Pride and Prejudice Post #2

This is my second post about Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I've read from chapter 16 to chapter 42 and a lot of things have happened since my last post.

Mr. Wickham tells Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy cheated him out of his inheritance which makes her hate him even more. Mr. Bingley invites the Bennets to a ball and Elizabeth is forced to dance with Mr. Collins. Mr. Darcy also asks her to dance and she agrees but then later regrets it. The Bingleys move to London which makes Jane very unhappy. Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth to marry her but she politely declines. Then he asks her friend Charlotte and she accepts. They get married and Elizabeth visits them at their house which is near the mansion of Lady Catherine De Bourgh (his patroness and Darcy's aunt). Elizabeth sees Darcy there at Rosings and he asks her to marry him. She says no politely at first but then she accuses him of separating Jane and Bingley, making Jane miserable, and of stealing Wickham's inheritance. Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth explaining he realized Bingley was in love with Jane but he didn't know that Jane was in love with Bingley. He intervened and caused Bingley to move away from Netherfield, thinking it was best. He also explained that Wickham is a liar and tried to elope with Darcy's sister, Georgiana, for money. This causes her feelings for Darcy to change. When she gets home she sees Wickham and acts coldly towards him. The militia is moving to Brighton and Mr. Bennet says Lydia can go there for the summer. Elizabeth decides to take a trip with her aunt and uncle and they think Mr. Darcy won't be at Pemberley, so they decide to go there and take a tour.

The book has gotten even better since I last posted. A lot has happened and I'm eager to keep reading. I'm really happy that Elizabeth finally realized that Mr. Darcy is a kind-hearted person and that Mr. Wickham is not. One of the things I think Jane Austen wants us to think about is that appearances can be deceiving. At first Wickham seemed really nice and charming, but when we heard Darcy's side of the story, we find out he's really a greedy person. We also think that Mr. Darcy is cold-hearted until when we read his letter; we find out he's actually a nice person, even though he's a little shy. Now I think the best character is a tie between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Both have changed a lot throughout the course of the story. As I said in my first post, both of them were very prideful and Mr. Darcy has prejudice against people of lower status than his. Now Elizabeth isn't as prideful as she was before. When Elizabeth read Darcy's letter, she realizes how her vanity had not allowed her to see the truth about Wickham her character changed. An important quote that I've read since the last post is: “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.” This quote is said by Darcy when he is expressing his feelings toward Elizabeth and asking her to marry him. It is important because Darcy finally realizes that Elizabeth hates him and it gives him chance to do something about it. Elizabeth also realizes how much Darcy is in love with her.

A question I have from reading this far is: How did Darcy get Georgiana out of the elopement with Wickham? This wasn't explained in the book and I was wondering.