The eagerly awaitedtown ball was a few days later and eagerly which was a distressing wait for Mrs. Bennet. The day soon come and the Assembly Hall at Meryton was the venue. Mr Darcy, a close friend of Mr. Bingley soon drew the attention of all in attendance and was thought to be a great man until half way through the evening “ till his manners gave a turn of disgust which turned the tide of his popularity” as he was discovered to be full of pride and coldness. The people of Meryton soon marked him down as “haughty,” “reserved” and “ the proudest most disagreeable man in the world,”Mr. Darcy also thought himself to be superior company to the others attending. From the first experience of Mr. Darcys manners Elizabeth had her own preconceived opinion of him, this encounter fuelled her prejudice against Darcy which gets stronger throughout the novel, she also has a discordance of opinion towards Mr. Bingley from Jane, as Elizabeth thinks Jane tries to see the best in everybody as Jane Austen shows us in reference to Mr. Bingleys sisters in chapter six “by Jane this attention was received with the greatest pleasure” This incident at Meryton gives us the first glimpse of the variation in character between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Charlotte and Elizabeth’s opinions about the relationship between Jane and Mr. Bingley are divided which also gives us another observation of Elizabeth’s character. Charlotte believes that is perfectly acceptable for a woman to marry for one primary reason, social improvement and to become financially secure “but there a very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement” On the other hand Elizabeth has much more morality than Charlotte Lucas and believes that a relationship between a man and a woman should take its course naturally and that they should marry solely for love and happiness “your plan is a good one replied Elizabeth where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married.”
When Darcy and Lizzy meet again at the Lucas party it is revealed to the reader that Darcy is attracted to Lizzy but he is unaware that Lizzy has already built up a dislike to him.
“In understanding Darcy was the superior .Bingley was by no means deficient ,but Darcy was clever. He was at the same time haughty, reserved and fastidious and his manners ,though well bred, were not inviting.” Elizabeth discovers this discription of Darcy at the Netherfield Ball when he is overheard commenting about Elizabeth,which he says “she is tolerable but not quite handsome enough to tempt me.” This comment didn’t have a good effect on Lizzys opinion of Darcy and she was enraged with anger. After this incident Elizabeth had her mind made that Darcy was a snobbish reserved man whom she didn’t want to have much to do with.
Lizzys dislike towards Mr. Darcy turns to hatred when she meets George Wickham who informs Lizzys of his harsh treatment from Darcy.
Darcys proposal of marriage to Lizzy soon follows and couldn’t occur at a possibly worse time.Darcy is totally unaware of the dislike she has for him but when his offer is rejected he soon finds out.
Darcy writes a letter that contains all his true feelings and hands it to Elizabeth.The letter is the turning point of the novel.Elizabeth, the only character who is seeking only true love in marriage, is totally blind when it is right in front of her, she becomes absolutely ashamed of herself.Lizzy always believed she had the ability to make out peoples personalities. Now, she realises that all this time she has been ignorant, biased and prideful.
I think there is three paramount stages which alter Elizabeths opinion about Darcy. I think this points out that Lizzy is a very obstinate and headstrong young woman who isn’t easily won over. This statement also tells us about Darcys character as being perseverant and not willing to give up even though Elizabeth showed signs of hatred and dislike towards him (including the marriage proposal from Darcy).
I think the three stages are Darcys letter to Lizzy exposing Wickhams true character, Viewing Pemberley estate and discovering that Darcy had paid for the marriage of Lydia Bennet and George Wickham. Elizabeth soon realises that she has been badly mistaken about everything to do with Darcy and it comes to her attention that Darcy is actually graceful, benevolent, full of integrity and that if the Bennet family hadn’t been the beneficiary of Mr. Darcys generosity they would have been destroyed because of the merciless and senseless ways of Lydia Bennet. Its also is found out that Darcy carried out all these acts solely for one reason and that was fo the love and happiness of Elizabeth Bennet .
When we talk about Pride and Prejudice you usually associate the book with Darcys pride and Lizzys Prejudice but Lizzy also had a little bit of pride aswell as we see when she turns down Mr. Collins and the way she views Charlotte Lucases marriage to Mr. Collins “ Upon my word Sir cried Elizabeth ‘your hope is rather an extraordinary one after my declaration’ ” Behind Darcys pride there is a certain sense of shyness, ‘when he was at the town ball at the Assembly Hall in Meryton and refused to dance I think this was because of shyness towards strangers.’
Elizabeth now fully respects Darcy after finding out the truth about him from his letter. She admires him for being who he is, a man of manners, decorum and integrity.
I think Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet would have a good marriage and be happy together because they both complement each other. Lizzy’s good humour and liveliness compensates for Darcys seriousness.
The most unlikely marrigage to occur throughout the novel and the one that’s turns out to be the strongest. Darcy is a man of reason, stability and intellect.
