The Moral Obligation to Signal Gratitude in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Anglican preacher Robert South’s 1679 sermon on ingratitude provides an unexamined rationale that justifies what Elizabeth Bennet calls her “breach of promise” in thanking Darcy for engineering Lydia’s marriage to Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. This essay argues that Austen alludes to South’s identification of gratitude as a virtue to critique and amend Dr. Gregory’s belief that a woman’s gratitude for an amiable suitor provides a sufficient basis for a happy marriage. When Elizabeth expresses her gratitude to Darcy, she demonstrates agency rather than passive acceptance, in a move that acknowledges the way he has reformed himself for her.