Why I Don't Like the Darcy Fandom: A Rant

Some of you, I think, may raise your eyebrows at that post title.  "Wait a minute.  Melody IS a Darcy fan... isn't she?  Or has she changed drastically lately?"

No, my dears.  I don't believe in doing that.  Changing drastically, that is.  Yes, I am a fan of Mr. Darcy.  He ties for top spot in my list of favorite heroes.  So why do I dislike the Darcy fandom?  Wouldn't I enjoy fellow admirers of Mr. Darcy?

Indeed, I do love finding people who agree with me.  But so many who have similar opinions as I do on Jane Austen subjects hold Mr. Knightley to be their definite top-favorite Jane Austen Hero.  Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with that; I quite understand it.  Mr. Knightley is very admirable.  Yet, I honestly think that many people flock to Mr. Knightley while ignoring Mr. Darcy because he is... ha, too mainstream.  Mr. Knightley seems like a real character, the perfect gentleman, but Mr. Darcy is... a Janeite stereotype.

How North and South is Not Like Pride and Prejudice

I have often heard it said that North and South is like Pride and Prejudice. I do not agree with this. I have also heard it said that North and South is like a darker version of Pride and Prejudice. I do not agree with this, either (although it is indeed darker). And I shall endeavor to explain why, as I have now just finished North and South (hereafter to be abbreviated to N&S, and Pride and Prejudice will be P&P) and therefore have sufficient knowledge of the story. I never trusted myself to try and write this post just based on the movie, you know.

(If you do not know these stories already, here is your spoiler warning.)

First of all, I shall list what I believe people base their comparison on, then I shall address the points, and then mention other differences.

Similarities (or what people might consider to be similarities):

1. The general storyline of both is something like this: a man and a woman meet, are not really impressed with each other in their own ways, but the man grows to love the woman and the woman to become more displeased with the man, then he proposes, is rejected, but continues to love her and eventually she finds out what a good guy he his and they finally come to an understanding intending marriage.

2. The heroine is prejudiced and the hero is proud.

3. There is also another man in the story from whom the heroine receives an offer of marriage, which she of course rejects.

4. The hero has a relation who disapproves of the match and at some point has a confrontation with the heroine.

5. The heroines both have an ailing mother who complains a lot.
6. There is a chapter in N&S called "First Impressions" which was P&P's original title.

7. The heroines are both named Elizabeth. (JOKING, I’m joking…although apparently that’s what whoever made this wallpaper/background thought!)

And now I shall address each one of those. Except 7, of course.

1 and 2—These are the ones that probably most everything is actually founded on; the others, I was just trying to think of any possibilities that people could consider. But you will notice that when I wrote the story themes in that description I had to use very general terms. This is because the stories are so unlike each other. This very general storyline is, I daresay, very popular, and these are not the only two authors who have used it. (Although the Janeite in me must point out that Jane Austen did it first. :D)

But anyways. First of all, if a comparison is to be made, I’d have to say that Margaret Hale’s sentiments were actually much more similar to Mr. Darcy’s than Elizabeth Bennet’s, which points out a dissimilarity to begin with. Margaret, we must understand, was brought up as a gentleman’s daughter even though her father is in reduced circumstances; although he was never a gentleman of leisure, his profession was one of the ones accepted by The Gentry, and she had been brought up as a little girl with her rich relatives during the school years in London. When she came to Milton she found what she perceived to be a deal of vulgarity, as Mr. Darcy probably thought about some of the people in Hertfordshire. Margaret found Mr. Thornton himself not to be as polished as she liked, although mostly she was prejudiced because he was a tradesman, or one could also say she was being prideful to look down upon them. Mr. Darcy did not actually find Elizabeth herself to be what he felt was beneath his notice—it was her family.

Also, the sentiments of Elizabeth and Margaret were quite different. What I said in the description there was not actually quite true on Margaret's account; she did not really grow to dislike Mr. Thornton more before he proposed. She had a little esteem that sort of went off and on, and if anything she might have thought a little better of him at that point than she did to begin with.

Speaking of which, the characters of the heroines and heroes are just so completely different from each other in the two stories. Especially Elizabeth and Margaret. Waaaaay different personalities going on. Since their temperaments and outlooks on life are so different, it's another thing that makes the stories differ.

