(Male?) Communication Through the Physical: Chapter 5

In Chapter 5 of A Man of Few Words, Darcy decides to propose to Elizabeth.

This is at Rosings. In Pride & Prejudice, almost all of this section is told entirely from Elizabeth's point of view. The reader is given little internal reason to suspect Darcy's growing affection.

However, Austen has given us plenty of external hints based on Darcy's physical behavior.

One of many 10-sentence conversations at the parsonage.

I recently read an appraisal of Persuasion which argues that it is the most physical of Austen's novels--that in this final novel, Austen was finally coming around to the Bronte way of thinking in which emotion and touch carry as much weight as objective judgment.

This is sort of true but mostly not. Austen was a consistent novelist both in her vision and in her themes. And the use of the physical is used to enormous effect in Pride & Prejudice.

Take, for example, these examples of Darcy's interest that Elizabeth misses (but the reader can catch):

• Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam come to see Elizabeth, etc. soon after their arrival at Rosings (Charlotte correctly surmises that they would not have come so quickly if not for Elizabeth's presence).
• Darcy watches Elizabeth while she is speaking to Colonel Fitzwilliam.
• Darcy looks ashamed when Lady Catherine is rude to Elizabeth.
• Darcy leaves Lady Catherine to walk over to Elizabeth while she is playing.
• Darcy visits Elizabeth without the colonel (though he does expect Charlotte to be present).
• Darcy returns to the parsonage several times although "he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice".
• Darcy keeps visiting the same part of the park as Elizabeth.

How deftly Austen indicates our hero and heroine's complete lack of understanding! From Darcy's point of view, he might as well be standing on a roof-top, screaming, "I'm totally 100% captivated by you!!" From Elizabeth's point of view, he's acting, well, kind of weird. 

They are both intelligent, well-meaning people. One surmises that after several years of marriage, Elizabeth will learn to appreciate Darcy sitting in the same room as her mother for more than 5 seconds as a sign of enormous affection. And that Darcy will learn to actually say that he thinks Elizabeth did a good job with her gifts to the servants rather than just looking appreciative.