The relationship between Jane Bennet and Mr.Bingley is one of the hurdles that impedes a union. Elizabeth is livid with Darcy for trying to change the situation between her sister and Mr.Bingley. Yet as he later explains, Darcy interfered in their relationship, only because he was concerned for his friend, Mr.Bingley; he did not realise the depth of Jane’s feelings towards his friend. Darcy is impressed by Lizzy’s devotion towards her family, especially Jane. He too is devoted to his sister and admires Lizzy’s obvious love and concern for Jane, recognising loyal and love and genuine virtues. He is determined to put his mistakes right by bringing Bingley and Jane together. This is done when he gives his blessing to Bingley to marry Jane.
“I am all astonishment. How long has she been a favourite?” Miss Bingley is very jealous of Lizzy as Darcy loves her and hopes to marry her instead of herself. She is expressive with her opinions on Elizabeth and hope they affect Darcy in not liking her but it has the opposite effect; he does not agree with her but defends Lizzy and feels more strongly about her. Both Bingley sisters are spiteful and sarcastic towards Bennets, except Jane but the soon tire of her too. “…I never could see any beauty in her.” Comments such as this shows what the Bingley sisters think of Lizzy. However their comment make no difference in this case as far as anyone is concerned.
Mr.Wickham is a character that seemed to cause a great deal of trouble for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. He is a sly and scheming man and only cares about himself. Lizzy does not realise this at first. Mr.Wickham gained her trust and she believed him completely. Mr.Wickham made Lizzy believe that Darcy was a dreadful man who has cruelly mistreated innocent Wickham. When he eloped with her sister, Lydia, she was deeply distressed by the news as were her family. Little did Lizzy know that Darcy helped to resolve the situation by forcing Wickham to marry Lydia, paying him off and repaying Wickham’s debts. This helped the family enormously but they did not know Darcy was involved. The reason Darcy did this was so that the rest of the girls could be married easily and to save their reputation. More over, he is in love with Lizzy and wants to marry her. When Lizzy discovers the truth about everything she begins to change her opinion of Mr.Darcy and eventually comes to love him.
Darcy revels attraction towards Lizzy when he proposes to her. This is the first time that Lizzy has any inkling that he loves her, as he had not show any affection towards her. “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feeling will not be repressed.” He tells his feelings as if he was ashamed to love her. Elizabeth is very offended by this and she dislikes him even more. However even though she refuses his proposal, she is deeply flattered that he asked her and some of her self-esteem and confidence are restored.
Another person that comes between Darcy and Lizzy is Lady Catherine De Bourgh. She wants her own daughter to marry Darcy. “While in their cradles we planned the union,” Lady Catherine has strong feelings about the thought of Elizabeth Bennet marrying her nephew. She tries her best to make sure this does not happen. Although she attempts to intimidate Lizzy into refusing to Darcy if he proposed to her, she does not succeed. Both Lizzy and Darcy wish to marry for love and nothing and nobody can persuade her otherwise. In a way, this makes Lizzy more eager to say yes to his proposal. Darcy is a strong stubborn character and will not be influenced by relatives such as Lady Catherine. When told what to do, he is naturally inclined to do the opposite.
Despite all these obstacles between the two, Elizabeth falls in love with Darcy. The greatest change occurs at Pemberly, when she visits with her uncle and aunt Mr and Mrs.Gardiner. “I have never had a cross word from him in my life,” here she hears from his housekeeper about how kind and noble Darcy is and that she has known him for a long time. In addition, Darcy was kind and courteous to Lizzy and Mr and Mrs.Gardiner. Her feelings for Darcy became more obvious to herself and begin to grow. Georgiana, Darcy’s sister, also influenced Lizzy as she was moved by the love she has for her brother. This made her think that could not be so terrible a man. She also finds his gentle and generous manner towards Georgina attractive, seeing a different and safer side to this aloof man.
After examining how Jane Austen devises a union, I have come to the following conclusion; in most ways Elizabeth and Darcy are different-she is lively and teasing whereas Darcy is shy and reserved. This causes a mutual attraction between them. They may seem different but they do also have many things in common that may not be realised immediately. Jane Austen has made this novel interesting to read as she makes you think they will never get married and so the novel’s conclusion is a romantic surprise. It shows the reader that anything is possible even if it seems to be impossible at first. The way this was constructed is very clever and extremely entertaining to read.
