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Summary: In March, Elizabeth accompanies Sir William Lucas and his daughter Maria to stay with Charlotte. They are to spend a night in London and they drive to Mr. Gardiner’s house, where Jane is eagerly awaiting her sister. Mrs. Gardiner tells Elizabeth that Jane has periods of despondency owing to her disappointment over Bingley. Elizabeth thoroughly enjoys her short stay with the Gardiners and gladly accepts their invitation to spend a holiday with them the following year.
Critical Analysis: The economic motives for marrying are again stressed, this lime from the male point of view. Wickham abandons Elizabeth in favour of Miss King only on financial grounds. Elizabeth is so familiar with the system that she seems quite resigned. She now is in an abandoned, exposed position; without any real emotional support behind her. Her family continues to be unsympathetic; Jane is now engrossed in her own affairs; the support of Charlotte has also been lost. She is unhappy about her relationship with Darcy and nervous because she has discovered that she will meet his aunt, Lady Catherine. Jane Austen has developed with thoroughness Elizabeth’s state of mind at the time when she is to depart for Hunsford. The novelist has recognised the various elements present in Elizabeth’s character at this juncture, organised them, and woven them together into a coherent portrait of the heroine at the moment when she is being uprooted. It is one example of Jane Austen’s penetrating insight and subtle artistry.