SOURCE: Foster Stovel, Nora. “Famous Last Words: Elizabeth Bennet Protests Too Much.” In The Talk in Jane Austen, edited by Bruce Stovel and Lynn Weinlos Gregg, pp. 183-203. Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press, 2002.

In the following essay, Foster Stovel examines Elizabeth's first impressions of Mr. Darcy, claiming that the reader knows they are destined for each other from the beginning because of Austen's “classic comic structure.”

“I believe, Ma'am, I may safely promise you never to dance with him” (PP 20). So Elizabeth Bennet declares to her mother in Pride and Prejudice. These are famous last words indeed. The astute Austen reader suspects the lady protests too much and anticipates witnessing her eat her words. The fact that she does protest too much, however, suggests that Elizabeth is impressed with Darcy from the outset, a theory that we will see borne out later in the book.¹ In fact...