And about the pride and prejudice thing. The fact is, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth both exhibit both traits themselves, and though some people attribute pride to Mr. Darcy and prejudice to Elizabeth, they both have a their share of both. Think about how Mr. Darcy was prejudiced coming to “an assembly such as this” in Meryton. (It’s obviously pointed out that he is proud, so I need not go into that.) He was also prejudiced as to Jane Bennet, believing that she did not really care for Mr. Bingley, rather because that is what he expected. Elizabeth was not really prejudiced about Mr. Darcy until he slighted her at the Meryton ball, which was a founded prejudice, if you ask me. Then she heard the untruth concerning Mr. Wickham and believed it. (You don’t see anything like this in N&S—if anybody is ever mistaken about the other, it is Mr. Thornton mistaken about Margaret and her brother, so there again we have the heroes and heroines not matching up between the two stories.) Then think of her reaction to his proposal. Remember that “had not your pride been hurt by my honest confession of the scruples that had long prevented my forming any serious design”? Or when Elizabeth herself said “I could more easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” There, Elizabeth herself just pointed out that they were both proud in their ways. Although she was half-joking there, and did not think pride was an admirable trait. That doesn't mean she didn't have it, though.

But back to what I was saying before. As for Mr. Thornton, I would have to say he didn’t demonstrate much prejudice, although he could be called proud in his way.

One could try to draw a similarity between Mr. Darcy saving Elizabeth’s honor by settling the affair with Lydia and Wickham and Mr. Thornton saving Margaret’s honor by making sure there was not an inquest in the affair with her and her brother (though he did not know it was her brother) at the station. Well, those were not at all the same when you get down to the technicalities. For one thing, in P&P Elizabeth became even more attached to Mr. Darcy after he did that for her family (for her, in point of fact); in N&S Margaret’s true feelings are rather unclear, but what she feels the most in the situation is mortification that Mr. Thornton should know that she lied. They’re just completely different situations. Mr. Darcy did it for Elizabeth with the full knowledge that it was because he loved her and wanted to save her from scandal; Mr. Thornton tried to convince himself first that he's doing it not for her sake really, but because of what he 'used to' feel for her (heh, heh, heh...) and finally he decides upon using his friendship with her father as an excuse. (Yeah, he's doing it for Mr. Hale. Uh-huh.) However, Mr. Darcy knew Elizabeth was blameless, whereas Mr. Thornton all along was tormented by the probability that Margaret was not at all blameless.

Then Mr. Thornton goes on to explain to Margaret that all his feelings are passed, of course, and that he didn’t really do it for her—pretty much the exact opposite of Mr. Darcy. (Although in the book we see that all along Mr. Thornton loved Margaret and this time, so HE who lied too… ahem. Oh Mr. Advocate for Truth, take a look at your own self.)

Furthermore, a big part of the story in P&P is that Mr. Darcy was struggling against his own better judgment to lower himself enough to actually acknowledge his feelings for Elizabeth. In N&S it wasn’t this way at all; Mr. Thornton knew that Margaret probably considered herself above him and if he hesitated in his affection it was because he felt she could never care for him.

They both deal with social class, yes. But it’s on a different plane entirely. P&P is all about The Gentry. N&S has a great deal to do with tradesmen manufacturers.

As for the rest of the story, it is all so different. Not only is it “darker,” it’s just… different. Margaret’s family situation, for starters. Mr. Thornton is a great friend of Mr. Hale and pays kind attentions to Mrs. Hale when she’s ill and all that. The main driving force in the story, I would say, is how Margaret adapts to living somewhere and being with people totally different than what she had experienced so far, and facing lots and lots of change in her life that forces her to lose the simplicity of her former existence. There isn’t anything like that in P&P at all; I would say the they-don’t-like-each-other-oh-wait-now-he-likes-her-but-she-doesn't-like-him-but-then-she-discovers-she’s-wrong-and-it-ends-happily is a bigger deal in P&P.

