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Maldevinine t1_j7ep240 wrote

Reply to comment by nyanyaneko2 in Pride and Prejudice to me is the epitome of romance novels but I recently found something about Elizabeth that I disliked by nyanyaneko2

I think that it is pointless to speculate on whether or not Darcy actually liked Elizabeth, because for all that Jane Austen is a brilliant satirist, she has no idea about how male attraction works and so none of the scenes which include Darcy have him come across as a real and functional man.

Not that any other women romance writer I have read is any better.

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TheOracleArt t1_j7f6m8d wrote

I disagree. We never see inside Darcy's head, we only ever see his attraction through the propriety of social constructs during that time. Maybe the first time he saw her, he thought she had a banging set of tits and had to fight most of the night to try and get a better glimpse down her dress, but the social mores of the time would have branded him as an outcast for even the hint of such behaviour. Wickham is the type to happily shag anything that moves, and seemingly has no compunction about stealing away impressionable teenage daughters for a bit of fun before promptly abandoning them. But during social engagements, he has utterly perfect manners and never a hint of this side of him comes through, for all it was obviously present within him. That's because, in that time period, unless you were fabulously (royalty level) wealthy, to do so would be a social death sentence.

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Maldevinine t1_j7f76ma wrote

So you're just going to reduce him to a different completely incorrect set of stereotypes?

Nah, it's in things like his first proposal. When he's talking about how he loves Elizabeth despite not liking her and being unable to think of anything else, that's a woman's fantasy not an actual man.

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TheOracleArt t1_j7fammi wrote

'“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.”
Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her immediately followed. He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority, of its being a degradation, of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.'

That's the most we get of his confession. I would note - her inferiority in this respect is the station of her birth - not of her as a person or her mind. Class structures in Britain dictated everything back then. We don't know what he lists as her positive qualities, because we know nothing of the actual speech he gave her, just that her station and family are an obstacle that he feels he's valiantly overcome.

Then again, maybe you have a deeper understanding of what the stuck-up noblemen of the early 1800s would have detailed in a love declaration, more than someone like Austin who grew up during that time period.

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