``The letter, perhaps, began in bitterness, but it did not end so. The
adieu is charity itself. But think no more of the letter. The feelings of the
person who wrote, and the person who received it, are now so widely different
from what they were then, that every unpleasant circumstance attending it ought
to be forgotten. You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the
past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.''
``I cannot give
you credit for any philosophy of the kind. Your retrospections must be so
totally void of reproach, that the contentment arising from them is not of
philosophy, but, what is much better, of innocence. But with me, it is not so.
Painful recollections will intrude which cannot, which ought not, to be
repelled. I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in
principle. As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to
correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in
pride and conceit.
I have come across this a few times as
it is such a turning point in the novel but the bolded line is what always
sticks out for me. Is Elizabeth speaking out of innocence because she has not
experienced pain previously? Or is she speaking out of wisdom because to refer
to the past with pleasure (even if focussing only on the positive
elements) will surely make for a more pleasant present and outlook into
the future.
Pic: Mr Darcy writing letter
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