A character study of Mr. Darcy up until the end of Volume Two Essay

Mr. Darcy is not a titled nobleman, but he is one of the wealthiest members of the landed gentry, which is the same legal class that the Bennet family belongs to, even though they have much less money. He owns a very large estate in Derbyshire, called Pemberley, and he has a sister named Georgiana, who is more than ten years younger that he is. Mr. Darcy’s aunt is the very wealthy Lady Catherine de Bourgh and he is betrothed to her daughter, Anne. In the beginning of the novel Mr. Darcy is depicted as â€Å"clever,† but also â€Å"haughty, reserved, and fastidious.† When he first appears at the Meryton assembly with Mr. Bingley, he draws everyone’s attention by his, â€Å"fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien,† and the fact that he has ten thousand pounds per year. However, only half the evening passes before he is â€Å"discovered to be proud, to be above his company,† and denounced as â€Å"having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance.† We can see how socially inept Mr. Darcy is from the mere fact that he dances only two dances at the Meryton assembly, one with Mrs. Hurst and one with Miss Bingley, even though there is a shortage of male dance partners. He also refuses to be introduced to any other lady, and flatly refuses to dance with Elizabeth, saying, â€Å"she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.† He does not even try to make a good impression, as we see where it says that his manners are â€Å"well-bred,† but â€Å"not inviting.† This shows that he is proud, because he does not care what people think of him, and he does not need to care because he is so rich. I also believe that Mr. Darcy’s lack of social graces shows a hint of laziness, in that he cannot be bothered to take the time or trouble to be agreeable, or make a good reputation for himself. However, Charlotte Lucas remarks, â€Å"One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with†¦everything in his favour, should think highly of himself†¦He has a right to be proud.† This assessment of Mr. Darcy, in my opinion, somewhat lessens his guilt, because it represents a perspective on wealth that must have been very common in nineteenth-century Britain. Mr. Darcy’s behaviour is certainly not ideal, but it was probably more acceptable then than it would be today. Mr. Darcy is also a great friend of Mr. Bingley’s, and Jane is told that among his friends he is â€Å"remarkably agreeable.† This would suggest that either he is very proud, or, as he says to Elizabeth, â€Å"I have not the talent which some people possess†¦of conversing easily with those I have never seen.† If he is so reserved because he truly has difficulty in conversing with people that he does not know well, his silence could easily be mistaken for pride, but I believe that it is probably due in part to both. We first see that Mr. Darcy is beginning to be attracted to Elizabeth on a visit to Netherfield, and his discovery of this attraction is described as â€Å"mortifying.† He does not want to be associated with someone with so little money, and yet he finds â€Å"her figure to be light and pleasing,† and her face to be â€Å"rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes.† When Elizabeth refuses to dance with Mr. Darcy, she only succeeds in further piquing his interest in her, as shown where it says, â€Å"her resistance had not injured her with the gentleman.† I suspect, from the way Caroline Bingley is always very arch and flirtatious around him, that he has had women chasing him most of his adult life, because of his wealth. Therefore, he must be intrigued by a woman such as Elizabeth who, for all his money, wants nothing to do with him. We begin to see that there is a stark contrast between Mr. Darcy’s curt statements in answer to Miss Bingley whilst writing to his sister, and the long responses he gives Elizabeth, which match her wit and intelligence. This shows how much he likes challenging and being challenged by her sharp mind. When she stays at Netherfieldd to look after Jane, she is relentlessly sharp in her talks with Mr. Darcy, and he finds himself increasingly â€Å"bewitched† by her, enough so that he begins â€Å"to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.† During Elizabeth’s stay at Netherfield, we learn a little more about Mr. Darcy’s character. He likes to read, and has a large library at Pemberley. He must feel at least some affection for his sister because his letters â€Å"are generally long,† and in Miss Bingley’s estimation, â€Å"charming.† By making his letters long and carefully worded he shows that he both cares about Georgiana and takes his responsibility for her seriously. This contradicts Elizabeth’s and our perceptions of him as cold and unfeeling. Also, he states that he writes â€Å"rather slowly,† Miss Bingley comments that he writes evenly and Mr. Bingley says that he â€Å"does not write with ease. He studies too much for words of four syllables.† This implies that Mr. Darcy likes to think things through, even when choosing the right word to write. When Elizabeth is naming Mr. Darcy’s faults in order to laugh at him, she mentions vanity and pride, to which he replies, â€Å"Vanity is a weakness indeed. But†¦pride will be always under good regulation.† This is ironic because, in his case, pride is more a flaw than a good quality. However, he also admits that his â€Å"good opinion once lost is lost for ever.