“There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man.” “For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Mr. Darcy’s.”
This quote shows that Elizabeth herself believes this.
The other contribution to plot that lies within Mr. Darcy’s letter is the true story of why Mr Bingley went to London, and why he didn’t pursue a relationship with Jane. Earlier on in the novel the reader could only go by what Elizabeth thought, when she interpreted Miss Bingley’s letter to Jane, and we did not really know what had happened. Darcy’s letter explains all of this, and shows that he and Miss Bingley did indeed advise Mr Bingley to stay clear of Jane, mainly due to her connections, and Mr. Darcy’s care for his friend is evident.
The main themes covered in Mr Darcy’s letter are those of Love and marriage, and pride and prejudice.
The theme of love, although hidden comes across strongly in Mr Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth. Firstly the fact that he cares for her enough to feel it important to justify himself shows this. Other small things in the letter show this, such as the way he turns an insult to Elizabeth into a compliment,
“Let it give you consolation to consider that, to have conducted yourselves so as to avoid any share of the like censure, is praise no less generally bestowed on you and your eldest sister.”
As when he insults Elizabeth about her family, he praises her for avoiding being like them.
Also the ways in which he puts “Pardon me.-It pains me to offend you.” Now and again, showing that Darcy takes no comfort in wiring such things. Trust Darcy has for Elizabeth also shows in the letter, as he reveals some very private information concerning his sister, and “I feel no doubt of your secrecy”, shows that he does in fact trust her to keep the information to herself.
In the letter the theme of marriage and aspects of society somewhat join together, as Mr Darcy states the grievance of such a marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley due to the families connection, especially on the mothers side.
“To preserve my friend from what I esteemed a most unhappy connection.”
This shows how connections in society could affect a marriage, no matter what the person was like. Here also lies the theme of pride and prejudice, as Mr. Darcy is being prejudice against Elizabeth and Jane’s social inferiority, and Darcy’s pride in his family, social class and connections leads him to his prejudice.
Finally, the aspect of the letter toward the development of Mr Darcy’s character towards Elizabeth. This must be the biggest contribution the letter partakes in the novel, although maybe Elizabeth doesn’t change her opinion of him straight away, it certainly does later on. The letter shows Mr Darcy’s sincerity,
“If your abhorrence of me should make my assertions valueless, you cannot be prevented by the same cause from confiding in my cousin.” Which shows how important it is to Darcy that Elizabeth knows and believes the information thus received. The letter shows how caring Darcy can be to his good friend Mr Bingley. He justifies his actions, and believes he was correct in doing so “I cannot blame myself for having done thus much”, and the fact that he saw that Bingley was falling in love with Jane, and it didn’t seem as if Jane returned those feeling for him,
“that though she received his attentions with pleasure, she did not invite them by any participation of sentiment.”
This shows that Mr Darcy had the best intensions for keeping Bingley from Jane, as although the connection may have been unhappy, he also did not want to see Bingley get hurt.
“I did not believe her to be indifferent because I wished it; I believed it on impartial conviction.”
We also see how generous Mr Darcy is, and not at all proud of being so. Such as the incident with Mr Wickham, he was generous in giving him more money than before agreed, and was not proud of saving his sister from an elopement with him.
“I rather wished than believed him to be sincere; but at any rate, was perfectly ready to accede to his proposal.”
We learn that Darcy is a man who deals with things quietly, and secretively,
“Regard for my sisters credit and feelings prevented any public exposure.”
There is also evidence of this further on in the novel when he saves the Bennet family, and persuades Wickham to marry Lydia.
Darcy’s letter is an essential point in the novel, the fact that he feels the need to explain and justify his actions shows the admiration, which he has for Elizabeth, and shows her criticism of him has hurt his pride, the letter shows complete honesty. We as a reader learn very much so in terms of plot, and much more about Mr Darcy’s character, which so far has been quite misjudged. A main aspect of the letter is the revealing of Wickham’s true character a man of “idleness and dissipation”, which we find to be very true later on in the novel, when he elopes with Lydia, with no intension of marrying her. The letter is a realization point for Elizabeth, as it makes her realize how prejudice she has been herself, and causes her to reevaluate all of her opinions.