and Lady Anne Darcy were sisters, in order to make sure that Elizabeth has noknowlegde of Lady Catherines connections, before he proceed to malign Darcy and hisfamily. Wickham is cunning enough to go a step further to furnish Elizabeth on theirrelationship with Darcy, knowing that Elizabeth will be keen to partake in theconversation, whenever Darcy is the object. Elizabeth reassures him that ......I did not.- Iknew nothing at all of Lady Catherines connections. I never heard of her existence tillthe day before yesterday. Elizabeths quick affirmations of her having absolutely noidea of Darcy or of his family shows an element of impatience and hunger for moreinformation about the topic being discussed. TKnowing of the possible matrimonial attachment between Darcy and Miss deBaugh, made Elizabeth smile as she thought of poor Miss Bingley. Here, there is a shiftfrom direct speech to a term referred to as focalization, whereby the point of viewconveyed is that of Elizabeth showing her satisfaction over the fact that Miss Bingleyhas no chance of having Darcy for herself as he is self-destined to another. Thenarrators telling shows elements of sarcasm and mockery on the part of Elizabethtowards Miss Bingley whose affection for his sister and her praise of himself, wasthought to be vain and useless. This shows that all along, Elizabeth is aware of MissBingleys effort to impress Darcy, which portrays her ability to read the behaviour ofother characters. Austen also throws subtle irony on Elizabeths reaction to the newswhich reveals her unconscious interests on Darcy. everyone connected with him should have an understanding of the first class. Here, it is obvious that Wickam is actually targetting his statement at Darcy and hisulterior motive of providing the information on Darcys family, is done solely to serve hisown interests. He main intention is to jeopardize Darcys reputation. His remarks whichemphasize on Darcys class-consciousne...
