A Second Look: The Significant Role that Letters Play in Pride and Prejudice by Olivia

Olivia Neal

Professor Sinowitz

Romantic Comedy

March 20, 2020

A Second Look: The Significant Role that Letters Play in Pride and Prejudice 

“She read, with an eagerness which hardly left her power of comprehension, and from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes” (Austen, 141). This is how Elizabeth Bennet is described while reading her letter written by Darcy. She is completely captivated, trying to soak up every detail she is learning. These are details that she would have never known about if it wasn’t for Darcy’s informative letter. Jane Austen uses letters in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, as the main literary form of communication. These letters act as windows into the character’s lives, allowing us to see what the character truly feels. Highlighting the character’s personalities, relationships with one another, and progressive plot. Therefore, the letters are more important to the plot than initially perceived.

The importance of letters in this story is to help give the reader a better insight into the character’s emotions. When reading a letter, we can communicate with one from a distance giving them the benefit of being able to react; however, they please. The receiver of the letter can reread the letter multiple times and take the time to respond in whatever manner they choose. Jane Austen was clever to use letters in this sense because, in this time, it was infrequent for a man and a woman to be left alone to talk amongst themselves. Therefore, letters were an ideal way to communicate feelings, as seen in the letter from Darcy to Elizabeth. 

The first letter is from Mr. Collins, that introduces him to the Bennet family. We discover that he is a cousin who will inherit Longbourn after the death of Mr. Bennet. In the letter, Mr. Collins refers to Lady Catherine de Bourgh to emphasize his status and relationship with her. He also chooses to add how he is a clergyman and works for the Church of England. Mr. Collins writes in very elaborate vocabulary that he believes will enhance his self-image. He then continues to invite himself to come and visit his future estate. This letter is a way of introducing Mr. Collins before we formally meet him. However, it seems that we have a relatively good idea of what kind of man Mr. Collins is. The letter also gives us insight as to what is to come later in the book. After reading the letter, we can see the impressions Mr. Collins leaves on the Bennet Family. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet seemed very pleased with Mr. Collins while the girls had alternate opinions. Jane Austen tells us, “‘He must be an oddity, I think,’ she said. ‘I cannot make him out-There is something very pompous in his stile. -And what can he mean by apologizing for being next in the entail? -We cannot suppose he would help it, if he could. -Can he be a sensible man, sire?’” (Austen, 46). This quote enforces the girls' views and uncertainty of Mr. Collins and his intentions. 

Next is Darcy’s letter in which he is overcoming his pride after Elizabeth denies his marriage proposal. He realizes that if he wants to be happy, he has to put aside his social status and, ultimately, his pride to accept Elizabeth for all that she is. In this letter, Darcy explains to Elizabeth his side of the story, going against what she originally heard from Mr. Wickham. Now, it is Elizabeth’s turn to put aside her prejudices towards Darcy. She feels this way because Darcy is so prideful, and her stubbornness has prevented her from overcoming her seeing him in any other way. After reading Darcy’s letter, Elizabeth begins to realize she believed the wrong man and that Darcy has been good all along, which emphasizes the importance of letters. Without this moment in the book Elizabeth, and the readers would have never known about Darcy’s past and his relationship with Mr. Wickham. 

Yet some readers may challenge my views by insisting that the letters throughout Jane Austen’s book, Pride and Prejudice, do not show any great importance to the plot.  I argue that without the letter, we would have a very different storyline. The letters are used to uncover and answer the questions of the readers. Without the letters, Elizabeth would have never found out the truth about Mr. Wickham and why Darcy has acted the way he has. We are also able to get a sense of the kind of person Mr. Collins is before ever meeting him. The letters help to give us insight as to what is happening in other places while still leaving us with the suspense of time and having to wait for the letters to arrive. An example of this would be the Bennet’s impatiently waiting for a letter to arrive from Mr. Gardiner, from London giving them updates on the situation, including Lydia and Mr. Wickham. Without these letters, Pride and Prejudice would be a very uneventful story.

For instance, Jane’s letter to Elizabeth is one of the most significant turning points in the entire book. Elizabeth, who is away with her aunt and uncle, received a frantic letter from Jane revealing the unsettling news that her younger sister, Lydia, had run off with Mr. Wickham. After finishing the letter, Jane ran out of the house eagerly to tell her aunt and uncle the tragic news. However, her journey was cut short when she ran into Mr. Darcy at the front door. Although he did not try to stop Elizabeth from seeking out her aunt and uncle, adding him into his scene was Jane Austen’s way of reiterating the conflict and confusion Elizabeth has regarding Darcy. However, as we later find out, he always seems to show up at just the right time. The character’s reactions to this letter also show a great deal of information about their priorities. The unfortunate news brings instant chaos to the Bennet family, and their first reaction is wondering how they are going to cover up this mess without damaging the family name. This is before they consider the well being of Lydia. We are also shown the caring and loyalty of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and their urgency to leave early to help out their relatives. We also learn how Elizabeth feels guilty for not sharing with her family the previous knowledge she had about Mr. Wickham’s past that she had learned from reading Darcy’s letter. Although we already knew the obliviousness of Lydia and the manipulative side of Mr. Wickham, this letter reiterates and confirms the reader's attitudes towards them. Without this letter from Jane, we would have no knowledge of this major turning point or the closer look at the personalities of our characters.

Continuing on Mrs. Gardiner’s letter to Elizabeth was extremely notable for the development of this story. It allowed us to see into the behind the scenes operation that took place in London that we would have never known of if it wasn’t for the details in this letter. This letter also carried the answers to how Elizabeth truly felt about Mr. Darcy and why he was involved in Lydia’s wedding. In this letter, Mrs. Gardiner accounts for the time in which the readers were unaware of. She explains that the lead, Mr. Gardiner, found on Lydia and Mr. Wickham’s whereabouts came from Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy seemed very persistent in his search to find Lydia and resolve the mess that she and Mr. Wickham had created. In this act, Mr. Darcy paid Mr. Wickham the money he desired to marry Lydia. Mr. Darcy’s generous actions were unclear as to why he wanted to help the Bennet family; however, we can only presume it was a way of setting things straight with Elizabeth and proving his righteousness. It was very evident in the letter that Mr. Darcy did not want to be recognized for his participation in the marriage of Lydia and Mr. Wickham; instead, Mr. Gardiner would take all of the credit. I also believe that this letter confirms Elizabeth’s love for Mr. Darcy after she was aware of the action he took in honor of her family. Not only does Elizabeth see him as a good man, but so does Mrs. Gardiner. She confesses to Elizabeth, “Will you be very angry with me Lizzy, if I take the opportunity of saying (what I was never bold enough to say before) how much I like him. His behaviour to us has, in every respect, been as pleasing as when we were in Derbyshire. His understanding and opinions all please me; he wants nothing but a little more liveliness, and that, if he marry prudently, his wife may teach him. I thought him very sly;-he hardly ever mentioned your name. But slyness seems the fashion” (Austen, pg. 221-222). I feel that Mrs. Gardiner’s approval of Darcy gives Elizabeth the reassurance she needed to confirm her feelings towards Darcy.

In conclusion, the letters are paramount to the plot of Pride and Prejudice. They allow us access to the character's personalities, relationships with one another, and the progressive plot of the story. Giving the readers and characters the ability to learn about the events happening around them, that they would not have known about otherwise. By having Jane Austen include letters into her novel, she is giving the letters power to resolve and translate parts of the story that are unclear otherwise. 

Word Cited

Austen, Jane, et al. Pride and Prejudice. W.W. Norton and Company, 2016.