In chapter 18 Austen again lets us know Elizabeth’s feelings towards Darcy known, Wickham has not turned up at the ball and Elizabeth automatically assumes that this is of Darcy’s doing and doesn’t contemplate any other reason. Again we are we are notified of Elizabeth’s feelings but we also become aware of the fact that Elizabeth in actual fact is trying her hardest to find Mr Darcy disagreeable. “That would be the greatest misfortune of all to find a man agreeable who one is determined to hate” the uses of the words determined and hate show just how strong Elizabeth’s feelings are towards Mr Darcy, if you are determined to hate someone it normally mean you will do anything you can not to like him. Not only is she determined but the choice of the word hate builds up the feelings of Elizabeth as hate is such a harsh word if Austen had used dislike then perhaps the sentence would not have had the same effect. When the two dance together it is obvious there is tension, as neither seems ready to try and engage in conversation until Elizabeth in a rather sarcastic tone begins one. In the book it tells us that the real reason that Elizabeth talks to Darcy is because she feel that it may be more punishment for him to talk to her than it would for him to not. Darcy replies but says nothing else to carry the conversation on further proving that he does not really wish to talk to her. Elizabeth’s views on Darcy are not helped by the fact that he wishes to avoid the subject of Wickham I n her eyes it just backs up the statements made by Wickham She also gives the impression she cares not for what Darcy has to say as Austen portrays Elizabeth as daydreaming almost when Darcy tries himself to begin conversation. This chapter I feel underlines her dislike for Mr Darcy and shows she cares not to change her opinion.
In chapter 34, the main turning point in Elizabeth’s feelings towards Darcy comes about. Darcy decides to reveal to Elizabeth his secret love for her, ‘you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’ His proposal of marriage dwells at length upon her social inferiority, and Elizabeth’s initially polite rejection turns into an angry accusation. She demands to know if he sabotaged Jane’s romance with Bingley. She then repeats Wickham’s accusations and declares that she thinks Darcy to be proud and selfish and that marriage to him is utterly unthinkable. Until he asks her to marry him, Elizabeth’s main preoccupation with Darcy revolves around dislike; after the proposal, Austen shows the slow, steady growth of her love. At that moment, however, Elizabeth’s attitude toward Darcy corresponds to the judgements she has already made about him. She refuses him because she thinks that he is too arrogant, part of her first impression of him at the first Netherfield ball, and because of the role she believes he played in disinheriting Wickham and his role in disrupting the romance between Jane and Bingley. Darcy allows his pride to guide him. In his proposal to Elizabeth, he spends more time emphasising Elizabeth’s lower rank than actually asking her to marry him “he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride.” This turning point therefore happens with the two characters in conflicting emotional locations.
As Elizabeth tours the beautiful estate of Pemberley with the Gardiners, she imagines what it would be like to be mistress there, as Darcy’s wife. The housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, shows them portraits of Darcy and Wickham and relates that Darcy, in his youth, was “the sweetest, most generous-hearted boy in the world.” She adds that he is the kindest of masters: “I have never had a cross word from him in my life.” Elizabeth is surprised to hear such an agreeable description of a man she considers unbearably arrogant. Mrs. Reynolds’s glowing descriptions of Darcy continue the process of breaking down Elizabeth’s initial prejudice against him. As Mrs. Reynolds reveals a hidden side of Darcy, Elizabeth realises how hastily she has judged him. This ability to admit the error of her ways demonstrates Elizabeth’s emotional maturity. Elizabeth does not allow arrogance to prevent her from confronting her own errors. While Elizabeth and the Gardiners continue to explore the grounds, Darcy himself suddenly appears. He joins them in their walk, proving remarkably polite. Elizabeth is immediately embarrassed at having come to Pemberley after the events of recent months, and she assures Darcy that she came only because she thought that he was away. Darcy tells her that he has just arrived to prepare his home for a group of guests that includes the Bingleys and his own sister, Georgiana. He asks Elizabeth if she would like to meet Georgiana, and Elizabeth replies that she would. After Darcy leaves them, the Gardiners comment on his good looks and good manners, so strikingly divergent from the account of Darcy’s character that Elizabeth has given them. The arrival of Darcy himself further encourages Elizabeth’s change of heart. Humbled by her rejection of his marriage proposal, Darcy has altered his conduct toward her and become a perfect gentleman. This courteous behaviour both illustrates his love for her and compels the growth of her estimation of him. His ability to overcome his pride in much the same way that Elizabeth overcomes her prejudice gives hope that her rejection of him has not caused him to give up and that he may propose again under different terms.
In conclusion, Jane Austen shows that Elizabeth takes a long time to change her feelings, but the main reason she didn’t want to let him tell his side of the story was due to her first impressions of him. However, when she realises her mistake, it is possible to see how much she has come to adore him as much as he adores her.
