I have been wanting to post about Pride and Prejudice for a while, but, as I usually do with my homework, I put it off. SO today I will be posting a few of my favorite parts from the book :)
"It is a truth universally ackmowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." ~The first line in the book
"When those dances were over she returned to Charlotte Lucas, and was in conversation with her, when she found herself suddenly addressed by Mr. Darcy, who took her so much by surprise in his application for her hand, that, without knowing what she did, she accepted him. He walked away again immediately, and she was left to fret over her own want of presence of mind; Charlotte tried to console her.
"'I dare say you will find him very agreeable.'
"'Heaven forbid!-That would be the greatest misfortune of all!- To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate!- Do not wish me such and evil.'" ~Volume 1, Chapter 18
"'Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends-whether he may be equally capable of retaining them, is less certain.'
"'He has been so unlucky as to lose your friendship,' replied Elizabeth with emphasis, 'and in a manner which he is likely to suffer from all his life.'" ~Volume 1, Chapter 18
"'I appeal to Mr. Darcy:-but let me not interrupt you, Sir. -You will not thank me for detaining you from the bewitching converse of that young lady, whose bright eyes are also upbraiding me.'" ~Volume 1, Chapter 18
"'Oh! if that is all, I have a very poor opinion of young men who live in Derbyshire; and their intimate friends who live in Hertfordshire are not much better. I am sick of them all. Thank Heaven! I am going to-morrow where I shall find a man who has not one agreeable quality, who has neither manner nor sense to recommend him. Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all.'" ~Volume 2, Chapter 4
"What are men to rocks and mountains?" ~Volume 2, Chapter 4
"'In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.'" ~Volume 2, Chapter 6
"'His misfortunes!' repeated Darcy contemptuously; 'yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed.'" ~Volume 2, Chapter 6
"'And this,' cried Darcy, as he walked with quick steps across the room, 'is your opinion of me! This is the estimation in which you hold me! I thank you for explaining it so fully. My faults, according to this calculation, are heavy indeed!'" ~Volume 2, Chapter 6
"'You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.'
"Again his astonishment was obvious; and he looked at her with an expression of mingled incredulity and mortification. She went on.
"'From the very beginning, from the first moment I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immoveable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.'
"'You have said quite enough, madam. I perfectly comprehend your feelings, and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been. Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness.'" ~Volume 2, Chapter 6
"Fitzwilliam Darcy" ~Volume 2, Chapter 7
"Wherever you and Jane are known, you must be respected and valued;" ~Volume 2, Chapter 18
"'Yes,' replied Darcy, who could contain himself no longer, 'but that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have consider her as one of the handsomest women of my acquantance.'"~Volume 3, Chapter 3
"She was humbled, she was grieved; she repented, though she hardly knew of what. She became jealous of his esteem, when she could no longer hope to be benefited by it. She wanted to hear of him, when there seemed the least chance of gaining intelligence. She was convinced that she could have been happy with him; when it was no longer likely they should meet." ~Volume 3, Chapter 8
"She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man, who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved, and from his judgement, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance." ~Volume 3, Chapter 8
"He had done all this for a girl whom he could neither regard nor esteem. Her heart did whisper, that he had done it for her." Volume 3, Chapter 10
"She was in no humor for conversation with any one but himself; and to him she hardly courage to speak." ~Volume 3, Chapter 11
"'Yes, very indifferent indeed,' said Elizabeth, laughingly. 'Oh, Jane, take care.'
"'My dear Lizzy, you cannot think me so weak, as to be in danger now.'
"'I think you are in very great danger of making him as much in love with you as ever.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 12
"'That is the most unforgiving speech,' said Elizabeth, 'that I ever heard you utter. Good girl! It would vex me, indeed, to see you again the dope of Miss Bingley's pretend regard.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 13
"'I am certainly the most fortunate creature that ever existed!' cried Jane. 'Oh! Lizzy, why am I thus singled from my family, and blessed above them all! If I could but see you as happy! If there were but such another man for you!'
