Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Why Darcy is a jerk

I may be the only person who thinks Darcy is kind of a jerk.  Sure, Austen starts to leak information throughout the novel that portrays Darcy as a caring individual, rather than the snob he presents himself as at the beginning of the novel.  And yes, it is quite compassionate of him to sweep Lydia and Wickham's behavior under the rug. And I truly believe that he cares for Lizzy, and his response to Lizzy's rejection of him is gentlemanly.  But here is my issue with him.  He admits to sabotaging Jane and Bingley's relationship because he doesn't want to see Bingley ruin himself by entering the Bennett family.  Fine, understandable because of the time period.  But then, when Darcy starts to have genuine feelings for Lizzy, it's suddenly not a big deal if Bingley wants to join the Bennett family because Darcy now does too.  First, that is highly hypocritical.  Second, after already insulting the Bennett family a number of times (continually saying they are beneath him), he now doesn't care if Bingley wants to marry Jane since he wants to marry Lizzy.  So, not only has Darcy insulted the Bennett's, but he is also not being loyal to his friend, Bingley.  Darcy is being selfish, only thinking the Bennett's are suitable enough to join when HE becomes attracted to Lizzy.  Hypocrite.  Darcy, to me, is wishy-washy, never really standing up for what he believes in, but letting his emotions change his *concrete* judgments of the Bennett's.  Or, even worse, Darcy doesn't really change his views about the Bennett's, but just chooses to brush it off as no big deal.  Either way, Darcy, to me, is a dishonorable character.  But it could be worse, he could be Lydia.

3 comments:

  1. I'm still kind of mixed about Mr. Darcy. He does come off as hypocritical at various times in the novel, but it seems that he wanted to redeem himself of his faults by finding Lydia and Wickham, and resorting the family's name. I also find Darcy to be "wishy-washy" because he does never stand up for his beliefs, making Elizabeth stronger in that aspect than him. Overall, the dynamic is very interesting to explore on whether or not Darcy is truly loyal or not.

    And how about that Lydia?! She just kind of comes out of no where and marries the really bad guy, then has the nerve to return to her frantic and angry family without any remorse for everything she put him through. Great post, Ryan!

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  2. Well I am glad someone agrees with me. Yea, if Lydia was in my family, I would probably disown her. She is really immature and downright careless. I wish all the daughters could have had the composure and maturity that Jane (and to a lesser extent Lizzy) showed. But then I guess the novel would be even more boring :)

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  3. I disagree with your assessment of Mr. Darcy. Don't forget that one of his strongest reasons for advising Bingley against marrying Jane was that he perceived Jane to have no real affection for Bingley. It seemed to me that this was the main reason he gave, and a plausible one as Elizabeth's friend Charlotte cautioned that Jane's reserved behavior could jeopardize the relationship. So, yeah, he is kind of hypocritical when he courts Elizabeth despite his complaints about her family, but there was more to his actions than that.

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