Taken from the college’s motto, “Instaurare Omnia in Christo,” this section features an essay or excerpt from a recent paper or talk by one of Christendom’s distinguished faculty.
Omnia in Christo R e ve lation of Interi ori t y :
Th e Ep i sto la r y Pre s enc e in Jane Austen’s Pr id e a nd Pre judi ce BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN, PHD
In a novel where all male
conversations occur only in the company of women, a lengthy letter from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet gives an extraordinary prominence to his voice. Why did Jane Austen use a letter, a popular narrative device of an earlier era, at such a moment in Pride and Prejudice? Samuel Richardson, a dominant epistolary novelist of the 18th century, promoted the epistolary novel convention to draw his audiences closer to the protagonist’s inner conflicts, for letters conveyed moment-to-moment introspective reflections and descriptions. Letters were, according to critic Ian Watt, “a short-cut . . . to the heart” (Watt 195). The 18th century epistolary novel found a ready and willing audience until the early 19th century, when the novel-of-letters genre fell in popularity. Since changes in the economic, social, and political structure of England’s 19th century society effected a change in the novel form, letters which had previously served as a method for representing dramatic expressions of sentiment took on another role: they became useful for representing the ordinary thoughts, impressions, and concerns of everyday life. In the Victorian era especially, many nineteenth-century authors did not utilize letters’ function to present subjective, sentimental expressions; instead, authors emphasized letters as objects that catalyze action, shaping the plot and causing changes to letter-readers’ lives. A shift occurred from expression to interpretation. The epistolary presence was no longer the primary method, or even needed, for characters to express their interior lives. By functioning instead as vehicles to convey information, letters primarily became mere plot devices. Yet Jane Austen, a devotee of Richardson’s epistolary novels, never abandoned the letter’s original intimate, confessional nature in her narratives. Although letters in Pride and Prejudice do function as devices to instigate plot action,
especially that of the recipients’ interpretation of the writer, they are also crucial narrative spaces for the letter-writer to reveal his motivations, emotions, and reflections—particularly from the male protagonist, Mr. Darcy. Scholars of Pride and Prejudice invariably comment on Darcy’s rhetorical prowess in his famous letter to Elizabeth Bennet when defending his actions after she refuses his marriage proposal; yet Darcy’s letter is more than a masterpiece in rhetoric. In his desire to justify himself, Darcy reveals, perhaps unconsciously, his interiority—the suffering, pain, love, and compassion he feels for family, friends, and Elizabeth. In giving the letter to Elizabeth personally while she is out on a solitary walk, Darcy protects Elizabeth’s reputation, since it was improper for an unmarried man to send an unmarried woman a letter through the mail unless the couple were engaged (Spacks 237). This concern for her is echoed in the letter’s opening line—“Be not alarmed, Madam” (Austen 129)—for although wounded pride is present, Darcy pays deference to Elizabeth’s distress. Further, when explaining his actions regarding Jane and Bingley, he reveals,“I had often seen Bingley in love before,” proving his motivations are not from pride, but rather from a selfless concern to prevent Bingley from suffering an insincere or mercenary love. Darcy’s interiority is again visible when he writes about his discovery of Wickham’s planned elopement with Darcy’s young sister:
Works Cited: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice (1813). Donald Gray, ed. 3rd Edition. Norton Critical, 2000; Spacks, Patricia Meyer, ed. Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition. Belknap Press, 2010; Watt, Ian. The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. University of California Press, 2001.
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“You may imagine what I felt and how I acted” (133). Although he does not intimately detail his tumultuous feelings, Elizabeth must recognize the pain he felt in sharing a sister’s heartache. They are not so different after all. Despite the rational and objective tone of Darcy’s letter, his emotional life is brought vividly before Elizabeth, and it is her recognition of his feelings that prompts Elizabeth to reconsider the truth of his words. Even Darcy’s signature to Elizabeth at the end of the letter promises kindness and love when he writes: “I will only add, God bless you” (134). Elizabeth responds to this expression of emotion when reading the letter, and unable to end her encounter with his interior life, she reads the letter several more times. In so doing, she undergoes an irrevocable change of mind and heart, proclaiming her famous epiphany: “Till this moment, I never knew myself ” (137). Elizabeth recognizes the honest emotions that inspired Darcy’s letter and she is led to understand, to forgive, and later, to love him. Jane Austen uses the 18th century epistolary convention while adapting it to suit her narrative purposes, as proved by Elizabeth’s life-changing response to Darcy’s letter. Far from a bland plot device to convey news in an efficient manner, this letter is a powerful representation of Darcy’s vibrant interior life. Indeed, Austen recognized the power of the epistolary mode when it is intimately connected with the writer’s personhood. As effective catalysts in capturing the subjective perceptions of both writer and letter-reader, leading to hopefully more judicial interpretations, letters are valuable components of any narrative, functioning to activate mind and heart to reshape and redirect individuals and the progress of the novel, serving as a memorable and tangible record of intangible words. Kathleen Sullivan, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of English Language and Literature.
