A Rational Being Speaking the Truth from Her Heart

Lizzy tells Mr. Collins that this is what she desires to be considered as when he evaluates her responses to his marriage proposals, which were negative.  And here is an encapsulation of the meaning of the novel. Mr. Darcy needs to learn the truth in his heart, which is that his love for Lizzy is more important than the external conventions of considering marriage partners in terms of connections, or wealth. That he does is shown, in the end, by his marrying her despite her connection with her brother-in-law, Mr. Wickham, who is the person in the universe from whom Mr. Darcy has the most reason to avoid.

Lizzy needs to learn to be a rational person. Her dislike of Mr. Darcy is a whim based on an initial bad experience.  When she accepts an invitation to dance with Mr. Darcy and Charlotte says she might enjoy it, Lizzy says don't wish that on me, because he is a person she is determined to dislike. In general she likes disliking those she dislikes. After seeing Mr. Bingley's sisters not considering Jane's discomfort with her cold, when she is not before them, Lizzy is restored to all the pleasures of her original dislike. She has to learn the objective truth about Darcy, which does not occur until his letter is comprehended. Then she is rational, he understands his heart, and they can get married.

I'd like to discuss this in vastly greater detail, and probably will, but this is the core of the novel: be rational once you understand the objective (or external ) truth, and your heart (the internal truth). Indeed much of the novel is taken up with how to arrive at the truth about things. The characters discuss it all the time.

More later, I hope.