The parents attempt to choose the spouses of their children in Pride and Prejudice. Mrs. Bennet is excited in the beginning of the book when Mr. Bingley moves to Netherfield because she is "thinking of his marrying one of" her daughters (1). Mrs. Bennet feels like it is her decision as to whether Mr. Bingley will marry one of the Bennet girls or not.
Parents seem more concerned with a man's money than any other quality if he is a possible candidate for the husband of one of their daughters. Mr. Bingley earns "four or five thousand a year." Mrs. Bennet considers this to be "a fine thing for [her] girls" (1). It "was in general circulation within five minutes after [Mr. Darcy's] entrance" (6) that he earned ten thousand a year. This made Mr. Darcy a wonderful option to the parents. The daughters are not concerned only with a man's money, at least the Bennet's are not, Elizabeth in particular. I think the daughters and parents view the fact that Mr. Darcy "was discovered...to be proud" (6) differently. Mrs. Bennet becomes resentful towards Mr. Darcy because she thinks he will not consider being with any of her daughters. Elizabeth is resentful towards Mr. Darcy because he appears to have a terrible personality and she does not want to be with someone so "proud."
I do not think Mr. Darcy actually has a terrible personality, because although he seems snotty and conceited, he starts to like Elizabeth for her personality. Darcy finds that "in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness" (16). Darcy's reasons for liking Elizabeth suggest that he is not as shallow as he first appeared at the ball. I wonder if Elizabeth will end up changing Darcy into a nice, down to Earth person. I think she will. He already appears to be infinitely kinder than Miss Bingley at the end of Chapter 6, who had "never [been] more annoyed" by "the nothingness and yet the self-importance of all these people!" (19).
Mr. Darcy replies that her "conjecture is totally wrong," (19) which makes me think that Elizabeth will end up making him less conceited.
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I agree, Mr. Darcy will probably change his manners due to his newly found desire for Elizabeth. It seems like Mr. Darcy appreciates personality over looks, not as Mr. Bingley who immediately falls for Jane. The juxtaposition of Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy looks quite interesting and worth looking how it develops. It’s amazing how fast we are able to picture the different characters and understand the Bennets’ perception of the newcomers.
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ReplyDelete[Edit] I can't decide anything yet. First off, the pace of this novel is comparably fast, and each chapters are appromaximately 5-6 pages. So far, Mr. Darcy seems arrogant and cocky on the sufrace but then again this book was written in the 1800's - when social status divided people into different classes. Thus I do understand Mr. Darcy's attitude.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Bennet's main objective in this book is to marry her daughters. It is not with any man that she wishes them to marry. The amount of money the man has determines how much Mrs. Bennet wants one of her daughters to marry him. Mr. Darcy earning so much money was a good husband for one of her daughters, but his pride and attitude were not as rich. For Mrs. Bennet his attitude doesn't matter, as long as he has money.
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