Fitzwilliam Darcy; She Did Not Fix Him

    Pride and Prejudice is a romantic period novel written by Jane Austin about Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a very rich man, whereas the Bennets are part of the gentry class(lower class nobles). When people often think of Pride and Prejudice, or Jane Austin’s works in general, people believe they delve rather deeply into the “I can fix him” mentality, but I believe this to be false. In the beginning, we are presented with the handsomest of men, and a rich one at that. However, we discover him to be unlikable in nature, and for his faults of pride and vanity to be clear. His insufferable character is obvious to all those around, but he is changed. “By whom?”, you may ask. By no other than himself, but he chose to change for Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth Bennet does not fix Mr. Darcy, he fixes himself.

    First, I’d like to look at his first proposal to her(yes, he proposed more than once). This proposal shows him the same as when she met him; a rude and unlikable individual. “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”(Austin, 103) He is adamant about not repressing his feelings, as though he has no thought even to her own feelings. He also says he has “struggled in vain”, showing that he sees his time suppressing his feelings for her as a struggle, one he alone had to endure. He lacks empathy for her in this passage, and blinds himself with his own poorly expressed desires. Although he may love her, to put this in context, he had suggested to Mr. Bingley that he shouldn’t marry Miss June Bennet. He had a prejudice against Elizabeth’s sister since she was so reserved, he believed she didn’t truly love Mr. Bingley. Not to mention how he saw himself as better than the Bennets, feeling that he shall make an exception for Elizabeth, but the rest of her family is so below him(due to social classes). Elizabeth, of course, rejected his proposal, due to the fact he had jeopardized her sister’s and his friend’s romance, and that he had no respect for her family.

    Then, looking at his second proposal to her, we see how he has had a change of heart. Six months had passed, and he had changed. He told his friend to give June Bennet a chance, and he had much time to gain respect for the Bennets. He says, “You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”(Austen, 196) In this proposal, he practically thanks her in saying “you are too generous to trifle with me”, meaning that she is doing him a favor by being around him and in no way does she owe him her presence, as he implied in the first proposal. He also promises her choice. The first time, he expected her to accept immediately, the first time he expected her gratitude, but now no longer blinded by pride, he is willing and asking to listen to her.

Clearly, in the time they were apart, is when he grew to change. It is not her that changed him if she wasn’t even with him during the six months of his personality glow-up. He chose to change himself because he realized he was wrong, and in the end, by offering her the choice to reject him and for him to no longer bother her, he shows that he is no longer acting selfishly. By doing this, he proves that he is not changing to get her, but rather to respect her, simply because it is the right thing to do.

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Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Edited by Vivien Jones, Penguin Classics, 2003.