Pride and Prejudice 11

"Had Miss Bingley known what pain she was then giving her beloved friend, she undoubtedly would have refrained from the hint; but she had merely intended to decompose Elizabeth, by bringing forward the idea of a man to whom she believed her partial, to make her betray a sensibility which might injure her in Darcy's opinion, and, perhaps, to remind the latter of all te follies and absurdities by which some part of her family were connected with that corps" (Austen 262).

The above quote is a direct statement of Miss Bingley's goal. Her goal is to degrade Elizabeth, especially around Mr. Darcy. The very first sentence of this chapter explains why this is so; "Convinced as Elizabeth now was that Miss Bingley's dislike of her had originated in jealousy" (260). Miss Bingley is purely jealous of Elizbeth because Mr. Darcy prefers Elizabeth over Miss Bingley. Miss Bingley feels that the best way to combat this and divert Mr. Darcy's attention from Elizabeth to herself is by bringing Elizabeth down. She makes all sorts of references to her family, such as, "Pray, Miss Eliza, are not the -----shire militia removed from Meryton? They must be a great loss to your family" (262). She is refering to Lydia and Catherine's acts of flirting with soldiers stationed in Meryton in this example. Lydia and Catherine also come across as the least favorable of the Bennets because of Ms. Bennet's descriptions of them. With Miss Bingley obviously attempting to tear down Elizabeth, some kind of conflict seems inevitable. Mr. Darcy fancies Elizabeth, but not Miss Bingley, who favors Mr. Darcy. Both Miss Bingley and Elizabeth are after Mr. Darcy, however, he can only choose between one of them, and his choice would probably be Elizabeth. Chances are that Miss Bingley may choose to get Mr. Wickham involved, because she probably knows of Elizabeth's initial feelings towards him. Yet, this plan would backfire on Miss Bingley, because Elizabeth has learned of his ways and thinks lowly of him. If Mr. Darcy saw Elizabeth turn Mr. Wickham down, chances are that such an action would only deepen Mr. Darcy's affection.

---

"Pray, Miss Eliza, are not the -----shire militia removed from Meryton? They must be a great loss to your family" (262).
"How very ill Eliza Bennet looks this morning, Mr. Darcy [...] I never in my life saw any one so much altered as she is since the winter. She is grown so brown and coarse!" (263).
What is the relationship between these two quotes?
A.) Both encapsulate Miss Bingley's jealousy towards Elizabeth because Mr. Darcy prefers Elizabeth over Miss Bingley.
B.) They convey Miss Bennet's jealousy towards Elizabeth because she appears to have a better chance of getting married than Jane does.
C.) Both quotes show Mr. Wickham's jealousy towards Mr. Darcy because Elizabeth seems to hold Mr. Darcy in her favor.
D.) No relationship.