In that same exchange, Elizabeth shows a desire for intimacy with Darcy as she addresses the line personally to him, and Darcy instantly reflects her feelings, showing that he too wants to be left alone with her, in his reply. This exchange bears a great correlation to Ibsen’s novel; ‘A Doll’s House’ when Krogstad too shows his desire for a separate identity outside of Helmer’s house in the line ‘Oh? And must our conversation take place in this house?’ Mrs. Linde reflects Krogstad’s desire in her reply ‘We couldn’t meet at my place; my room has no separate entrance. Come in. We’re quite alone,’ just as Darcy reflects Elizabeth as before stated.
The sequence between Darcy and Elizabeth also strongly relates to the introduction of another one of Jane Austen’s novels called ‘Persuasion’, which states that ‘A characteristic feature was the large party in the same drawing room, with the possibility of private conversations in an undertone…’ which is exactly what happens between Darcy and Elizabeth in their ‘criss-cross of unspoken awareness’. Another quote from the introduction is that Jane has a ‘characteristic sense of the compressed social milieure’ which is also reflected in this scene.
Later on in the extract Darcy uses the power of unspoken awareness to complement Elizabeth when he talks about the qualities of an accomplished woman “‘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’”. The fact that Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s understanding of one another reaches to a higher level than the rest, allows Elizabeth to take his comment as a complement, for she was trying to find a book to read not so long ago. Due to Elizabeth’s modest nature, she attempts to reject the complement, however in her reply; she inadvertently reveals her deep understanding of the meaning of Darcy’s words (therefore fulfilling the requirements of an accomplished woman in his eyes), in the line ‘I never saw such a woman. I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance, as you describe united.’ Elizabeth’s understanding of Darcy’s words is shown through the way she was able to astutely summarise his whole speech into just a few words, without losing the meaning or grace of the matter.