† By his own admission he is resentful, which Elizabeth finds to be true when Mr. Wickham tells her how ‘abominably’ Mr. Darcy treated him. The knowledge of his resentfulness also serves to make us dislike him even more. Mr. Wickham is very useful in giving us an impression of Mr. Darcy, whether true or not. In the first volume of the novel, after Mr. Wickham’s story about Mr. Darcy refusing to acknowledge his father’s wishes, and thus impoverishing Mr. Wickham, we see Mr. Darcy as dishonourable, dishonest and resentful. Our prejudice against him is so strong that we accept anything Mr. Wickham says at face value. Mr. Darcy’s ‘abominable’ treatment of Mr. Wickham is one of the reasons that Elizabeth refuses to accept his proposal; it reinforces her opinion of him and proves that he really is too proud. At the Netherfield ball, when Sir William Lucas hints at a â€Å"certain desirable event† taking place, meaning the expected marriage of Jane and Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy appears very surprised and worried at the thought. He obviously does not want Mr. Bingley to marry beneath himself, and we later learn from Colonel Fitzwilliam that Mr. Darcy is very pleased with himself for â€Å"having lately saved a friend from†¦a most imprudent marriage.† Mr. Darcy has no right to meddle in the romantic affairs of Jane and Mr. Bingley, and to be so determined that he confiscates Jane’s letters to Mr. Bingley is not something to be easily forgiven. What makes us dislike him even more is that when he proposes to Elizabeth he does not feel any remorse for his actions, and even declares, â€Å"I rejoice in my success.† This shows hypocrisy because he separates Jane and Mr. Bingley on financial grounds, which he has no right to do, and then asks Elizabeth to marry him, even though she is in the same situation as Jane. Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth is, in itself, filled with pride and is focused on the negative aspects of the match rather than his love for her. His mode of proposal somewhat resembles the condescending airs of Mr. Collins when he proposes. It does not seem to have occurred to him that Elizabeth might refuse him, as we see where it says, â€Å"his countenance expressed real security.† This proves how proud and arrogant he is, because he believes that if she does not marry him for love, she will marry him for money because she will never receive a ‘better’ offer. He even tells Elizabeth that he likes her against his â€Å"will,†¦reason, and†¦character,† which are hurtful remarks and imply that he does not want to love her but cannot help himself. Mr. Darcy is â€Å"wholly unmoved by any feeling of remorse† for having separated Mr. Bingley from Jane and even says, â€Å"I rejoice in my success.† It is obvious from this cold remark that he has little regard for the feelings of others, which is further emphasised when he seemingly does not care about Mr. Wickham’s condition in life. He says, â€Å"Yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed,† which sounds unfeeling, contemptuous and sarcastic. Mr. Darcy seems to feel the need to justify his feelings for her but also to tell her that he does not want to have those feelings. He is certainly honest, but perhaps a little too honest, and not at all tactful, as we see where he says, â€Å"Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?† He seems to be intent on laying before Elizabeth everything that is not ideal about her family and connections, which is probably not the best way to make her love him. Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth, however, shows us just how mistaken and prejudiced against him we really are. Firstly, it lists his reasons for separating Jane and Mr. Bingley. He admits that he did not want them to marry, but he did â€Å"not believe her heart was likely to be easily touched.† He did not think that Jane really did love his friend, and although it was not right of him to intervene, he did not believe that there was enough love to outweigh the material disadvantages of marrying Jane. I also believe that, had Jane been more open about her feelings, and had Mr. Bingley perhaps been more persistent and not allowed himself to be manipulated by Mr. Darcy, the situation would not have arisen. We are also very conscious of â€Å"that total want of propriety† so often shown by many members of the Bennet family – it was very obvious at the Netherfield ball, and Mr. Darcy cannot really be blamed for being appalled by it. That sort of behaviour was not acceptable and those who exhibited it were shunned. If Mr. Darcy married Elizabeth, he would have to put up with having them as in-laws. This shows that Mr. Darcy is proud, but one cannot expect him to want to associate with a family who act disgracefully in public. However, it is also very plausible that he is not as proud as we think, because, despite this, he still wants to marry Elizabeth, which is a circumstance that I do not believe was very common back then. Mr. Darcy’s contempt for Mr. Wickham is also wholly justified, and we learn that he was very tolerant and did do his best to carry out his father’s wishes, even though Mr. Wickham was unworthy of such treatment. This proves that he is honourable, and it is he who has been treated unjustly by Mr. Wickham, when he tried to elope with Georgiana. She told Mr. Darcy of the plan, because she could not â€Å"support the idea of grieving and offending a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father.† Georgiana must have a very strong attachment to Mr. Darcy, because otherwise she would not have done this, so he must be a very kind brother. I believe that although Mr. Darcy is portrayed as proud, critical, arrogant, brutally honest, and may not have the conversational skills that some people do, we are too prejudiced at the beginning of the novel to see his good qualities beneath all of his pride. The letter to Elizabeth provides us with valuable insights into Mr. Darcy’s mind and personality. When we see the letter we realise that most of his actions were justified, and despite his social ineptitude and the occasional error in judgement, he is altogether a good man.