"The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much hansomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire should save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend" (Chapter 3, Penguin Classics: page 12).
By this description, right of the back, the reader is able to create a clear picture about the nature of Mr. Darcy. He is the stubborn and arrogant like many currently high school boys, yet girls such as Elizabeth Bennet, have an eye for him. By being extraordinarily wealthy, Mr. Darcy thinks he has the freedom to treat and act towards people in a disrespectful manner. Yet, what Mr. Darcy hasn't come to realize is that wealth does not relate to someone's class. You can be the poorest person in the world and still have class. We really see Mr. Darcy's arrogant nature at the ball gathering, where he believes he is too good to dance with any girl. Elizabeth seems to find something in Mr. Darcy that she is intrigued by him, but Jane points out how Elizabeth is incredibly naive in this situation. I personally don't like Mr. Darcy (sorry Phil I know you like him), but he is the typical kind of guy that girls NEED and SHOULD avoid at ALL times. Mr. Darcy reminds me of Cecil, but the extreme version.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Alexandra, An interesting passage you picked. Notice that the men comment on Darcy's figure, the women on his face, but the narrator's voice suggests that "everyone"--male and female--found his manners unpleasant enough to "turn the tide" of opinion against him. That line makes it seem as if the narrator was right there listening to ballroom gossip and sharing the "general opinion."
ReplyDelete