Discuss the Consequences of Love for Mr Bingley

Discuss the Consequences of Love for Mr Bingley

Throughout the novel Mr Bingley is torn between the love of two people. The first is Mr Darcy. Bingley’s platonic love for his friend is shown by his ‘highest opinion’ of Darcy’s judgement despite their ‘great opposition of character’. The irony is that Bingley’s ‘stronger dependence on [Darcy’s] judgement than [his] own’ causes him to become a victim of Darcy’s pride. Darcy persuades Bingley to leave Jane, motivated in this action by the same reasons he himself abhors a connection with Elizabeth. However, Bingley is more forgivable than the much weaker Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, who does not love Don John but still trusts him over Hero; although this could be the natural consequence of a patriarchal society in which the opinion of women counted for little. The second object of Bingley’s love is Jane. The love between the two is very traditional. Bingley sees Jane as ‘an angel’, a highly derivative image of celestial perfection which hints at his idealization of her. Jane applauds his ‘happy manners’, a compliment whose lack of deep fervor is probably due to Jane’s timid nature more than a lack of feeling. Although these compliments may seem empty to us, at the time in which Austen was writing outward appearance and behavior was a vital measure of character, used as an indicator of social standing, the most important factor in a marriage. It could be argued that the shallow conventionality of Bingley’s love for Jane is part of what makes it so easy for Darcy to subvert it; or maybe its simplicity shows a purity of affection. Similarly, Claudio and Hero’s relationship follows social norms; Claudio loves Hero because of how ‘fair’ she is, a word suggesting physical beauty, but also purity, as ‘fair’ can also mean light in colour, and white is a symbol of purity. However, his duty to his country and his chivalric role as a soldier took precedence over his affections; he liked her ‘ere [he] went to wars’. Commenting on an issue which does not affect Hero and Claudio, both high-born, Darcy says that the Bennett’s ‘want of connection could not be so great an evil’ to Bingley as to himself. Bingley’s actions are indications of Darcy’s feelings and opinions. The protracted length of time between Bingley falling for Jane and his proposal to her follows Darcy’s change of mind concerning his own love for Elizabeth.
A consequence of Bingley’s love for Jane is the general lack of support from his peers, caused by concern about class differences. This is dissimilar to the issue which parts Claudio and Hero, which is social convention rather than class; a potential wife had to be, in Shakespeare’s time, a maid. The superlative importance of class over character in Regency England (1795 – 1837) is shown in the condescending tone in which Caroline Bingley talks about Jane. She is declared a ‘very sweet girl’, but her connections are so awful that they are a source of ‘mirth’ for the sisters. Caroline’s inability to see past these ‘vulgar relations’ throughout the novel, whilst Darcy grows in tolerance, make her an unattractive character eventually dropped even by the tolerant Jane. The ‘vulgar relations’ (an adjective suggesting complete social repugnance) are of great import to Darcy and Caroline, but not to Bingley. His lone protest against their cruel joking shows either a naïve disinterest in social connection, or a progressive attitude. A modern reader may tend toward the latter interpretation, because Bingley’s views would be much more in keeping with their own. Perhaps Bingley is the morally superior of himself and Mr Darcy, although his views are atypical for the time. However for contemporary readers of Austen, who understood the paramount importance of class, perhaps Darcy’s point of view would have seemed more rational than Bingley’s. The lack of support for the match clearly has a great structural importance because of the length of time Jane and Bingley spend apart. It also highlights for Darcy the ‘repugnance’ of the Bennett family, a highly offensive word which separates not only Jane and Bingley, but Elizabeth and Darcy as well. By contrast, Claudio and Hero’s separation bring Benedick and Beatrice closer together. Bingley’s conflicting love for Darcy and Jane causes him protracted unhappiness. He has to choose between an ‘affection [that] could only be the growth of a few weeks’ and the regard for a long term friend who ‘in understanding…was the superior.’ His respect for Darcy wins out, suggesting that Darcy is correct in his assessment of the love between Jane and Bingley. He trusts his friend over his potential wife. There are two possible readings of Bingley’s actions. The positive one, presented by Darcy, of Bingley’s ‘natural modesty’ which leads him to value the opinions of others at the expense of his own, shows him a victim of his own affable nature. He does at least behave more compassionately than Claudio, simply keeping away from Jane rather than publicly humiliating her. Claudio is a much bitterer character than Bingley (accusations like ‘rotten orange’ contrast the idea of fresh, full fruit and decayed and spoilt food, suggesting that Hero is too repulsive to be desired), perhaps because he is a soldier whereas Bingley is just a professional gentleman. Benedick, however, is aware that his loyalty lies with the woman he loves. When Beatrice demands that he ‘kill Claudio’ he does not agree immediately, but finally acquiesces. The time he takes to decide shows him to be a sensible character who does not rush into things. The juxtaposition of the sentence ‘I will challenge him./Let me kiss your hand’ shows that his allegiance has moved from Claudio to Beatrice, as he agrees to the challenge, and that his motivation is love, as he kisses her hand.
