To propose or not to propose--that is the question
Posted by gkb on December 05, 1997 at 20:13:31:
In response to His proposal, written by Constanza on December 05, 1997 at 15:02:56
I do love the enthusiasm and spirit you bring to your postings! Do not worry about the language--you make yourself clear and have charming expressions. Plus you are obviously well-read. So, having said all that, I will chip in on the discussion a little. I think that it is possible that Darcy went to Hunsford because he knew that Elizabeth would be alone there. His surface excuse was to inquire after her health, but his deeper purpose was that he was powerfully drawn to be alone with her. How well I remember (and sometimes wish I could forget!) the way I lingered in the presence of those I have been attracted to--no other conscious purpose is needed! Yet Darcy's being so sure that Miss Bennet would accept him does argue that he had some conscious plan--perhaps a half-conscious plan?--to inquire after more than her health. He must have rehearsed in his mind the idea of her accepting him, yes?
But he could not have given his whole mind to the task, since half of his mind was engaged in telling him that he was making the wrong decision. In Plato's analogy of love, there is a black horse, a white horse, and a charioteer who is guiding them.. THe black horse is eager, aggressive in trying to gain the beloved, and the white horse is shy, holding back. THe poor charioteer, like Darcy, is struggling to keep on a safe path! Maybe he was neither wholly committed nor wholly unprepared to propose, but in a dreadful half-and-half state of painful confusion that got resolved in the black horse dragging the chariot too far forward, the white horse trying to run away, and our hero got spun around so hard that he wound up presenting his hinderparts to his beloved!
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
