Do Jane and Bingley Have Character Flaws?

The Good Place, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the nicest couple in P&P

Yesterday I had the treat of seeing Pride & Prejudice adapted for the stage by the Young Actors Theatre of Tallahassee. My oldest three kids and some friends were delighted by an incredible cast of high schoolers who looked like they were absolutely loving sharing Austen’s story. Great job, YAT! (And yes, I did wear my Pride & Prejudice earrings.)

Let’s Talk About Jane and Mr. Bingley

“There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil.”-Mr. Darcy

Could Mr. Darcy be right even about sweet Jane and Mr. Bingley? Could their temperaments lead them to be flawed in certain ways? There was some wonderful lively discussion in the replies and Substack chat both critical of Jane and Bingley and in their defense. Here’s my take on the matter: Mr. Darcy is right.

Let’s start with Mr. Charles Bingley. He’s clearly a kind, caring, stand up sort of guy with the best of intentions. But according to Austen’s moral philosophy, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t have flaws. (And if someone as great as Mr. Bingley has flaws, we all do. Austen is always calling us to reflect on our own imperfections and need for grace.)

Austen leans on both the Aristotelian and the Christian tradition when it comes to her philosophy of the virtues and vices. (If you are prepared to give your brain a serious workout see Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue on the matter. If you want an entry level discussion of Austen’s moral philosophy see my book Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life.) According to Aristotle and Austen’s view, virtue is found in the mean between two extremes: excess and deficiency. Courage, for example, is the virtuous mean between cowardice and rashness. Cowardice is a deficiency of courage and rashness is an excess—each is flawed.

So what does this have to do with Mr. Bingley? I think Austen is exploring the virtue of amiability—the characteristic of being eager to please others. Someone who is not amiable at all would have no concern for the desires of others, but someone who is TOO amiable would end up being easily swayed by the desires of others. They would have no backbone. Austen examines persuadability in more detail in Persuasion but this is the failing of Mr. Bingley. He is kind and concerned with the feelings of others which makes him a faithful friend, but he is excessively eager to please. He does not trust his own judgement when those with stronger personalities seek to assert their will (as his sisters and Mr. Darcy do). And the fruits of this flaw become clear in our story and lead to unnecessary misery for Mr. Bingley and for Jane.

Does it sound like I’m being too hard on poor Charles? After all, he doesn’t mean to do anything wrong! But while intention matters, it’s not all that matters. Vice still hurts us and our communities. Consider The Good Place.

In this hilarious series, Chidi Anagonye is a moral compass of the story. He’s a philosopher with an intense desire to do what’s right. He’s lovable and just a really nice guy. However, he has a flaw. Rather than having the virtue of careful discernment, Chidi obsesses over every decision, no matter how small. While he is well-intentioned, Chidi’s vice causes all sorts of problems for everyone. He can’t land on a decision!

Both of these examples, Chidi and Mr. Bingley, can help us to reflect on the fact that being flawed doesn’t mean being malicious or cruel—it means being human. We all have flaws, every one of us. And as Mr. Darcy notes, each of our temperaments is prone to a particular flaw. What Austen calls us to do with her Christian Aristotelian moral philosophy is to humbly accept our imperfections—we are ALL in need of grace. And then we should be ready to put the work in to grow, mature, become more whole.

But can sweet Jane have a flaw? I think Jane is gracious and humble but her humility tends toward diffidence. She lacks self-confidence and this vice has (like all vices) a blinding effect. She misreads certain actions because of her lack of self-confidence. However, I also question whether her characteristic of believing the best of everyone all of the time is a vice or merely an outpouring of her goodness.

There’s a legend about St. Thomas Aquinas that one of his religious brothers told him that there was an ox flying outside the window. Thomas rushed to see and the other brothers mocked him. His reply was that it is better to believe an ox can fly than that his own brothers would lie. Surely, there is something holy about struggling to comprehend evil intent as Jane does!

I loved reading YOUR thoughts on sweethearts Jane and Bingley in the comments on the previous post and over at Substack chat. Since chat seems to be easier for some of you and posts comments easier for others, I’ll keep posting discussion questions in both places.

Here’s this week’s question: Mr. Collins: villain or merely oblivious? Is Mr. Collins malicious or simply lacking in self-awareness?

And this week we’re reading: Chapters 24-36 of Pride & Prejudice. Click here for the full reading schedule and details.

This and That

On February 16th, CatholicsRead is discussing my book Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life. Register here to join in!

And for parents and educators out there, here’s a list I put together of 189 books that Catholic kids should read for Word on Fire Spark.

And Chicago-area folks, stay tuned for a conversation on February 18th on Lent and Jane Austen with myself, Marcia Lane-McGee, and Shannon Schmidt! More details coming soon.

And that’s all folks! Wishing you all a wonderful week. And a huge thank you to Elizabeth, Amanda, Bernadette, and Debbie for upgrading to a paid subscription. Y’all are awesome. All Jane Austen book club emails and 2023 emails will continue to be available with a free subscription. But this is a reader supported effort and if you’d like to support this Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription, well, that would be appreciated!

And if you know someone who would love this virtual book club, please share with them:

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Mr. Collins!