Dear Ladies,
No matter how much you would like to believe otherwise, Mr. Darcy is, and always has been, all about the Benjamins…or King George IIIs, as the case may be. Take away his £10,000 a year and his only appearance in Pride and Prejudice would have been in the form of a letter to Charles Bingley somewhere in Chapter 3:
Dear Charles,
It is with great sadness that I must write to inform you that I will not be able to join you at Netherfield Park this summer. As you may know, my dear sister, Georgiana, was recently married to George Wickham and, as a result, I have become indebted to Mr. Wickham for reasons I cannot disclose even to you, my dear friend.
As this financial obligation exceeds the modest income provided by my late father’s estate, I have been forced to take a position as a file clerk at the firm of Crumpet, Muffin, Biscuit, and Scone, Ltd., in Cheapside. And since I have only been with the firm for a few months, I have not yet accrued sufficient “vacation days” to allow for a trip at this time. Perhaps next year.
I was so looking forward to this summer. As my current economic situation allows me little contact with the fairer sex, I was hoping that my visit to Netherfield, with its attendant parties and dances, would enable me to finally meet some pretty girl with dark eyes, a pleasing figure, and a lively playful disposition.
Instead, you will spend the summer at Netherfield attending parties where you will no doubt monopolize the only handsome girl in the room and I will spend the summer in London being slighted by women who are in no humour to give consequence to a file clerk.
Sincerely,
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Sincerely,
Grettir Asmundarson
10 Comments
Though the letter was quite funny, I have to say that I disagree. Having actually just finished reading the book two-and-a-half weeks ago, I think that Darcy is a very complex character. His importance in the story and the basis for his pride was, no doubt, related to his immense fortune. However, I think that there are a lot of deeper issues going on in Darcy’s mind considering the societal values of the time.
He’s been brought up in a society where money makes the man, character is still highly valued, and the importance of having good connections is immense. His father brought him up to have pride in his financial situation, to own up to all the responsibility of his situation, and to seek a companion that will uphold, if not improve (though this would be nearly impossible) his reputation.
How much more difficult to handle his feelings towards Elizabeth Bennet must be! She has next to no money, a lower circle of acquaintances, and no connections. The “best” society she can speak of being in consists of Bingley, Darcy, and (later) Lady Catherine Debourgh. How then can a man who was tought to despise these things, push aside his upbringing to do what he feels?
The truth is, he can’t.
It takes a major wake up call from Elizabeth to throw all these things away. He has to change his manner of address, his manners in general, his attitude, and even some of his values. That is much more complex to me than money. Being brought to emotional humility from such great heights is not a change in money in this case. It’s a change in heart.
Money gives the background, but the story of Darcy is nothing he can buy with. Take away his money, take away Darcy’s character, and you’v lost one of the biggest portions of your story away.
that is funny. my wife still likes Mr Darcy.. it is strange attraction.
Yikes. I just re-read my post and there are a lot of flagrant spelling and grammatical errors. Forgive me. It was early.
Emily,
I don’t deny Mr. Darcy’s finer qualities, his motives, or his character arc, but as you noted in your last sentence, the only thing that makes the whole story possible is Mr. Darcy, and the only thing that makes Mr. Darcy possible is his £10,000 a year.
Without his enormous fortune, Mr. Darcy couldn’t have spent the summer lounging around Netherfied and never would have met Elizabeth in the first place. Without his enormous fortune, he couldn’t have bailed everyone out (repeatedly). And without his enormous fortune, he couldn’t have married Elizabeth.
After all, Elizabeth’s “portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of [her] loveliness and amiable qualifications.” It was his money that enabled him to appreciate her for who she was, rather than having to focus on her income.
That’s not any fault of Darcy’s. They have a section on the Pemberly site that talks about “Money and Marriage”:
But whenever I hear women rhapsodizing about Mr. Darcy, they conveniently forget the fact that he was loaded. I guess “cash conquers all” isn’t nearly as romantic a slogan as the alternative.
What can we expect from a society that still thinks that men should pay for dates?
Before my husband and I were married, he commented at work that I insisted on paying for every other date. A good many of his female co-workers were very critical. They said that a man should pay for the pleasure of their company.
Still, isn’t “he’s rich and she’s handsome” somewhere in the book, too?
Isn’t Mr. Darcy just as shallow for seeking out a pretty girl with dark eyes and a pleasing figure?
Horray Yvonne! I’ve been trying desperately to collect my thoughts in a more persuasive manner of presentation, and that rather helped. Yes, Grettir, I’m sure you’re thinking, “oh come on! Give it a break already!” But I feel passionately on the subject, so tough cookies.
I think that the issue is not in the “selective depth” of either character. I think that Jane Austen was NOT trying to merely convey any one issue, be it money, beauty, etc., but that she was trying to convey the title of the story, and these two things were simply mediums through which to do this. Everyone has a shallow hang-up. Pick and choose. Any, and all are weaknesses, and the story teaches us to look past these. To conquer them. To recognize them. Darcy and Elizabeth both have weaknesses, and until they were pointed out, neither realized the degree to which the weakness (pride, prejudice, vanity, etc.)hinders him/her.
P.S. “He’s rich and she’s handsome” is from Sense and Sensibility.
Me like Colin Firth.
And, surprisingly, me like the Mr. Darcy in the newest, “modern” [and a.k.a. "Mormon"], shockingly charming version of “Pride and Prejudice,” which was shot right here in good ol’ Utah. (Long live the Bombay House!)
However, I think that the newest Darcy (Orlando Seale) looks disarmingly like Greg Wise.
Now wait a minute. Were we debating the merits of each different hunky Darcy? Or were we hosting a mature Marxist analysis of the merits and de-merits of the socio-economic climate and mores of early 19th century Britain? I forget…
AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! Someone MUST MAKE A COMMENT. I CANNOT STAND THE SILENCE any longer. I come here day after Day after DAY, and STILL no new stuff. THE TENSION IS KILLING ME!
[*pant, pant, pant*]
(I’ve decided— No more Mr. Darcy. We’re beating a dead horse.)
*Ahem.*
I have been having gall bladder pains lately. They hurt. (Emily, you will empathize, since your gall bladder was just removed.)
As a matter of fact, when I explained my symptoms to my surgeon brother-in-law he said: “Yep. It’s your gall bladder.” And I said: “It can’t be my gall bladder—Emily just had hers out yesterday.” And then he said: “So?” And then I said: “So what do I do about it?” And then he said: “Do you have any Lortab?” He was not very helpful. I think that doctors should be more helpful.
The End.
amen and amen, Jenny.
Oh, and I can definitely sympathize. The good news is that I lost 10 lbs by eating non or low fat foods for two months before I got my gallbladder out. The bad news was that healthy food gets boring quickly. But I had two brownies today and didn’t even feel sick! So if you have to get your gallbladder out, it’ll be worth it in the end.
love,
emily
p.s. doctors should be a bit more helpful
I must agree with Jenny and Emily…every day or so I have checked…and there has definitely been a paucity of tiny pineapples
In reference to your ‘Listening To’ section, I love Bebel Gilberto’s Tanto Tempo.
I wonder if you are familiar with Koop?
( http://www.dieselmusic.se/koop/mov/baby.mov — QuickTime music video)
They are cool.