It might seem a strange pairing, but I think Austen uses a Proverbsian paradigm in her novels which is well worth considering. It should be noted that I do not have a direct line of evidence to support this, but only indirect.
My main argument here is that Austen pairs up folly and wickedness on the one hand, and wisdom and righteousness on the other. For Proverbs, one only has to go to chapter 9 to see the appeals of Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly bracketing another statement of the fear of the Lord in verse 10, which in turn forms an inclusio with 1:7. The implication is that choosing wisdom over folly is the righteous choice, not merely the more practical or pragmatic.
For Austen, consider the following characters from Pride and Prejudice. Lydia Bennet might have a fair claim to be the most foolish person in all of Austendom. Her path therefore takes a very wicked turn. It is precisely because all she cares about are bonnets and speaking with officers in red coats that she becomes a prey to Wickham. She has no concern for her own character, even the appearance of righteousness (let alone actual righteousness), or the welfare of any of her own family except herself.
Mr. Bennet has more sense, but is still not as wise as he could be. He never reigns in his foolish daughters until Lydia’s disgrace, and thus allows evil to happen. He should have listened to Elizabeth when she warned him about the dangers of Lydia being in Brighton.
Mr. Collins engages in the folly of favoritism, toadying up to Lady Catherine the way he does. This makes him wickedly conceited, completely lacking in self-awareness. As a result, he “commiserates” in a way that only shows that he is “counting his lucky stars” he is not connected by marriage to such a family.
Mrs. Bennet’s foolishness in pursuing the one goal of seeing her daughters well married leads her into all sorts of gossip and highly offensive, wicked behavior in terms of what she says. She is very like Lydia in many ways.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh is an interesting test case, since she has a lot of practical wisdom about day to day things, but is quite foolish in relationships, and is constantly misreading other people, making them say and mean what she wants them to say and mean, exercising a rather amazing amount of social tyranny over other people. Her foolishness over relationships leads her to great wickedness in her treatment of others, especially Elizabeth in the infamous scene near the end, when Lady Catherine’s bile against Elizabeth completely backfires by teaching Darcy to hope. Evil and folly thus fall under their own weight.
David Gadbois
greenbaggins
paigebritton
Reed Here
reformedmusings
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Ron Henzel
Green Baggins 