‘Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had
a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners.’ ... ‘His brother-in-law,
Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person,
handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation
within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine
figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr.
Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening,
till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he
was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased;
and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most
forbidding, disagreeable countenance…’
‘His pride,’
said Miss Lucas, ‘does not offend ME so much
as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that
so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour,
should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a RIGHT to be
proud.’
‘That is very true,’ replied Elizabeth, ‘and I could easily forgive HIS pride, if he
had not mortified MINE.’
‘Between him (Bingley) and Darcy there was a very
steady friendship, in spite of great opposition of character. Bingley was
endeared to Darcy by the easiness, openness, and ductility of his temper,
though no disposition could offer a greater contrast to his own, and though
with his own he never appeared dissatisfied. On the strength of Darcy’s regard,
Bingley had the firmest reliance, and of his judgement the highest opinion. 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 wellbred were not inviting.’
‘Well, my dear,’ said he (Mr Bennet), when she
(Elizabeth) ceased speaking, ‘I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have
parted with you, my Lizzy, to anyone
less worthy.’
One year ago, March 14th 2012, I started this blog very uncertain of
what I was doing.
Now I’m a little more assured, a lot more confident
and about to start posting another fic.
This year has been great to my hobby - that MAY have
escalated to obsession - a lot happened: I gathered enough courage to post my
story, I wrote and posted several other stories, self-published my book
… wow, I
have been busy!
And coincidentally - really, it’s a coincidence - my blog's anniversary
post is about… Mr Darcy!
Completing the tripod that sustains my new story ‘Image and Likeness’, let me tell you about how I think Mr D. is seen in Pride and
Prejudice.
I keep feeling that he is a man all men want to be.
Kind of a role model to the other gentlemen who looked up to him in so many
ways. In the quotes I posted above you can see examples of the impression he
causes: fine, tall person, handsome features, noble
mien; so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour;
clever, at the same time haughty, reserved, fastidious, wellbred. A worthy man.
Maybe I got that idea from the many, many, many jokes I endure from my own male friends, always jesting about how purrrfect Mr Darcy is.
Anyway, we could say that Mr Darcy has
several good qualities. Flair.
Forethought. He loves his family, he loves his estate. He is persistent. Also tiresome
at times, but has a full heart and works hard to get what he wants. He is nobody's
bitch. A Whistle-blower. So righteous that he wouldn’t change his mind for
anyone or anything even if he was not being watched. But he eventually changed
his mind when he was humbled by the woman he was starting to love. That’s darn
nice.
I found a
funny list of men who men should look up to and look at these guys.
George
Clooney. Eats class
for breakfast.
Simon
Cowell. Has he ever
— even once — been wrong?
James
Caan. He always
seemed tougher than you, always seemed to know better. Now, as age and doubt
creep in, you find yourself hoping he still is and suspecting he still does.
My point is
that a man other men want to be is frequently surrounded by envy. Either pure
envy or white envy as we say here in Brazil, the kind of feeling that ‘If I
wear the same sunglasses I can look good like that guy.’ Unfortunately almost never
it’s like ‘If I make an effort to be as right as this guy is, maybe I can win
the same kind of great woman he has.’
We all know
a lot of Wickhams to understand the situation, don’t we?
The way I
see Darcy’s influence on the other characters, it’s not only his money that
does the trick: it’s his strong personality and unwavering resolution. He is
strong minded and sometimes short sighted. Prideful and clever.
Wouldn’t we
use these qualities to define Lizzy as well?
And concluding,
that funny list of celebrity role models has… Martha Stewart. Nobody's
bitch. Expertise. Authority. Salesmanship. A rap sheet. And a high net worth.
What man wouldn't want to be her?
That is it:
who would ever want to be someone’s bitch?
To
celebrate this anniversary I’m starting today with ‘Image and Likeness’ - a
story about envious women who won’t be anyone’s bitch.
Enjoy.
*KISS ME: I’m a one year old blogger!*
Images found on Google, quotes from Ms Austen's Pride and Prejudice, babble is mine.
Ah! Also the anniversary is mine!
