This notion of Elizabeth’s denial being partly about her denying her own gullibility is expressed by herself when she says ‘if true must overthrow every cherished opinions of his worth’. This revelation brings across the feeling that Elizabeth knows that if she accepts Darcy’s story on Wickham she will have to disregard her past opinions of Wickham and swallow a fraction of her pride as she will have to accept that she is wrong.
Despite Elizabeth’s initial denial she begins to think about what Darcy has said because he names a witness being Colonel Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth has previously met Fitzwilliam and has enjoyed his company so she begins to realise that Darcy’s story must be true after all if he has a such a good witness like Colonel Fitzwilliam. She thinks about how much she likes Fitzwilliam and says herself his ‘character she had no reason to question’.
Bearing that thought in mind she begins to see Wickham’s flaws as she recounts in her head the conversation she had with Wickham at Mr Phillips. She now the first time finds it odd that Wickham shared such personal information with her about his relationship with Darcy when after all she was nothing more than a stranger at the time. As Austen writes ‘she was now struck with the impropriety of such communications to a stranger’. This is the first point where we see Elizabeth unwinding herself and become more critical of Wickham. The word ‘now’ is in italics, which highlights the change in thought that Elizabeth has now begun and is the start of a turning point in her character.
Elizabeth goes on to reflect on how Wickham said one thing and done the other. For example she remembers how he said to her that ‘he should stand his ground’ against Darcy and not stand down yet he failed to appear at the ball at Netherfield. She then goes on to remember how Wickham said that he would tell anyone his story of how Darcy mistreated him but as soon as Darcy left Netherfield Wickham was telling the whole of Hertfordshire and badmouthing him. Elizabeth remembers how Wickham had humbly said that he ‘would always prevent exposing the son’. As Elizabeth recounts these events in her head she begins to realise how bad Wickham really is. She says ‘how differently did every thing now appear in which he was concerned!’. The exclamation mark here draws attention to how foolish she feels for not realising the flaws of Wickham before.
Elizabeth goes on to evaluate Wickham’s feelings for her as at this point she already knows he is running after Ms King. She says ‘he had been deceived with regard to her fortune’. Here she reflects how Wickham may have only been interested in her because he was mistaken somehow by thinking that she was rich and that he could ‘have had no tolerable motive’. Elizabeth here is forcing herself to reflect on the whether her feelings were real as she has begun to come to the assumption that his feelings for her what not what she thought it was.
Elizabeth then moves on to reflect on Darcy’s involvement in Bingley’s departure from Netherfield. If Darcy had revealed that he had convinced Bingley to leave before he had proposed to Elizabeth or revealed the true nature of Wickham it would be safe to assume that Elizabeth’s distain for Darcy would have grown. However she in fact understands why he reacted in the way that he did which would have been impossible earlier on in the novel. I think that this alone shows her transformation in the way that she thinks.
On the subject of Bingley’s departure from Netherfield Austen writes about how Elizabeth thinks back to how Jane was around Bingley. She writes ‘she felt that Jane’s feelings, though fervent, were little displayed…there was a constant complacency in her air’. Here she is accepting that Jane was a little too private in her feelings around Bingley and realises that Darcy was only trying to protect his friend. This is another good point that she realises that Darcy has in this chapter.
Amidst thinking about Jane’s complacency around Bingley she remembers how Charlotte had warned her about how Jane’s composure around Bingley could be mistaken and come across that she isn’t that interested. She begins to realise that she should have listened to Charlotte and that she was right in the same way that she was right about her reasons for marrying Mr Collins.
Despite all these things that suggest that Elizabeth is going through a transformation in this chapter some would argue that really she hasn’t really changed. She is throughout the novel gullible in many says and only too keen to accept anything that some one that seems good says. Although in this chapter she is re assessing her feelings for Darcy she is seeing a good side to him and immediately going by everything he is saying. For example Darcy in the letter speaks how shameful her family are. She seems to accept this very quickly when any other person would usually be very defensive about some one insulting their family.
Although some would say that Darcy is softening the blow by disregarding Elizabeth and Jane from his criticisms of her family others would say that this is almost worse as it is almost as if he is encouraging her to distance herself from them.
Despite this Elizabeth does certainly go through a journey of re assessment and transformation in this chapter. She says that she is ‘ashamed of herself’ and that she has been ‘blind, partial prejudiced, absurd’. All these emotions show her mixture is emotions the process of remorse and transformation as a person that she is surely going through on reflection of the letter.
