Anghraine

In response to this post, elperian said:

there is that line where jane says ‘nothing could give either bingley or myself more delight. but we considered it, we talked of [lizzy and darcy] as impossible.’ so they do have a textual convo offscreen - but it’s about l/d which is funny in its own way

I replied:

Yeah, that’s what I meant when I said that it’s not that they don’t speak to each other in-story—they must have spoken on numerous occasions, of course, including those ones. It’s that Austen doesn’t bother showing any of those conversations in dialogue (unless I’m misremembering), which I think is fairly suggestive about the novel’s priorities.

rorylgilmore responded [on 5 Jan 2023]:

LP&D spoiler
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With regard to this post, perminas said:

why isn’t he concerned about this with jane? bingley comes off as a little silly frequently, although very charming, and jane is supposed to be nearly as smart as lizzie, right? or does he just expect sweet jane to not engage in risky behavior the same way lizzie would?

I replied:

I don’t think we’re ever told about how intelligent Jane is or isn’t, beyond what’s obvious; I would say that it’s very much up to interpretation, because her desire to think well of the world so profoundly shapes her perceptions and thought processes. Bingley is sometimes treated as sillier than I think he is, but I also think defenses of him can go overboard; the most Austen says about his intelligence is that it’s not deficient, just inferior to Darcy’s.

IMO Mr Bennet’s concern is driven both by his sense of Elizabeth’s intelligence and his sense of her general character; he talks of her “lively talents” placing her in danger, which combines both. I don’t think he’d consider it much of a concern for Jane temperamentally.

(I also suspect that he’d be inclined to underestimate Jane’s intelligence because it’s not like his. His characterization of Jane and Bingley’s forthcoming marriage seems to place them on a par.)