Transformation

I would like to discuss what I have perceived to be an important theme in Pride and Prejudice, which is transformation. While we discussed in class that Elizabeth’s first impressions of Mr. Darcy were proven to be false in this novel, I might argue that certain aspects of his character were merely transformed, which is actually well supported by the text. Even before Elizabeth had been told Mr. Wickham’s story, she did not find Mr. Darcy to be a very “agreeable” man. Mr. Darcy was insulting and standoffish, and not because he was having a bad day. He repeatedly conducted himself in this manner, by his own admission as well, in the following passage:

I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. Unfortunately an only son (for many years an only child), I was spoilt by my parents, who, though good themselves (my father, particularly, all that was benevolent and amiable), allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing; to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own. Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled.

Mr. Darcy obviously experienced a significant change in himself on a deep level, and I found it especially sweet and admirable that he credits his renewal to Elizabeth. When first introduced to Mr. Darcy’s character, I did not like him at all because he was a difficult man to like. By the end of this story, it is impossible not to love him and to believe him to be a great man. I think this is significant because it’s a reminder that sometimes the people who least deserve our guidance are the ones who need it the most. Maybe we could be the ones to help bring about a favorable transformation to somebody in our own lives.