Now that almost makes it seem like I’m bashing P&P or something, but trust me when I say I’m not trying to do that AT ALL. P&P is my favorite book, my favorite story in the world. I much, much prefer it to N&S. I like the “Light & Bright & Sparkling”-ness of it. It’s so cleverly devised and wittily written, and not at all cheesy or silly, as somebody who gets the wrong impression from very little knowledge of it might think. I greatly admire N&S and think it’s a marvelous and clever story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I couldn’t have a steady diet of it. It’s much too heavy and could be tiring if one has an overdose of it. I cannot imagine having an overdose of P&P. ;)

I wish I knew whether Elizabeth Gaskell liked Jane Austen… I haven’t been able to find out. Does anybody know? I know that Mrs. Gaskell was actually acquainted and friends with Charlotte Bronte, who is infamous for not liking Jane Austen, but I suppose it does not necessarily follow that Elizabeth Gaskell doesn’t like her. One CAN be friends despite one liking Jane Austen and the other disliking her…

…or can they?

Kidding. Sort of.

And now, since I have run out of rambles, I’ll move on to point number 3.

Mr. Collins and Henry Lennox are two very, very different matters. Mr. Collins is a wife-hunter and—well, we all know what he is. Icky. Henry Lennox, on the other hand, is a respectable young man whom Margaret actually likes—but not in that way. He would annoy her as a husband. Also, he is not a wife-hunter at all; it’s one of those cases where a man doesn't believe in thinking about marriage until he's 'made himself', but then meets with a woman who changes his mind. Unfortunately for him, he has to be disappointed.

Now, personally I don’t much like Henry. He rather annoys me. I think I would like the book’s Henry a great deal more than the movie’s, but… still can't say I exactly like him. But anyway, he is not at all repulsive. Like Mr. Collins.

4 - We all know how different this is. I just stuck that in there for fun. The reason Mrs. Thornton confronted Margaret was not at all similar to why Lady Catherine visited Elizabeth. I don’t even need to explain if you know the stories.

And as for 5… Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Bennet, two very different cases. Mrs. Hale did complain a lot about Helstone when they lived there, but of course regretted it later on when she had Milton to deal with. And Mrs. Hale really WAS ailing, whereas Mrs. Bennet was what they call a hypochondriac.

Number 6 is not anything to dispute, just a trivia fact.

If you were comparing the mini-series of N&S with P&P, you might say that something happened at the beginning of the heroine's acquaintances with the heroes to immediately promote a dislike, but as this is not the way it was in the book of N&S, I say it can't be counted. ;)

In short, the stories themselves are so very, very different and have traits all their own that though a few comparisons can be made, it is not sufficient to make them similar enough to be mentioned hand-in-hand as I have seen done.

There now. That, everybody, is my opinion. Do any of you agree with me? Of course, you may tell me if you disagree too, although that will provoke me to argue my case and I do so hate debating. :P

(I am only teasing. Do not mind me. I mean, I do dislike debating, but I'm not forbidding you to say you disagree. Haha.)

Jane Austen's Heroes

There's nothing new or original in posting about Jane Austen's heroes, I suppose. But it's something I've never done before. And it's something that I think belongs here.

The way I see it, the most important factor of a good book may very well be its characters. One of my favorite things about Jane Austen’s writings is her characters. They are well-developed, intriguing, and believable. If the storyline itself is lacking (which some people consider a few or all of Jane Austen’s novels to be: I, of course, do not agree with them, to put it lightly), the characters can save it. I’m not convinced that deficient characters could be saved by a good storyline, however.

One could easily say that the hero and heroine (or male and female main characters, if you prefer) are the most important characters in a book. In stories of a romantic nature, not even the best heroine can make up for a disappointing hero.

In the eyes of many fans, Jane Austen is acclaimed for creating excellent heroes. What about them is so compelling? For one thing, they often seem like real people, and it draws us to them.

Though each of them probably deserve a post all to themselves (and I actually did write one--er, two--for Mr. Knightley, and someday I'm going to do a post for Mr. Darcy... because he needs one, sadly enough), I thought it would be interesting to divide the Jane Austen heroes up into categories. So here’s a little review of all seven heroes, divided into four different groups.

