Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Mr. Darcy
After completing the novel, I just want to take the time to address and commend Mr. Darcy. I think his character grows the most out of all of the characters; and he turns out to be quite charming. He kind of reminds me, at first, of an arrogant boy who is a senior in high school. He thinks he is the all and be all, and that every woman wants him. His life revolves around himself, until love hits him. It's as though he says those rude things to and about Elizabeth because he is in denial about his true feelings and does not want to admit that his life could possibly revolve around someone else. Eventually, love serves to be too powerful for Darcy to fight, so he puts his charm to good use to swoon Elizabeth and make her fall in love with him.
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I absolutely love Mr. Darcy, and I definitely agree that he become very charming by the close of the book; certainly swoon worthy. However, I would like to push back on your idea that he develops from an "arrogant boy" to a man because "love hits him." I think that Mr. Darcy has, in fact, always been a charming and, believe it or not, rather agreeable man. I simply think that we as readers are never given the opportunity to see him in situations that he is more comfortable in, where his prideful and offputish nature are not getting in the way. Indeed, the Gardiner and Elizabeth's visit to Pemperly is certainly a turning moment in our view of Darcy and I'm willing to acknowledge that half of his good nature was due to Elizabeth, however, we cannot disregard the comments of the servants. I think that Mr. Darcy seems to go through a character development because as he and Elizabeth become more involved we are made more aware of his feelings because he is finally expressing them to her. However, I think if we read closely he continues to treat others around him in pretty much the same way. Although, who can blame him for being a bit standoffish...a man who makes 10thousand a year is certainly a target to be taken advantage of if he came across as too nice or gullible.
ReplyDeleteI still have mixed feelings about Mr. Darcy, but they may derive from my modern perspective. Darcy still seems very proud throughout the story. He let Wickham tarnish his reputation because it either wasn't not proper to defend himself or he simply did not care if people lesser than him thought he was a bad person. The text certainly supports that class is a major concern in this time period, but the book states he was kind to his servants. That being the case, I'm led to believe he was only unkind to the Bennets and probably because of how Mr. and Mrs. Bennet represented the family in public.
ReplyDeleteOk, I struggle with Mr. Darcy a little bit. I do love the witty banter between him and Elizabeth. But, I wonder if the only reason he changes SO much (so quickly too) is to get Elizabeth back into his good graces after she had just turned him down. Don't get me wrong, as a story it is nice and some-what romantic. However, in the real world I would find it a bit fishy that someone goes all "redemption letter" on me.
ReplyDeleteI love the change that Mr Darcy undergoes in the novel. A lot of men that I meet remind me of him. They try to act really brash and cocky in front of a girl because they are being charming when in reality they are being the exact opposite. However, eventually they meet "the one" who makes time stand still and they realize that they are in fact in love and those feelings are real. I think my favorite thing about Mr. Darcy is how real he is.
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