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An accomplished woman

Mr. DarcyMr. Darcy
edited 2013-04-19 15:48:12 in General

"Then," observed Elizabeth, "you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman."

"Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it."

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant [Miss Bingley], "no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved."

"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

By this provision Darcy means to imply that even if a woman can play the compositions of J.S. Bach on the church organ, has diligently studied the drawing techniques of the old masters, and can quote Dante and Ariosto in the original, it is not substantial if she's only learning to impress eligible bachelors. It is a waste to become fluent in French if you're only going to use it to read La Fontaine's fables, novelists &c - she must sharpen her mind against a whetstone like Rousseau, even if his controversial ideas are not to be mentioned in polite company during the War.

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