In contrast to her first impressions of Darcy, Elizabeth finds Mr Wickham perfectly agreeable. It can be seen that because she is attracted to Wickham and prejudiced against Darcy, she does not use the ability to analyse character that she prides herself on possessing and yet believes that she has an unbiased opinion. Not noticing that Wickham is inappropriately frank about the mistreatment he claims he suffered at Darcy’s hands, her own weakness of character reveals she can be, and indeed is being, narrow-minded. Wickham’s story strengthens Elizabeth’s obviously conceited belief that her own impressions of Darcy are true and unbiased. When she hears rumours, from the Bingleys, that Wickham is not what he appears, she decides that they share Darcy’s bias and therefore cannot be trusted.
Elizabeth sees Wickham as “her model of the amiable and pleasing”; her vanity is highly flattered by his attentions. Evidently her opinion of him is not strong enough to enable her to put aside the social conventions of the day because, although her first impressions of him are exceedingly favourable, she recognises that she is scarcely likely to marry him as both have next to nothing. Clearly her character shows inconsistency in accepting Wickham’s relationship with Miss King while criticizing the reasons for Charlotte’s marriage to Mr Collins. It is her prejudice in Wickham’s favour that allows her to hold such contradictory views.
Although Elizabeth, in accordance with social convention, is flattered by having been proposed to by someone of Darcy’s status, she reacts consistently with what she considers to be impartial opinions. His behaviour toward Jane and Wickham’s story have convinced her that she is correct in believing him to be “abominably proud”. Her view of Darcy is not conditioned by the mercenary consideration often displayed by many characters in the novel. This suggests that, while she is susceptible to being easily prejudiced and deceived by her first impressions, she has individual judgement and strength of character when thinking independently of the wealth and status attitudes prevalent in society.
Elizabeth reads Darcy’s letter with a strong prejudice against him; thinking of every excuse possible because “forbearance to Darcy is injury to Wickham”, her conceited impressions of Wickham tend to blind her. However, one can distinguish this as the turning point in changing her first, deceptive impressions. Beginning to see the “inconsistency of [Wickham’s] professions with his conduct” and his mercenary attentions to Miss King, she suddenly recognises that she has been vain and prejudiced in her apparently unbiased opinion. Elizabeth’s discriminatory first impressions of Wickham have stayed in place until jolted into reality by Darcy’s revealing letter. Heartily ashamed of herself, realising how conceited she had been, she declares that until that moment, “[she] never knew [herself].”
While Elizabeth sees, after believing Darcy’s account, that she had misjudged him regarding Wickham, she does not realise what Darcy is truly like until she hears the accounts of his housekeeper at Pemberley and reads Mrs Gardiner’s letter regarding Darcy’s involvement in Lydia’s marriage. It is ironic that Elizabeth, who in the opening of the novel prided herself on her independent character analysis, ends up relying on far more sources than her own impressions to form an accurate judgment; Darcy’s letter, the experienced housekeeper’s account, Wickham’s shameful elopement and Mrs Gardiner’s letter are highly influential in forming her right and lasting opinions of the two men.
Lamenting that “one has all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it”, Elizabeth’s character developed eventually, with the help of the incidents in the novel, until she was able to see her blinding prejudice. Deceived by her first impressions, she finally discovers the men’s true nature.
[Teacher’s Comments: Generally clear, expressing appropriate terminology ∼ AO1; Clear judgement of Elizabeth’s shortcomings as revealed by her attitudes to Darcy and Wickham ∼ AO4; Understanding of social content of period ∼ AO5i.]
