Pride and Prejudice Dialetical Journal #2

"It may perhaps be pleasant, "replied Charlotte, "to be able to impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely — a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement (17)."


As Elizabeth Bennet discuss about her sister Jane to her close friend, Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth discussed about how Jane is starting to like Mr. Bingley but however her jubilant attitude disguised her real intentions. It is interesting how Charlotte explains about the dangers of concealing affection for one woman might lose the interest of the man she is trying to show affections to. In the setting of the book, the women are scurrying to get a proposal by a man of a higher status as "the world equally in the dark" meaning that if a woman does not secure a man, she would had lost the opportunity to be financially secured and protected. That the motivation of love by women are strive based on a motive, not based on true affections as the line "there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement." Honestly, this statement maybe stated in 1800s, but it connects to today's society as many people, specifically women are asked to seek for a man that is intelligent and financially better off to not have to go through the difficulties of life. That if women love men for their personality and passions, they would not have enough security or stability in the society.