly of herself, just as he does.
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For it becomes a symbol of a fixedvalue, of a stable condition to which the heroine belongs, butfrom which she is separated by immaturity, and to which shefinally attains.
We know Lizzy belongs there, but she has to earn that / mature in order to be able to arrive there.
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Pemberley remains inthe distance; we hear much about it, but are not permitted tosee it.
Mystery!
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Thus, while N etherfield isto Bingley as Rosings is to Lady Catherine, the unknown quantitythat is Pemberley creates a certain mystery about Darcy.
Good example of those locations/settings are different--why Pemberley is distinct. Makes us feel something about the character that isn't about him directly.
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Thus, the pretentiousness of Rosingsreveals Lady Catherine, as the nondescriptness of N etherfield doesBingley. 1
Examples from P&P.
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Persuasion, where Kellynch is aninstrument of the plot, complex in Emma, where Donwell Abbeyis the background of a central scene, and more complex in Mans-field Park,
Examples in other novels.
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In thisrespect the country houses in all Austen novels, and especiallythose in Pride and Prejudice, are constant values-that is to say,each is a recognizable emblem for a complex of social, economic,and intellectual realities.
The importance of the country house in JA's writing.
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