Comunal Scapegoating in a Post-Christ World -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 11:33:53 03/29/08 Sat
Author: Kiernan
Subject: Comunal Scapegoating in a Post-Christ World

In Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," she gives us an image of how a society scapegoats someone in a world with a legal system and in which open violence against the scapegoat would no longer be allowed. When Mr. Bingley and his friend Mr. Darcy visit the Meryton neighborhood, the entire neighborhood is put into an uproar. At first, the crowd idolizes bothe of them: "Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance and easy, unaffected manners....but his friend Mr.Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, and *noble mien* (pg.6 - emphasis mine). The community feels slightly undignified in the presence of these two, so it seeks scapegoat. And Mr. Darcy does not dance. So, soon, "his character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped that he would never come there again" (pg. 6). He is quickly isolated by the local society, and all, including Elizabeth, blame him as a scapegoat for the "lack of gentlemen" causing problems in the dance, that evening. However petty, such social scapegoating continues today - high school comes to mind. Though we cannot, perhaps, kill a ritual victim, we can exile them, and thus provide catharsis for ourselves in order to maintain the status quo.

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