Key Quote
“"You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled"”
Mr Darcy · Chapter 58 (Second Proposal)
Focus: “properly humbled”
Darcy's second proposal reverses the power dynamic of the first — he credits Elizabeth with teaching him to overcome his pride, acknowledging her as his moral educator.
Technique 1 — SEMANTIC FIELD OF EDUCATION
The language of learning — 'taught', 'lesson', 'advantageous' — positions Elizabeth as Darcy's moral tutor. This inverts the class hierarchy: the socially inferior woman educates the socially superior man. The word 'properly' is significant — it implies that all previous attempts at humbling him (by society, by rank) were improper or insufficient. Only Elizabeth's challenge achieved genuine transformation.
The concessive structure — 'hard indeed at first, but most advantageous' — enacts the process of growth within the sentence itself: initial pain leading to eventual improvement. Darcy's syntax mirrors his character arc, moving from resistance to acceptance.
Key Words
RAD — PROGRESS
This represents Darcy's ultimate progression — the man who declared 'my good opinion once lost is lost for ever' now acknowledges that his opinions were wrong and that he was improved by being corrected. This is not merely emotional growth but epistemological (relating to knowledge) growth: he has learned that his way of knowing the world was flawed.
Key Words
Technique 2 — PASSIVE VOICE AS SURRENDER
The passive construction — 'By you, I was properly humbled' — places Elizabeth as the active agent and Darcy as the one acted upon. The man who defined himself through certainty and control now grammatically submits to Elizabeth's influence. This represents a radical reversal of the Regency gender dynamic, where men were expected to be active agents and women passive recipients.
The shift from his first proposal ('I have struggled', 'My feelings will not be repressed' — active, self-centred) to this second proposal ('By you, I was humbled' — passive, other-centred) tracks Darcy's entire moral journey in miniature. Austen uses syntax as characterisation: the grammar IS the growth.
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Context (AO3)
PRIDE & HUMILITY
The word 'humbled' directly echoes the novel's title: Darcy's pride has been replaced by genuine humility. In Regency society, for a man of £10,000 per year to acknowledge a woman of modest means as his moral superior was profoundly counter-cultural (going against the prevailing norms). Austen rewards this humility with the novel's happiest ending.
MORAL GROWTH
Darcy's acknowledgement that Elizabeth 'taught' him implies he views their relationship as transformative rather than merely romantic. This aligns with Austen's vision of the ideal marriage as a vehicle for mutual moral improvement — each partner makes the other better. Love here is inseparable from ethical development.
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WOW — THE PEDAGOGY OF LOVE (bell hooks)
bell hooks argues that genuine love is inseparable from growth — to love is to be willing to change. Darcy's second proposal embodies this: his love for Elizabeth is proven not by grand gestures but by his willingness to learn, change, and acknowledge his own flaws. hooks distinguishes between domination (seeking to control the other) and partnership (mutual growth). Darcy's first proposal was domination ('despite your inferiority, I love you'); his second is partnership ('I was wrong, and you made me better'). Austen, two centuries before hooks, presents love as an educational relationship where both parties grow through honest confrontation.
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