I recently read Pride and Prejudice and wrote about it (http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2011/11/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen-read.html and http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppv3n58.html#darcylove). Guruji also read the book.
I asked her today. Why did Eliza love Darcy?
She said:
- All the negatives that Eliza had seen in Darcy earlier were because of her misunderstanding. Darcy was a very good man (he had helped Lydia get married to Wickham).
- Darcy had a strong mind.
- There were not many men like Darcy (My comment: There are also not many men who are five feet tall. Does one fall in love with someone just because he belongs to a rare kind?)
- Eliza said that her disposition was suited to Darcy's. (My comment: That is my question. Why did she say that?)
She stopped here since Dimple had called her to say dinner was ready. She said she will continue after dinner. My thoughts continued. Why did Eliza love Darcy?
- Initially Darcy got off on the wrong foot with Eliza and she thought him to be very arrogant, just as many others thought of Darcy. Later after she ready the letter from Darcy (http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/36/) and after hearing what Darcy's housekeeper had to say about him (http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/43/) she understood that she was not only completely mistaken in her evaluation of him but also that he was a very nice man indeed with a very forbidding exterior.
- The fact that Darcy had left his arrogance aside and had gone out of his way to help her family problem (arranging for Lydia to wed Wickham http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/52/) was only because of his deep love for her. When someone loves us deeply we usually soften our stance and "reduce" the bar. And when Eliza went through these emotions, also recollecting how she had treated an essentially good man, she was shocked, ashamed and finally fiercely in love. That was when she refused to acquiesce to Darcy's aunt (http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/56/).
What Eliza really expected was a man who would accept her spirit and tame it. She definitely would not have tolerated a Bingley who, while an exceedingly nice man, would not have ever got her respect. Darcy had the raw power and the mind to which should would be only glad to surrender.
These were the reasons why Eliza loved Darcy. Have I said anything different from what Guruji told me? Well, not really. I have only explained it better. I have added no new points really.
As I often tell my friends, women have a serious trouble in communicating well. They confuse eloquence for quality.
What Eliza really expected was a man who would accept her spirit and tame it and guide it to its absolute perfection!
ReplyDeleteBesides she used her brains to judge him and knew that there was more to him than met the eye! She was quite curious about him, and even the attachment with Wickham was more because of the common Darcy between them.
"She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved, and from his judgment, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance."
can read this http://austenette.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/elizabeths-love-for-darcy-and-holy-matrimony/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080327070514AAhQjpi