"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done."
"My fingers," said Elizabeth, "do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I will not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman's of superior execution."
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Tim,
ReplyDeleteHow autobiographical is this quote? And why put the speaking and piano playing side-by-side?
Dad
I don't know Jane Austen well enough to say how autobiographical either statement was. But the arrangement is not mine - it is a piece of a conversation. Remember, Darcy was the "Pride" and Elizabeth the "Prejudice" of the title. I appreciated Elizabeth's point that skills we lack are often the result of negligence, not inability.
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