The romantics

‘romantic’

noun

“a person who is romantic, as in being idealistic, amorous, or soulful”

Rupert Penry-Jones as Wentworth

Captain Frederick Wentworth, Persuasion

    Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last completed novel, is often reckoned to be her most romantic. It is the story of Anne Elliot, a young woman who gets a second chance at love. At age nineteen, she meets Frederick Wentworth and they fall “rapidly and deeply in love.” She consents to an engagement, but because he is 'beneath' her family and without a solid future, Anne is persuaded to break the engagement. Captain Wentworth leaves, but eight years later they are thrown together once again.

    For those eight years they have both remained faithful to one another, although he actually believes himself indifferent for a time. The awkwardness of the situation and the coldness on Captain Wentworth’s side create a situation where they meet again and again but rarely speak to each other.

Ciaran Hinds as
Captain Wentworth

    The most decidedly romantic part in the novel (perhaps all of Jane Austen’s novels) is where Capt. Wentworth renews his proposal to Anne; unable to speak, he pours out his heart in a letter.

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.”

   His constancy and that letter says it all. Captain Wentworth is definitely one of the romantics.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy

   Ah, Mr. Darcy. Something I’ve noticed about this hero is that you either “get it” or you don’t…some understand Mr. Darcy, some think they do, some do not…others simply don’t want to.

   All in all though, Mr. Darcy is the best-loved Jane Austen hero of all, as well as Pride and Prejudice being the most popular novel.

   Most of us know the story in Pride and Prejudice; Mr. Darcy slights Elizabeth’s looks…Elizabeth doesn’t like him…he notices Elizabeth more and starts to like her, soon feeling in danger of liking her too much because her class is lower. Elizabeth learns about something Mr. Darcy supposedly did and dislikes him more. Meanwhile Mr. Darcy falls in love against his inclination, and at the height of Elizabeth’s dislike, he proposes. He does so very untactfully, however, insulting her family while he's at it. She refuses him, of course; but it wasn’t an “of course” to him: he was expecting her to accept him.
   And then, as we know, it all comes around beautifully. The pride and prejudice on both sides are removed, and the reader arrives at the anxiously awaited happy understanding between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy

   Pride and Prejudice may be Jane Austen’s most eventful novel. Something is always happening, and it has everything; there are scandals and secrets…heartbreaks, comedy, romance.

   There is Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

   For me, one of the best things about Mr. Darcy is his ever-constant and unchangeable (except to increase) love for Elizabeth. That alone makes one root for him, but after the first proposal, one grows to love him right along with Elizabeth. 
We learn about his protectiveness and love for his younger sister, his kindness towards his servants, his non-resentful and affectionate manners towards Elizabeth when he sees her again, and his amiable and un-prejudiced actions to her aunt and uncle. His defending Elizabeth to the snide Miss Bingley, his gentlemanly concern for Elizabeth when she receives shocking news, and then his true heroism in doing anything, going anywhere, spending whatever necessary, to save his Lizzy from disgrace.

   Mr. Darcy’s sincerity in admitting he was wrong – realizing and generously confessing that Elizabeth was right in her accusations about him; how she changed him, or rather brought out the best in him.

   Everything for Elizabeth. It’s what makes Mr. Darcy romantic.

“Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! … You shewed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.” --Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth

Colonel Brandon, Sense and Sensibility

Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon 

A man who falls in love with such a romantic as Marianne Dashwood, must be a romantic himself.

    Colonel Brandon is not the dashing sort of romantic like Captain Wentworth and Mr. Darcy, but I consider him romantic indeed and quite belonging to this category.

    Though Marianne considers him quite the opposite of romantic at first – he is at the advanced age of 35 compared to her 17, and incapable of loving or inspiring love. (It is quite an age difference; but it’s interesting to think that he’s only 4 years older than Capt. Wentworth, and actually younger than Mr. Knightley.)

    Marainne is rather blinded at first to what he really is; melancholic with deep emotions; a kind and loyal heart.

    Both of the major adaptations of Sense and Sensibility try to increase Col. Brandon’s drama in the story by having him go out to look for Marianne in the rain, and carrying her, faint and ill, back into the house. Though Marianne did become deathly ill in the book, it did not happen quite in that way; I don’t really think it’s something he wouldn’t have done, though.

