Key Quote
“"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me"”
Elizabeth · Chapter 31
Focus: “courage always rises”
Elizabeth's self-declaration of independence — spoken to Lady Catherine's nephew Colonel Fitzwilliam, it defines her as a woman who resists social pressure through moral courage rather than social rank.
Technique 1 — DECLARATIVE SELF-CHARACTERISATION
Elizabeth uses a declarative (stated as fact), assertive tone — 'there is a stubbornness' — presenting her defiance not as a choice but as a fundamental aspect of her character. The word 'stubbornness' is self-deprecating: she reframes what society might call a female fault as a personal strength. This semantic reclamation (taking back a negative term and giving it positive meaning) is central to her character.
The present tense — 'my courage always rises' — creates a sense of habitual (regular, repeated) action: this is not a one-off act of bravery but a defining behavioural pattern. The verb 'rises' suggests emotional and moral elevation — Elizabeth ascends when others would submit.
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RAD — STAGNATE
At this point Elizabeth's defiance is a fixed trait rather than a developed one — she has always responded this way. Her courage is genuine but not yet tested by self-knowledge: she resists external pressure but has not yet confronted her own internal biases. True moral growth will require turning this courage inward, as she does after reading Darcy's letter.
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Technique 2 — PROLEPTIC IRONY
This declaration foreshadows Elizabeth's confrontation with Lady Catherine in Chapter 56, where she fulfils exactly this promise — her courage rises directly against aristocratic intimidation. Shakespeare-like, Austen creates proleptic irony: Elizabeth describes herself accurately, but the full significance of the statement will only become clear much later in the narrative.
The phrase 'at the will of others' aligns Elizabeth with Enlightenment values of individual autonomy (self-governance) over social conformity. She positions herself against the entire system of deference that Regency society demanded — an implicitly radical (challenging fundamental structures) stance for a woman of her class.
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Context (AO3)
GENDER & DEFIANCE
In Regency England, women were expected to be compliant (willing to do what others wish) and deferential. Elizabeth's declaration of courage was socially transgressive — a woman openly proud of her stubbornness risked being labelled impertinent (rude, disrespectful). Austen frames this as a virtue precisely because it was considered a fault.
CLASS & INTIMIDATION
Elizabeth faces intimidation from characters above her in class: Lady Catherine, Darcy (initially), even Miss Bingley. Her refusal to be cowed demonstrates that moral courage is independent of social rank — Austen's meritocratic (based on ability rather than birth) vision of human worth.
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WOW — WOLLSTONECRAFT'S VINDICATION
Mary Wollstonecraft argued in *A Vindication of the Rights of Woman* (1792) that women's apparent weakness was not natural but socially produced — women were kept weak by being denied education and autonomy. Elizabeth embodies Wollstonecraft's ideal: a woman whose courage is not masculine imitation but genuinely feminine strength — rooted in moral conviction rather than physical power. Austen, writing twenty years after Wollstonecraft, creates a practical demonstration of the philosophical argument: Elizabeth proves through action what Wollstonecraft argued through polemic.
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