Lady Catherine de Bourgh says this when she hears Elizabeth is to marry Darcy. Among her other objections, Lady Catherine mentions that Lydia, Elizabeth's sister, had a "patched-up" marriage to Wickham, who is known to be dastardly. Lady Catherine objects to the connections that Lydia and Wickham will have to Darcy through his marriage to Elizabeth.
Lady Catherine's comment means that the Darcy name and reputation will be sullied, or dirtied, though Darcy's connection, by marriage, to Lydia and Wickham. The word "shades" in this passage could have multiple meanings. One is the trees on the Pemberley estate, meaning that the land itself will seem dirtied. Another meaning of "shades" is the dead, referring to Darcy's ancestors. Lady Catherine means that the esteemed ancestors of Darcy will also be brought down and will be considered less worthy of respect because of Darcy's choice of bride.
What Lady Catherine means by this is that a marriage between Mr. Darcy (her nephew and, soon, she hopes, son-in-law) and Elizabeth Bennet (the daughter of a relatively poor gentleman with low-born relations and the sister of a young woman who was recently nearly disgraced) would be disgraceful to Darcy's name and ancestral home. Lady Catherine believes that Elizabeth is so low compared to the Darcys that allowing her to marry into their family would be tantamount to polluting their home. Lady Catherine has heard a rumor that Elizabeth and Darcy are engaged, and she has come to Longbourn, Elizabeth's home, in order to compel Elizabeth to refuse Darcy out of respect for his family and station. This visit inadvertently drives Elizabeth and Darcy together because, when he hears that Elizabeth refused to state that she would not promise to marry him, it gives him hope that she might agree to marry him after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment