This
is going to be a very short but very sweet followup to my long post yesterday....
http://sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-twenty-clever-and-clever-twenty.html
...about
the complex allusion to As You Like It in Pride & Prejudice.
As
my Subject Line suggests, in this little followup, I am zeroing in on the parts
of that long post in which I made the case for Lady Catherine De Bourgh being
represented by both Orlando and Oliver from As You Like It. In a nutshell, I
argued that the allusion was centered on the confrontation between the two
brothers in Act 1 Scene 1 of AYLI, and the failure of Oliver to provide a
proper gentleman's education to Orlando.
I
already considered the allusion to be ironclad, based on the argument I made,
given the multiple points of thematic intersection between JA's novel and
Shakespeare's play in this very laser-like allusion.
But
it was only an hour ago that it dawned on me that Jane Austen had left a true
smoking gun in the text of P&P, which (like Mrs. Elton inadvertently
speaking the exact title of As You Like It during her "pastoral"
speech) provides the giant wink from Jane Austen, which says, "Yes, THIS
one is MUCH more likely to be seen by someone who has already realized the
connection between Lady C and Shakespeare's two feuding brothers."
Now
I will give you two big hints:
ONE:
The clue in P&P actually appears exactly 39 times in the text of the novel,
and it pertains to another clue in As You Like It that appears exactly 5 times
in the text of the play.
TWO:
The textual clues in both the novel and the play pertain to something that Lady
Catherine very visibly has in common with both Oliver and Orlando.
If
anyone guesses it, please just post your answer. You won't even need me to
confirm it's correct, it's obvious.
If
no one answers by tomorrow (Wednesday)at Noon EST, then I promise I will post
the answer myself.
Good
luck!
Cheers,
ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode
on Twitter
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