I feel a bit bad to be publishing this on the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, especially since Austen called Pride and Prejudice her 'little darling', it all feels a bit blasphemous, and admittedly, I'm a 'Janeite' myself But since the romance between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth is arguably one of the most famed in English Literature I feel it only appropriate. Like Shakespeare as the previous piece's creator, the Austen brand has come to be a multi-million industry: The Jane Austen Center has about 60,000 visitors per year, with an estimated 80% being women. Austen's influence is still pretty powerful. Don't hurt me Janeites.
'Pride and Prejudice' has inspired many a young lady/ 'Janeites' to hold out for their Mr. Darcy, or 'Mr. Right'. Colin Firth has complained that he finds it hard to escape from the legacy of Darcy, although he did go on to play Mark Darcy in 'Bridget Jones Diary', a book and film roughly based on Pride and Prejudice, so can't really feel sorry for him. The moody Mr. Darcy has persuaded girls that boys often play 'Hard To Get', when actually he's he just 'Isn't That Into You'. They fall in love when they both accept that they were blind to each other, lots of people hope that that one special someone will see something unique in themselves like Darcy and Elizabeth did, but people often cling to a false hope.
The romance of Elizabeth and Darcy however has it's weaknesses. There are some who interpreted her sudden attraction to Darcy as the reaction of a Gold Digger, making her just as much of a social climber as her mother. It is only after her view of the beautiful Pemberly estate of Darcy's that she decides that Darcy isn't that bad after all, and starts to look at her suitor in a more pleasant light. However, an alternative interpretation, if Elizabeth was purely out for monetary gain she would have agreed to marry Mr. Collins, who would have provided financial security for herself and her family. However her mothers enthusiasm to marry her daughters off, especially to rich men (Mr. Bingley and Jane) may have influenced her thinking, perhaps unconsciously. But we do know that Elizabeth is smart, we know that she is good at studying characters. Through her interactions with Darcy, she might have understood enough of his pride/personality to know that if she declined his first proposal it would make him want her more, player. Elizabeth is the 'one that got away', and to be turned down by someone Darcy sees as beneath him must be humiliating, and motivated him to prove her wrong.
There is the possibility that she was so outraged by the way he scorned her in the first ball that she was giving him revenge by making him fall in love with her then rejecting him. Hurting his pride just like he hurt hers. Although, when she sees his 'dollar' she changes her mind and decides that he is worth loving after all. Elizabeth had no way to know that she would have better opportunities later. However, nothing can deviate from the fact that Darcy was embarrassed of his affection for her, and thus embarrassed of her family. Worse, he makes Elizabeth embarrassed of her family, I sometimes feel that like if we were to see a 'six months later' we would find Darcy having a bit of a 'My Fair Lady' project of Elizabeth. What makes the romance tricky is that fact that there is the possibility that she was so outraged by the way he scorned her in the first ball (he called her 'tolerable', the dick) that she was giving him revenge by making him fall in love with her then rejecting him. Hurting his pride just like he hurt hers. Although, when she sees his magnificent wealth she changes her mind and decides that he is worth loving after all.Yet there isn't admittedly any evidence in the text to support this, nor does Elizabeth character illustrate this.
Dorothy
Elizabeth stated quite early in the book she would only marry for love, and her comment to her sister Jane, about falling in love with Darcy after seeing Pemberley, was just light hearted mischief, shown when Jane urged her to be serious. Elizabeth is far too headstrong to marry for something other than love, no matter how much she could get out of it money-wise. In fact, it is only after she learn of his good deeds, following her rejecting his proposal that she begins to admit her feelings to herself, being even a little bit ashamed of her own feelings and hiding them from her entire family. Elizabeth has always known about his wealth (£10,000 a year, hey big spender) and never thought any better of him for it. Perhaps it is less the grounds of Pemberly that make her wish she accepted his proposal, but more the reputation he has amongst his staff and residents. Darcy does not come to love Elizabeth because any physical feature, Elizabeth is never described as a beauty like Jane; instead Darcy comes to love her, or at least her 'expression', such as her intelligent eyes, and later coming to accept that; 'in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness.' He falls in love with her mind, her wit and her unbridled passion in her words, the inability to hold her tongue. To go against Dorothy's view, Darcy comes to love Elizabeth for who she is, and I don't see a 'let's fix Elizabeth program' in their future. I see nothing but rolling green hills, tea at eleven and lovely, unmentionable high-society sex, in the dark, still wearing undergarments.
Elizabeth's 'modern' view of love set her apart from the other ladies such as her mother, I truly think she loves big D.
Daphne
Up next, Number Three Abelard and Heloise
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