Darcy and Elizabeth both have very kind, considerate personalities; this is often shown by the way in which they help their friends and relatives. Elizabeth walks for miles through muddy countryside at one point so that she can visit her poorly sister at Netherfield. She does this against the judgement of her mother, who says to Elizabeth, “You will not be seen fit when you get there”. Elizabeth simply replies, “I shall be very fit to see Jane – which is all I want”. This demonstrates her unpretentious and sincere nature: she does not care about superficial aspects or formalities when her sister is in danger. Elizabeth’s commanding reply to her mother shows her strong personality; she will not compromise her principles to satisfy other people’s insignificant desires.
Darcy demonstrates his consideration for others when he encourages his close friend Mr Bingley not to try and cement his relationship with Jane. Although at first glance this appears to be because Darcy believes that Jane is of too low a class for his friend, it is in fact because of Elizabeth’s “sisters indifference” (in the perception of Darcy) towards Mr Bingley. Mr Darcy is explaining that he believes Jane did not share the love for Mr Bingley, which he had for her. This shows how Darcy, in consideration for Bingley, is trying to shield him from the pain of rejection. This also shows how Darcy himself believes love is essential for a good marriage. The strong influence that Darcy has over his friend also shows his own strength of character.
Another example of Darcy’s integrity and strength of character is demonstrated by the way in which he handles rejection himself. When Elizabeth rejects Darcy’s first proposal to her he is initially very shocked and shaken (“the disturbance of his mind was visible in every feature”). When Elizabeth later receives a letter from him, Darcy writes with considerable respect; at one point Darcy writes, “It pains me to offend you”. Darcy does not write spitefully or with prejudice as others of a lower moral standing may in retaliation to rejection.
This letter serves to demonstrate Darcy’s intelligence. In the letter he is replying to the two main reasons that Elizabeth gave for rejecting his first proposal: him splitting up Jane and Bingley, and his apparent acts of hostility towards Wickham. Darcy presents his weaker argument first (that of Jane and Bingley), and then moves on with devastating detail to lie out his case against Wickham. By presenting his weaker case first, Darcy appears more truthful to Elizabeth. When Darcy has finished with the truth about Wickham, he further demonstrates his intelligence and kindness by complimenting Elizabeth: on the subject of Wickham’s real history Darcy writes, “Detection could not be in your power, and suspicion certainly not in your inclination”. Darcy is saying that Elizabeth has too nice a nature to be suspicious, and even she – as perceptive as she is – would not have been able to see through Wickham’s camouflage. Darcy goes on to explain why he did not reveal the answers to Elizabeth’s reasons against marriage initially, saying “I was not then master enough of myself to know what could or ought to be revealed”. This shows how rational Darcy can be even when he is emotional, a characteristic that he shares with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s own intelligence can be shown by her use of rhetoric when rejecting Darcy’s proposal: “You have withheld… You have deprived… You have done all this… yet you can treat the mention…” Elizabeth continually uses the word ‘you’ to add power to her speech, helping her to denunciate Darcy. This also demonstrates Elizabeth’s previously mentioned rationality when emotional.
As I have already suggested that Darcy believes love is a necessity for a good marriage (by him splitting up Jane and Bingley on the basis that Jane does not love Bingley), it seems logical that Darcy would not propose to Elizabeth unless he loved her. It only becomes apparent that Elizabeth truly loves Darcy when she realises ironically that she may never be able to marry him because of her sister’s (Lydia) conduct with Wickham: “From such a connection she could not wonder that he should shrink”. Elizabeth believes that because of Wickham’s connection to the Bennets, Darcy would never want to marry into her family; thereby revealing her own love for Darcy. Elizabeth goes on to think, “could he know that the proposals which she had proudly spurned only four month’s ago would now have been gratefully received”. This shows how her understanding of Mr Darcy has improved over the four months since his first proposal; the reader realises that Elizabeth has had time to the think this over, showing that her attraction has a good moral basis. Darcy finds her character so amiable that he casts aside his pride when thinking about her lower social status, demonstrating Darcy’s own moral basis for his attraction.
Although all these factors alone may be good enough in the eyes of Jane Austen for marriage, the fact that both Elizabeth and Darcy have improved as people as a result of their interaction with each other increases their suitability even further. This is shown when Darcy admits that certain things Elizabeth said to him had a significant effect on him; particularly the phrase “had you acted in a more gentlemanlike manner”. Elizabeth often notices the improvement in Darcy’s manners after this point in the book. Elizabeth learns from her relationship with Darcy that her first impressions are not always completely accurate, and she should not live by them. This advancement in Darcy and Elizabeth’s character is an example of Aristotelian ethics: Aristotle emphasises that one of the most important aspects of friendship is that friends help each other to see and remedy faults in their character. Jane Austen is showing how Elizabeth, unwilling to sacrifice her principles, ends up the happiest – slightly ironically, married to a very rich and handsome man.