"'If you were to give me forty such men, I never could be so happy as you. Till I have your disposition, your goodness, I never can have your happiness. No, no, let me shift for myself; and, perhaps, if I have very good luck, I may meet with another Mr. Collins in time." ~Volume 3, Chapter 13
"'You may ask questions, which I shall not choose to answer.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 14
"'Obstinate, headstrong girl!'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 14
"'You can now have nothing farther to say,' she resentfully answered. 'You have insulted me, in every possible method. I must beg to return to the house.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 14
"'If you will thank me,' he replied, 'let it be for yourself alone. That the wish of giving happiness to you might add force to the other inducements which led me on, I shall not attempt to deny. But your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.'
"Elizabeth was too much embarrassed to say a word. After a short pause, her companion added, 'You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.'
"Elizabeth, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances. The happiness which this reply produced, was such as he had probably never felt before; and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do. Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him; but, though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable." ~Volume 3, Chapter 16
"'It taught me to hope,' said he, 'as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before. I knew enough of your disposition to be certain that, had you been absolutely, irrevocably decided against me, you would have acknowledged it to Lady Catherine, frankly and openly.'
"Elizabeth coloured and laughed as she replied, 'Yes, you know enough of my frankness to believe me capable of that. After abusing you so abominably to your face, I could have no scruple in abusing you to all your relations.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 16
"'Unfortunately an only son (for many years an only child), I was spoilt by my parents, who, though good themselves (my father, particularly, all that was benevolent and amiable), allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing; to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own. Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You shewed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 16
"'He still loves me, and we are engaged.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"'are you quite certain that you can be happy with him?'
"'There can be no doubt of the. It is settled between us already, that we are to be the happiest couple in the world.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"'Why I must confess, that I love him better than I do Bingley.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"'It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"In the evening, soon after Mr. Bennet withdrew to the library, she saw Mr. Darcy rise also and follow him, and her agitation on seeing it was extreme. She did not fear her father's opposition, but he was going to be made unhappy; and that it should be through her means—that she, his favourite child, should be distressing him by her choice, should be filling him with fears and regrets in disposing of her—was a wretched reflection, and she sat in misery till Mr. Darcy appeared again, when, looking at him, she was a little relieved by his smile." ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"'I do, I do like him,' she replied, with tears in her eyes, 'I love him. Indeed her has no improper pride. He is perfectly amiable. You do not know what he really is; then pray do not pain me by speaking of him in such terms.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"'Well, my dear,' said her, when she ceased speaking, 'I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you, my Lizzy, to any one less worthy.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 17
"Elizabeth's spirits soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her." ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"'I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. It was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"'Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?'
"'For the liveliness of your mind, I did'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"'To be sure, you know no actual good of me- but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"'What made you so shy of me, when you first called, and afterwards dined here? Why, especially, when you called, did you look as if you did not care about me?'
"'Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.'
"'But I was embarrassed.'
"'And so was I.'
"'You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.'
"'A man who had felt less, might.'" ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"You must write again very soon, and praise him a great deal more than you did in your last. I thank you, again and again, for not going to the Lakes. How could I be so silly as to wish it! Your idea of the ponies is delightful. We will go round the Park every day. I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me. You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas. Your's, &c." ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"Dear Sir,
I must trouble you once more for congratulations. Elizabeth will soon be the wife of Mr. Darcy. Console Lady Catherine as well as you can. But, if I were you, I would stand by the nephew. He has more to give.
Your's sincerely, &c." ~Volume 3, Chapter 18
"Pemberley was now Georgiana's home; and the attachment of the sisters was exactly what Darcy had hoped to see. They were able to love each other even as well as they intended. Georgiana had the highest opinion in the world of Elizabeth; though at first she often listened with an astonishment bordering on alarm at her lively, sportive, manner of talking to her brother. He, who had always inspired in herself a respect which almost overcame her affection, she now saw the object of open pleasantry. Her mind received knowledge which had never before fallen in her way. By Elizabeth's instructions, she began to comprehend that a woman may take liberties with her husband which a brother will not always allow in a sister more than ten years younger than himself." ~Volume 3, Chapter 19
Oh my glory emma! What the heck you are so much mored skilled then me! I haven't acted in years!
ReplyDeletei love pride and prejudice too with all my heart! you can't even imagine and i think you have all the chance in the world of getting in because you ARE skilled!