Elizabeth and Jane Debate Wickham's Story
Chapter 17 of Pride and Prejudice opens the day after Elizabeth's fateful conversation with Mr. Wickham at the Phillips' party. Elizabeth relates everything Wickham told her about Mr. Darcy to her elder sister Jane, and the two respond in characteristically opposite ways. Jane is astonished and distressed but refuses to believe that Darcy could be as villainous as Wickham claims. She suggests that both men have been deceived by "interested people" who may have misrepresented each to the other. Elizabeth, by contrast, finds Jane's charitable evenhandedness amusing and slightly exasperating, declaring that "one knows exactly what to think."
The sisters' disagreement crystallizes the novel's central theme: Elizabeth's sharp judgment, which she prides herself on, is in fact colored by her prejudice against Darcy and her attraction to Wickham's charm. Jane's refusal to condemn anyone may seem naive, but her instinct that the full story has not yet been told proves far more accurate than Elizabeth's confident certainty. Austen uses this scene to highlight how both sisters are limited by their temperaments--Elizabeth by her quickness to judge and Jane by her unwillingness to see fault in anyone.
The Netherfield Ball Invitation
The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Bingley and his sisters, who come to Longbourn to deliver a personal invitation to the long-anticipated ball at Netherfield, now fixed for the following Tuesday. The Bingley sisters pay lavish attention to Jane but barely acknowledge the rest of the family, hurrying away as if eager to escape Mrs. Bennet's enthusiastic civilities. Every female in the Bennet household is thrilled by the prospect of the ball, each for her own reasons: Mrs. Bennet sees it as a compliment to Jane, Jane anticipates an evening with Bingley, and Elizabeth looks forward to dancing with Wickham and studying Darcy's behavior. Catherine and Lydia care only that there will be officers and dancing, while even the bookish Mary concedes that "society has claims on us all."
Mr. Collins Claims Elizabeth's First Dances
In a moment of high comic irony, Elizabeth's playful question to Mr. Collins about whether he intends to dance backfires spectacularly. Collins not only declares himself eager to participate but immediately solicits Elizabeth for the first two dances--the very dances she had hoped to reserve for Wickham. Elizabeth is mortified but cannot refuse without rudeness. Worse still, Collins's particular attentions alert her to something she had not previously suspected: he has singled her out as a prospective wife. His increasing civilities and frequent compliments on her "wit and vivacity" confirm her growing suspicion, and Mrs. Bennet soon makes clear that she finds the prospect of the match "extremely agreeable." Elizabeth refuses to take the hint, knowing that any direct response would provoke a family quarrel. The chapter closes with the younger Bennets trapped indoors by days of rain, unable even to walk to Meryton, while all of them count the hours until the Netherfield ball.