P&P 7 CH. 6-11

Lady Catherine: “‘I often tell young ladies, that no excellence in music is to be acquired, without constant practice. I have told Miss Bennet several times, that she will never play really well, unless she practises more’” (133).

Lady Catherine exhibits a natural aura of condescension; however she does this unknowingly and unintentionally. We see that she tries not to allow her rank in society affect the way she communicates with other people, especially those less fortunate than her. She established her importance without making those below her feel inferior. With her authoritative nature, she is very outspoken. She is admired for her eloquence, thus she is constantly giving people advice. Yet, she does not realize that she offends people subtly with her counsel. Her character resembles the characteristics of Mrs. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet’s biggest fallacy is her mouth – she speaks with no discretion and is constantly offending someone. The difference between Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet are their circumstances. Lady Catherine speaks in a condescending nature because she is in a position of paramount while Mrs. Bennet affronts people because of her highly attractive daughters.


Mr. Darcy: “‘these offences might have been overlooked, had not your pride been hurt by my honest confession of the scruples that had long prevented my forming any serious design’” (147).

Again, we view Darcy’s ability to recognize some of the unique characteristics of Elizabeth. In the beginning of the novel, Elizabeth develops a sense of detestation towards Darcy solely because of his comment. As understanding as Elizabeth is, she acknowledged the fact that he was an established man who should be proud of his accomplishments. However, she did not appreciate how rude he was: “‘I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine’” (13). Mr. Darcy finally realizes that he hurt her feelings and here he is acknowledging that. He is not apologizing, because he was only being honest and obviously Elizabeth cannot endure the truth that Darcy always is prepared to offer.