Man and Woman' Conflict - The Relationsip Between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth

Pride and Prejudice, the classic tale written by Jane Austen, takes place in 19th century rural England. Setting is important throughout the story because it symbolizes the progression of the relationship between two of the major characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Due to the small world that the characters are confined to in the early 1800s, there are three major locations that are important; Netherfield Park, Rosings, and the Pemberley. Netherfield Park is the home of the rich and single Charles Bingley who is friends with Mr. Darcy. Here, both Elizabeth and Darcy have the opportunity to interact and it is the same place that Darcy begins to develop feelings for Elizabeth. Rosings is the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth’s cousin, William Collins. Here, Elizabeth and Darcy coincidentally meet and is where Darcy’s feelings for Elizabeth really take off, despite Darcy’s attempts to stop them. The final important location is the Pemberley. The Pemberley is the home of Darcy and where he and his newly wed wife, Elizabeth, settle down.

The main characters of Pride and Prejudice are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The minor characters are Elizabeth’s mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, as well as her three sisters; Jane, Kitty, and Lydia. Mr. Charles Bingley, Mr. Wickham, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh are also minor characters. The characters that experience the most amount of change are Elizabeth and Darcy. In the beginning, Darcy is prideful, arrogant, vain, and disliked by many. However, over the course of the story, Darcy softens and becomes kind-hearted and accepting of people in and out of his social class after falling in love with Elizabeth. Elizabeth begins as quick-minded, stubborn, and prideful as well. Throughout the story however, she realizes that she is quick to make incorrect assumptions of others and is blinded by her prejudice towards them. Because of this realization, she learns to put her pride aside and truly get to know people, like Darcy, before shutting them down completely.

The main events of the story are as follows: A group of rich men, including Mr. Charles Bingley and Mr. Darcy, move to rural Meryton, England where the Bennet family resides. Mr. Bingley hosts a ball where the two main characters, Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet first meet and form a dislike for one another. On the other hand, Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane, spark a relationship that immediately takes off. Later on, a regiment of soldiers arrives in Meryton and Elizabeth meets Mr. Wickham who has a deep dislike for Darcy and makes Elizabeth hate Darcy even more by feeding her false information. Bingley and Jane become separated for an unknown reason and while Jane has come to terms with the loss of her lover, Elizabeth suspects Darcy has something to do with it. However, Darcy has slowly been developing feelings for Elizabeth has they have spent time together and unexpectedly proposes to her, which she angrily refuses. Darcy explains himself to Elizabeth and she slowly begins to trust him. Eventually, Bingley returns and proposes to Jane, who happily accepts. At the same time, Darcy proposes once again to Elizabeth, who also accepts.

Throughout the story of Pride and Prejudice, there are many conflicts. However, the central conflict is man vs man. The main conflict consists of Elizabeth’s struggle to find a suitable husband while navigating through social confinements as well as the ill wishes of the people around her.

The rising action takes place when Darcy’s friend, Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane, develop a relationship at the same time that Elizabeth becomes interested in Mr. Wickham. Mr. Wickham is an officer with a deep grudge against Darcy. Wickham explains a cruel story that is riddled with lies to Elizabeth about Darcy’s actions in childhood which only makes Elizabeth's growing dislike for Darcy stronger. Elizabeth grows even more furious with Darcy when it appears that he is trying to ruin Bingley's relationship with Jane.

The climax of the story is when Elizabeth’s anger towards Darcy reaches its highest point. At this time, Darcy suddenly and unexpectedly proposes to her. Elizabeth is enraged and refuses his proposal, as she is repelled by his pride and still believes that Darcy is to blame for Bingley and Jane’s separation as well as his cruelty towards Mr. Wickham.

The falling action of the story occurs after Elizabeth’s refusal to Darcy’s proposal. Darcy writes a letter to clear up all the confusion regarding his character and gives it to Elizabeth. Darcy explains his part in the separation of Jane and Bingley and that Wickham is not the man that Elizabeth thinks he is. Elizabeth realizes that Darcy is innocent and feels mortified that she was tricked into hating Darcy by Wickham’s false stories. Shortly after, Elizabeth makes a trip to Darcy’s home, the Pemberley, where her and Darcy’s feelings for one another grow. Jane sends two letters to Elizabeth while she is at the Pemberley, revealing that their younger sister, Lydia, has eloped with Mr. Wickham. Elizabeth returns home and Darcy helps devise a plan to protect the Bennet family’s reputation. After this, Bingley returns to Netherfield where he proposes to Jane, who happily accepts. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, however, hears a false rumor that Darcy and Elizabeth are engaged. She arrives at Netherfield and tries to convince Elizabeth to not accept a proposal from Darcy because it will ruin Darcy’s reputation. Elizabeth though, disregards her and when Darcy proposes once again, she happily accepts.

The theme and lesson that Pride and Prejudice teaches is to not be blinded by one’s own pride. Both Darcy and Elizabeth were prideful about different things in the beginning of the story. Darcy prided himself on his social standing and treated others badly because of it. Elizabeth allowed her judgment regarding others to be clouded due to her pride in her discernment. This led to confusion and anger about situations that could have been entirely avoided if both Darcy and Elizabeth were able to set their pride aside and talk the situations out.

References

1. Salber, C. (2001). Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy: Art Imitating Art... Imitating Art. Jane Austen Society of North America, 22(1). (https://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol22no1/salber.html)
2. Fox, R. C. (1962). Elizabeth Bennet: Prejudice or Vanity?. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 17(2), 185-187. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2932520)
3. Marcus, M. (1961). A Major Thematic Pattern in Pride and Prejudice. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 16(3), 274-279. (https://online.ucpress.edu/ncl/article-abstract/16/3/274/64033/A-Major-Thematic-Pattern-in-Pride-and-Prejudice?redirectedFrom=fulltext)
4. Baker, A. (2014). Caught in the Act of Greatness: Jane Austen's Characterization of Elizabeth and Darcy by Sentence Structure in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. The Explicator, 72(3), 169-178. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.2014.932742?journalCode=vexp20)