Transformation of Elizabeth and Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.”
“Pride and Prejudice” is a romantic novel written by Jane Austen in 1813. The novel centers on the emotional development of two protagonist characters who are two worlds apart socially but very alike in their pride and ability to form prejudices. The first character is Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Bennet’s second daughter and the most intelligent and sensible among her other five sisters. Elizabeth is well-read, intelligent, and has a sharp tongue that sometimes serves her no good. On the other hand, Darcy is a wealthy aristocrat and the heir to the Pemberley estate. Like Elizabeth, Darcy is also intelligent. However, he is too proud and looks down on his social inferiors. At the beginning of the novel, Darcy is arrogant, vain, and prideful, but changes to become humble kind, and accepting in the end. Likewise, Elizabeth who is quick to form prejudices transforms to be more understanding.
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Mr. Darcy comes off as arrogant at the beginning of the story. “Pride and Prejudice” is narrated from Elizabeth Bennet’s perspective and at the beginning of the story, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is not a likable man. However, Darcy’s dislikable character is influenced by how Elizabeth sees him. When Elizabeth first meets Darcy in the novel, she overhears Darcy telling Mr. Bingley that she(Elizabeth) is not beautiful enough to tempt him for a dance. Concerning Darcy, “Turning around, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” (p.9). Mr. Darcy is a noticeable character. When he first enters the room he catches everyone’s attention with his tall and handsome features. However, when he talks the way that he does about Elizabeth, one notices that he is just another arrogant, rich man who has put himself on a pedestal and thinks the world of himself.
Additionally, at the beginning of the story, Mr. Darcy comes off as vain and prideful. In the historical and time context of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy is a man of very high social standing. He is rich and educated in knowledge. Darcy also believes that he has genuine morals and values and considers himself the perfect “gentleman.” When teased about being proud, Darcy sees nothing wrong with his character failing. He says, “Where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation” (p.18). Darcy comes off as vain and proud and his dealings with the people he considers are beneath him are snobbish and condescending. Elizabeth does not seem offended by Darcy’s behavior; she just forms fixed opinions on the man. To Elizabeth, Darcy is an arrogant, vain, proud, and judgmental man.
Mr. Darcy also comes off as intrusive after he plays a big role in breaking up Jane and Bingley. Darcy thinks that Bingley and Jane should not be together because Bingley is rich and forming a marriage alliance with Miss Bennet would be socially degrading and unpalatable to Bingley. Moreover, Darcy thinks that Jane did not love Bingley and would only marry him because her mother was pressuring her. Bingley does not have a high opinion of himself as Darcy does and is too quick to believe his friend. However, from Elizabeth’s perspective, Jane is only shy and has problems with showing her affection. Darcy is reprehensible for coming to this conclusions because even if Jane was not showing her affection for Bingley openly, Darcy still sees what he wants to see; he thinks that Miss Bennet is “too uncivilized” for Bingley, and because of that, he is quick to judge her.
It is hard not to love Elizabeth Bennet, she is caring, bold, intelligent, and honest, but she also has her flaws, which makes her even more realistic and relatable. In chapter eleven of the novel, Darcy points out that Elizabeth has the tendency to “willfully” misunderstand other people. Elizabeth overhears Darcy referring to her as “tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” (p.9) and this sparks her initial misunderstanding of the man. Her misunderstood conception of Darcy is reinforced in that she does not realize the man’s later interest in her. Darcy is one of the most eligible bachelors in England and he has developed an aloof appearance to discourage matching-making mothers and their daughters wherever he goes. However, Elizabeth does not see beyond the underlying factors that could have caused Darcy’s snobbish behavior.
Next, Elizabeth’s free and easy nature leads her to behave with less tact in public. At some point, Jane tells Elizabeth that she is being too harsh in public. Elizabeth’s free and easy manners and the ability to be blatantly honest about her thoughts were only commendable up to a certain point as noted in the novel. When Darcy asks her for a dance, she agrees but goes ahead to speak rudely towards him. When Charlotte teases her that she might like Darcy during the dance, she replies, “Heaven forbid! That would be the greatest misfortune of all! To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate! Do not wish me such an evil.” (p.30).
However, at the end of the novel the two characters, Darcy and Elizabeth, transform and are able to see beyond their pride and misunderstandings. Elizabeth begins to understand her prejudice against Darcy after she reads his letter following his disastrous proposal. She notices that her pride and her ability to judge others blinded her from the truth about Darcy’s kind-heartedness. On the other hand, chapter 43 of the novel introduces readers to a new side of Darcy. Elizabeth overhears the servants at Pemberley praising Darcy for his kindness. By the end of the novel, Darcy comes to learn that he should treat all people with kindness and respect, not only those of his social class.
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