David Morrissey as Brandon

    The makers of the 2008 mini-series had rather a liking for drawing things out of the novel which were barely hinted at, and one of them was the duel between Col. Brandon and Willoughby. “[W]e met by appointment,” Col. Brandon says in the book, “he to defend, I to punish his conduct. We returned unwounded, and the meeting, therefore, never got abroad.”

    Everybody assumes this to be a duel although the word is never mentioned – I personally have a hard time believing it was with swords and everything as presented in the mini-series, but in any case, Col. Brandon performed some gallant deed in defending the honor of his ward as well as his beloved Marianne.

    His love is so constant, self-sacrificing, and passionate, that I think he can scarcely be called less than romantic.

The nice guys

‘nice’

-Enjoyable and agreeable: pleasant

-Courteous and polite: considerate

-Of good character and reputation: respectable

Edward Ferrars, Sense and Sensibility

Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars

   I think poor Edward is a dreadfully mistaken character – helped along by Hugh Grant’s portrayal in the 1995 version, I would say. Also there just isn’t a whole lot about him in the book. I don’t think anyone would argue, though, that he’s a nice guy. He’s kind and considerate. Though gentle, he is determined and sticks to his duty even if it pains him.

    Edward comes from a family who are anything but nice. His sister Fanny Dashwood (married to the heroine’s half-brother) is sly and scheming, cold and cruel, proud and pert; his mother is stuck-up, snobbish and extremely self-centered; his brother is rather artificial and similar to the rest except without equal wits.
   Edward's manners are quiet and cautious, but he is not shy and backward like some would have him. And by the way, he has a nice sense of humor – just the right amount of teasing – so he’s certainly not boring, to my thinking. The book doesn’t really have enough of him, which is a pity; I think we see his conversation much too little. The movie-makers probably have a lot of room to move in because of this; and personally I like the 2008 portrayal best (although I do not dislike 1995's Edward, either).

Edmund Bertram, Mansfield Park

Nicholas Farrell as Edmund

   I don’t really have much to say for Edmund, because for one thing I don’t know as much about him as the rest, and because I always get annoyed with him for going for Mary Crawford first. He’s a very nice fellow though; considerate and gentleman-like. Not the best judge of character, but he is nice. Sticks up for people, too.

   I like Fanny Price a lot; and one can hardly be so fond of a heroine without liking the hero to some extent!

   I need to read the book again before I can really form my opinion of Edmund.


The amusing

‘amusing’

“Pleasantly entertaining or diverting”

Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey

JJ Feild as Henry Tilney

   Henry really belongs in a category all his own. His main attribute, I think, is that he is funny.

   He’s witty and likes to tease, but well-meaning all the while, and he knows when to be serious.

   One of the main reasons I like Mr. Tilney is for his openness – his honesty, and willingness to admit gladly things which other gentlemen would be embarrassed about – such as reading novels and knowing about muslins. Here’s one of my favorite conversations in the book, between the heroine, Catherine, and Henry:
   “But you never read novels, I dare say?”

   “Why not?”

   “Because they are not clever enough for you—gentlemen read better books.”

   “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again;—I remember finishing it in two days—my hair standing on end the whole time.”

   Henry’s romance with Catherine Morland is quite sweet, and I think they make such a cute couple! (Forgive me for using the words ‘sweet’ and ‘cute’, but I couldn’t help it.)

   I won’t say Mr. Tilney is ‘nice’ (even though he is), because he would never approve and tease me dreadfully for my word usage, like he did to Catherine only a few paragraphs after the excerpt above, which I shall include part of here:

“[T]his is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed!—It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement;—people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word."

   As I said earlier, he does know when to be serious. He also has strong morals, defending what is good and censuring what is wrong.

   In conclusion, I think that The Amusing Henry Tilney is a perfect hero for Jane Austen’s satire novel.

The knightly

‘knightly’

“Characteristic of a knight; noble, courageous, and generous”

Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley

George Knightley, Emma

   While some may place Mr. Knightley in the ‘nice’ category, it is my personal opinion that he belongs in a separate category from the rest. Though he is not a romantic, I think her certainly can be romantic, and his and Emma’s love story is one of my favorites.

