Pemberley
Pemberley appears as a beautiful, naturally ordered estate whose rooms and dependents make Darcy's private character newly legible.
Story so far
Pemberley is approached through a large park and extensive wood, rising to a view of a handsome stone house above a valley. A stream broadens naturally before the house; wooded hills stand behind it; the grounds avoid both formal display and artificial ornament. Elizabeth, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner admire a place where nature's beauty has been enhanced rather than spoiled by taste.
Inside are lofty, handsome rooms with elegant, useful furniture rather than Rosings's ostentation, a family picture gallery, and a bright sitting room newly fitted for Miss Darcy. The estate's housekeeper and servants describe its master as generous, good-tempered, and attentive to tenants and staff. When Mr. Darcy unexpectedly returns, the grounds provide the scene for his first altered meeting with Elizabeth and her Gardiner relations.
Appearance
A large handsome stone house on rising ground in a Derbyshire valley, backed by high wooded hills, with a natural-looking broadened stream, bridge, lawns, extensive woods, lofty elegant rooms, and a picture gallery.
Role
It is the material expression of Darcy's taste and stewardship, and the setting that transforms Elizabeth's understanding of him.
Relationships
Sources — 3 recorded facts, by chapter
- Darcy's noble Derbyshire home, famed already for a great family library and held up as a model of inherited taste.
- Darcy's Derbyshire estate becomes an immediate destination for Elizabeth, who will visit only after learning its owner is away.
- Pemberley appears as a beautiful, naturally ordered estate whose rooms and dependents make Darcy's private character newly legible.