The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves.
Posted by Mark on December 05, 1997 at 14:42:22:
In response to And Brutus knows I am no orator, written by Helen on December 05, 1997 at 13:02:06
] ] Mark
] ] Elizabeth wasn't too upset about Wickham chasing Mary King. I also thinks she respects the Colonel for telling her fairly quickly that he's concerned about money. Compare his actions to Willoughby and Edward Ferrars.
Helen
] Yes, he's doing the decent thing and stopping the possibility before it gets started. So she knows he's not going to marry a non-heiress like herself: so if she chooses to flirt with him, that's fine, but she shouldn't form an attactment. Which is pretty essential at a time when a young woman's unrequited attachment can blight her reputation in the eyes of others (and no, I know we're not talking Victorian propriety here)
Mark
Col. Fritzwilliam is completely the gentlemen. Which is one reason I can't see some people's assertations that he is right for Caroline Bingley.
Helen
] Fascinating ones! Because I like to think that she would have said to herself, "No, I don't love him, so it would not be fair to marry him". But she would have faced a lot more pressure from Mr. Bennet to take him - remember, he is concerned that she respect rather than love her husband. And she would not even have Fanny Price's inner certainty that he was not truly moral. I think that every conceivable external and internal social pressure would have pressured her into accepting, but she would have refused, or at least told him to wait some time before she knew that she could accept.
Mark
When you compare the love she eventually develops for Darcy, no she didn't love him. But he was a most eligible catch, she liked him very much, she "fluttered" when she thought about him, she respected him. I think she would have been sorely tempted.
It would not be like Charlotte. How could anybody compare Col. F. to Mr. C. There is no way on this Earth she could ever respect Mr. C. But Col. F.?
Thanks for a lively discussion. Since it deals with everybody's favorite heroine not marrying as we all want her to, it certainly is hard to articulate. So don't worry. It took me several posts to get what I wanted to say out in an intelligible manner.
Mark
P.S. Now that we have established that Elizabeth might of accepted Col. Fritzwilliam's proposal of marriage, what affect would that have had upon Mr. Fritzwilliam Darcy?
Hmmmmmmmm!!!
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