Darcy’s Letter to Elizabeth: Analysis of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s famous novel, Pride and Prejudice depicts the marvelous and unusual relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Charles Darcy, following them through an understanding of love, challenges of the prejudices of their time and the never ending pride of both characters. The novel opens up with the basic plot and ideas of which the story’s scenario was based by concentrating just on family, marriage and love, which changes all through the book until chapter 35. This chapter presents one of the major turning points within the novel which is the letter Darcy gives Elizabeth, exposing Darcy’s feeling towards Elizabeth and in addition giving the readers an unbelievable truth.

One spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte, who now lives near the home of Mr. Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. One day, he makes a shocking proposal of marriage, which Elizabeth quickly refuses. She tells Darcy that she considers him arrogant and unpleasant, then scolds him for steering Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting Wickham. Darcy leaves her but shortly thereafter delivers a letter to her. In this letter, he admits that he urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane, but claims he did so only because he thought their romance was not serious. As for Wickham, he informs Elizabeth that the young officer is a liar and that the real cause of their disagreement was Wickham’s attempt to elope with his young sister, Georgiana Darcy. This letter causes Elizabeth to reevaluate her feelings about Darcy.

Darcy’s letter starts a lowering procedure for both Elizabeth and him, which results in the development of the attitudes they had towards each other. For example when Darcy says, “Be not alarmed, madam, on reciting this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those sentiments or renewal of those offers which were last night so disgusting to you. I write with any intention of paining you, or humbling myself, by dwelling on wishes which, for the happiness of both, cannot be too soon forgotten”. In here for Darcy’s situation, being rejected on his proposal to Elizabeth strikes a hit of pride that enforces him to react to Elizabeth’s resentment to him in this type of way. The subsequent letter uncovers to Elizabeth how badly she misinterpreted both Darcy and Wickham by not knowing what was the actual truth behind all those lies and acting. Then with her apparent mixed up prejudice towards Darcy, Elizabeth started to get a hold of what was happening in reality and how they made her feel so stupid by thinking that Wickham was the good guy and Darcy the bad one when actually it was the other way around. Wickham ends up being a shining example of a dishonest and degenerate opportunist towards others possessions. For this situation, Darcy’s pride implied that he declined to meet Wickham’s requests towards his family’s goods. At the end of the day, he wouldn’t give Wickham any chance to utilize him.

Darcy didn’t simply unmasked his true special feelings towards Elizabeth but yet he also uncovers the reality behind Bingley’s flight and remarks on Jane and Bingley’s relationship. Way before, Charlotte cautioned Elizabeth that Jane should demonstrate her affections for Bingley quickly, and it turns out that she was correct and because of it Darcy examined Jane’s hold as an absence of affection towards Bingley. Darcy believed that also because of the Bennets’ blandness the marriage between Bingley and Jane was wrong and it would lead to Bingley’s disadvantage. For example when Darcy says, “The situation of your mother’s family, though objectionable, was nothing in comparison of that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters, and occasionally by your father” . Nonetheless after saying and explaining this, Darcy doesn’t admit that he went way too far by misleading Bingley and broking Jane’s heart.

Darcy’s dialect throughout the letter is somewhat compelling and forceful by saying that “further apology would be absurd”, which encourages us to identify, understand and connect with Darcy, as it seems as though he is opening his heart to the readers and Elizabeth and because of these explanations we all start to trust and like Darcy. Austen’s absence of baster’s gadgets gives a sensible perspective of the plot, enabling the reader to center around what is going on and not what is happening around it. Additionally it makes Darcy’s supplication to Elizabeth more practical and this improves the readers trust in him even more as he goes on. In the letter Austen changes from the storyteller that has given us Elizabeth’s restrictive knowledge and character all through whatever remains of the novel, on which we change to the account point of view of Darcy. Because of this it enables the readers to be unquestionably investigative and interested of the letter and the current circumstance of what is going on. It likewise connects with the readers and makes it undeniably individual. So far, the readers had been slanted to acknowledge Elizabeth’s judgment of herself as of other people.

Pride is always in each of the characters’ mentalities and treatment of each other, shading their judgments and driving them to commit rash errors. Pride blinds Elizabeth and Darcy to their actual emotions about each other. Darcy’s pride about his social status influences him to look down on anybody not in his prompt circle. Elizabeth, then again, takes such a great amount of pride in her capacity to judge others that she declines to update her sentiment even despite plainly conflicting confirmation. This is the reason why she hates the area hearted Darcy for so long, yet at first appreciates the lying Wickham. However while Pride and Prejudice suggests nobody is ever totally free of pride, it clarifies that with the best possible good childhood one may conquer it to lead an existence of tolerability and thoughtfulness. “A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”