   He is the only Jane Austen hero whom the heroine had known all her life; their age difference of sixteen years seems rather tedious, but if it ever bothered me, I have quite gotten over it by now; in their case, at least.

   Mr. Knightley earns much admiration and respect for his considerate and gentlemanly qualities. I quite agree with what Emma says on this subject: 

Jeremy Northam as Knightley

“You might not see one in a hundred, with gentleman so plainly written as in Mr Knightley.” and “I know no man more likely than Mr Knightley to do the sort of thing—to do anything really good-natured, useful, considerate, or benevolent.”

   He, along with most or all of the heroes, is very upright in character.
   Mr. Knightley can also be quite witty and amusing, and during my reading of Emma last month for school, I was surprised but pleased when one of his quotes reminded me of something Elizabeth Bennet would say.

   I don’t know what else to say about Mr. Knightley without making him the object of this post, especially since I've already written a two-part post about him, which you can view here.

______________

Well, from reading the above, you might think Mr. Knightley is my favorite hero of them all…which a while ago I could have said is not true, but I'm not so sure anymore. One of my two favorites, however, is definitely Mr. Darcy; he's just Mr. Darcy, you know? Well, maybe you don't, but I do. In any case, he and Mr. Knightley still tend to compete with each other in my head, and I do not know how it will end. 

What about you? Who is your favorite? Are there any Jane Austen heroes with whom you are not yet acquainted, but wish to be? 

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

The story in this book is simply a re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, from Mr. Darcy’s point of view, so I needn’t say any more on that subject. It starts a couple months earlier than Pride and Prejudice, though, in the summer rather than early fall.

I enjoyed it as a whole. I read at least half of it in one day, and finished it within three. I can’t remember the last time I went through a book that fast – but we were on vacation, and I had a lot of spare time just to read, and read…it was quite nice.

However, it didn’t capture Mr. Darcy quite the way I think of him – I didn’t think it got the character as well as in Mr. Knightley’s Diary, which I just finished.

One thing I did appreciate is that, wherever possible, the quotes came straight out of Pride and Prejudice; If you ignore the fact that there were no italics whatsoever, which, I thought, lessened the meaning of some quotes. Also, it often happened that the whole conversation was not included – which is understandable, but disappointed me in several spots. For example, at Netherfield when Jane was sick, a conversation was cut off before Elizabeth says “[Y]our defect is a propensity to hate everybody,” to which Mr. Darcy answers (with a smile) “And yours is willfully to misunderstand them.” The instance that made me most sad is that the spot of the second proposal doesn’t include Mr. Darcy calling her “dearest, loveliest Elizabeth.” I don’t know about you, but that seems to me to be a very important Darcy quote!

There were a few other things that bugged me, too. One is Mr. Bingley. This book makes him out to be extremely inconsistent and fickle, especially where young women are concerned. I know he was supposed to be that way to a certain extent, but I don’t remember it being quite that exaggerated.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with how Mr. Darcy, it seemed, almost ‘accidentally’ proposed to Elizabeth the first time. It’s like he never actually acknowledged to himself that he was in love with her until that moment—he’d just thought himself too attracted to her…it’s hard to explain, but it’s not the way I would have pictured it.

And Lydia! I have always disliked Lydia, but she was made to be quite disgusting in here, I thought. “He did not make me elope with him, it was I who made him elope with me. Brighton was growing boring,” she declares to Mr. Darcy when he finds her and Wickham in London.

When Darcy tells Wickham he must marry Lydia, Wickham says “Come now, Darcy. You know I cannot do that…I need to marry an heiress.”

“Do you hear this?” Mr. Darcy asks Lydia, who answers “It does not signify. An heiress would bring us some money, then we could have a better house.”

Lydia is very irritatingly silly and senseless, but I wouldn’t imagine her saying that sort of thing.

One more thing: Jane, Bingley, Elizabeth, and Darcy have a double wedding. There was a double wedding in the 1995 movie too, but I don’t remember it being in the original novel. Am I wrong?

Anyways, it was very fun to read, and I recommend it to Jane Austen fans—especially those who already have a high opinion of Mr. Darcy.