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Allusion
Explanation and Analysis—The Food of Love:
Near the start of the novel, while bantering about whether or not writing poetry for your romantic partner adds to the strength of a relationship or takes away from it, Darcy uses a metaphor comparing poetry to “the food of love,” which Elizabeth challenges:
“I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love,” said Darcy.
“Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.”
While Darcy engages in the conversation very earnestly, sharing a metaphor about romance, Elizabeth has already formed her prejudice against Darcy and instinctively pushes back against what she likely reads as a lack of playfulness combined with upper-class posturing (this is an allusion to a line in Shakespeare’s play The Twelfth Night, after all).
Rather than agreeing that poetry is a form of expressing love in a budding relationship, Elizabeth jokes that it can actually lead to a decrease in romantic feelings. This moment of conversational sparring establishes the dynamic that will continue between them for much of the first half of the novel, with Darcy seeking connection with Elizabeth and Elizabeth turning him down, refusing to trust his intentions or character.
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