The other reading would show Bingley suffering as a result of his own weakness. His ‘stronger dependence’ on Darcy’s opinion, resulting in his decision not to return to Hertfordshire in a ‘moment’, show a (criminal) lack of resolution. The fact that the reader only learns of this through Darcy’s letter, and not through any communication of Bingley’s own, reinforces this criticism. As a consequence of Bingley’s over-dependence on the views of a haughty Darcy, his love for Jane reveals its weakness and is threatened. However, Jane and Bingley’s love does not appear as weak as that of Claudio and Hero’s. Hero barely says anything and Claudio’s professions of love are so formal (‘I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange’; the word ‘exchange’ sounds almost financial in it’s official tone) and so quickly overturned that it is difficult to believe he ever really felt anything. At the time marriages were arrangements for social advancement, with the union coming first and the love following it; however, this was not a recipe for a happy marriage and it is unlikely that Hero and Claudio will have been content together. Luckily for Jane and Bingley, their affection is built on a more solid base of mutual understanding. Bingley never overcomes this lack of independence. He only proposes to Jane once Darcy has judged his own marriage to a Bennett sister to be permissible. Bingley’s anger at Darcy’s deception is fleeting, and ‘lasted no longer than he remained in any doubt of [Jane’s] sentiments’. This could show the strength of their friendship or the weakness of Bingley’s character, or both. Elizabeth sees it as weakness; she mocks how easily Bingley is led (‘Mr Bingley had been a most delightful friend; so easily guided that his worth was invaluable’), an authorial device used by Austen to negatively colour the reader’s opinion of him. Benedick and Hero’s anger at Claudio is much more vehement, showing them to perhaps be stronger characters than Bingley. Beatrice’s language is dramatic, showing her fury. She demands that Benedick ‘kill Claudio’ , and on his refusal claims he ‘kill[s] her to deny it.’ Benedick shows a laudable independence of mind when he agrees to confront Claudio, something absent from the character of Bingley. Bingley, as a sub-plot character, is not given a great deal of attention by Austen; his actions are always reported by Darcy and he rarely speaks for himself. However, despite all the suffering he goes to the ultimate consequence of his love is happiness. He is united with Jane and has the approval of his friend Darcy. The idealistic attitudes of the young couple are cemented by Mr Bennet. They are both ‘so complying, that nothing will ever be decided upon,’ and he predicts they will ‘always exceed [their] income.’ The cavalier tone of these statements shows that Mr Bennett does not forsee any serious consequences for how ‘complying’, or easily led, Mr Bingley is. This shows Bingley is still the same person he was at the beginning of the novel, holding the same opinions regarding Jane. Because Bingley always held the opinion that the social class of the Bennetts was of less import than his love, the consequences of his affection show more in Darcy’s complete evolution of character, than his own steadfast affable one.