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The Unwritten Proposals in Jane Austen’s Novels
11 responses to “The Unwritten Proposals in Jane Austen’s Novels”
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I agree that Mr Elliott was only testing the waters. Had Anne shown any emotion, blushed etc. he might have proposed – but she didn’t, and he didn’t. I also agree that some of Austen’s women have to go to crazy lengths for ‘no’ to be accepted by the suitor in question!!
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Yes, that’s what I think about Mr. Elliot/Anne. It also seems important for proposals for the man and woman to be alone (this is brought up multiple times, Mr. Elton is so excited to find Emma alone in the carriage so he can propose, Mrs. Bennet keeps trying to get Jane and Bingley alone), so maybe if Anne responded as Mr. Elliot liked, he would have sought her out afterwards.
Yeah… these “gentlemen” don’t seem to be that good at listening to women!
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This is a fascinating analysis. I’ve also long wondered exactly what Darcy had to so that made Bad go so very quickly to Worse. Oh, to be a fly on that wall!
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Thank you! And I know right? I’d love to watch the first Darcy proposal exactly how Jane Austen imagined it!
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Perhaps it would have been better if Darcy wrote out his proposal rather than to speak it extemporaneously. He might have realized how condescending he sounds. He tends to ramble on.
“A wise man speaks because he has something to say, a fool speaks because he has to say something.” – Plato (or)
“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” – Dionysius (or)
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” – Benjamin Franklin (or)
“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain
Can you tell “speech” was one of my minors in college? -
Oooh, this is a really interesting concept to consider!
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I find it fascinating!
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Great post! You really did your research!lol I also think the couple should be alone when a proposal is happening. But the man needs to say the proper thing to get the answer he wants.
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Not only does the man need to say the proper thing, the girl actually has to like him!
Thank you 🙂
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I know I’m very late to comment on this, but I just stumbled over your blog now 😊 I see it as that very refined, minimalistic style of hers that she just knows when words would be kitsch and we all know the caracters, their journey and story so well that we know how they are feeling in that moment. BUT I also have ONE proposal that I feel cheated on and that is Darcy #2! In #1 we get at least some bits.
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Yeah, I think it would be nice to hear both Darcy and Elizabeth at Proposal #2!
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