pride & prejudice mr darcy quotes & analysis

IGCSE CIE English Literature

Darcy larger ideas

Overcomes pride and prejudice to become a better person, explores attraction and the limits enforced by social expectations, explores how true morality and honesty is overlooked for surface appearances and social skills, misjudged

Outline 3 Darcy paragraphs

Prideful, rude, snobby - growing affections and developing character - loyal, honest, misjudged

“not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.” p9 P1

saying all the women at the ball are not good enough for him, are beneath him and fall so short of his standards that it would be painful for him to dance with them - “punishment” - noun, aggressive, implies a painful consequence to his actions, as if dancing with these women would be a penance

“not handsome enough to tempt me” (p10) P1

darcy’s snub of elizabeth - comparing elizabeth to other ‘prettier’ women, main thing noticed by men in regency era was appearance, used as a measure of eligibility - shows his prideful/arrogant/egotistical nature - saying she’s pretty but not pretty enough for him, implying he is too good for her, she is pretty but only to lower class men, emphasises his belief in social class/hierarchy/how it has influenced him being high class

First proposal p200 P1 FORM AND STRUCTURE

When Darcy begins to talk about how inferior EB’s family is, it changes to indirect speech - never revealed exactly what he said, possibly it was so horrible and degrading to the Bennet’s that Austen chose to hide it, reflects his pride - also adds a sense of separation from the situation, as if he is above discussing people so inferior to him and therefore can’t be seen doing it directly

“his countenance expressed real security.” p201 P1

shows that he believes EB will say yes, arrogance, doesn’t consider she’ll turn him down, believes he is too good to be rejected

“Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?” p203 P1

condescending, implying EB doesn’t know how inferior she and her family truly are - “rejoice” - verb, celebrate - saying her status is nothing to be happy about, implies it’s shameful and embarrassing, as if he’s saying she should be ashamed of her status too - reflects his pride and his belief in the class system, so influenced by always being high class that he doesn’t see a suitable way of living which is anything below what he already has

”You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” (p200) P2

expressing deep, profound, relentless feelings for elizabeth - showing how his feelings have grown since beginning of novel - “must” - superlative, can’t keep his feelings in any longer, needs her to hear this - reverse of gender and class roles (“allow”) he is so desperate to tell her how he feels that he is asking her for permission (female, lower class) - “ardently” - adverb, passionately, strongly, unwaveringly - his feelings for her cannot be repressed - “admire” - in awe of her, looks up to her (again reversal of class) - “love” admission of romance, syntax = build up - this layered, desperate and dramatic admission of love is a massive contrast to darcy’s usual disposition which is reserved, quiet, composed - showing his layers of character and the change in character elizabeth evokes from him

“I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.” (p27) P2 +FORM AND STRUCTURE

“pleasure” - he is finding enjoyment in watching elizabeth, is something he would gladly continue doing - “pretty” - views elizabeth as pleasing to look at, beautiful, contrast to previously saying she wasn’t handsome enough to entice him - repeatedly compliments her eyes, shows he has been watching her long enough to find a specific fixation - focus on her appearance - shallowness and superficiality reflect gender norms in regency era - women there to look at - however eyes also said to be window to soul, hinting at him liking her eyes due to feeling he understands her through them, also shows development as he later begins to love and compliment her personality and intelligence - direct speech - not ashamed to find her beautiful, growth from previously being disgusted at the suggestion of dancing with her

“totally unsuspicious of her sister’s attachment” p221 to 222 P2

“totally” - adverb, wholly, fully - was entirely unaware of Jane’s feelings for Bingley, had no idea she was attracted to him - does hint at pride as he made this assumption based on his observations and assumed he was correct, didn’t even think about the fact he didn’t know Jane or her character very well - however also demonstrates that he is not immoral - he wouldn’t have separated them if he knew it would be damaging to Jane and could’ve worked out, did this as he thought Jane would be ok and didn’t want Bingley to get hurt - shows he has care for his friends

“One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” (p240) P2

elizabeth comparing mr darcy and mr wickham after receiving darcy’s post-proposal letter and learning the truth about darcy and wickham - saying darcy has got all the honesty, goodness and morality, while wickham got all the charm which he uses to deceive people into believing he is good - shows that darcy is truly a good person but simply doesn’t know how to properly show it - he is complicated and layered but to the core is a respectable and honest person

Mrs Gardiner’s letter to Elizabeth about Mr Darcy’s involvement in Lydia and Wickham’s situation P2

this letter reveals that Mr Darcy was majorly involved in fixing the Wickham Lydia situation - he chose to help find Wickham and Lydia, had many meetings with Wickham (a man he despises) and paid off his debts, plus extra money to get him to marry Lydia, then said Mr Gardiner should get all the credit - this is relayed in a letter from Mrs Gardiner, emphasising the reliability of it, cementing Darcy’s good nature - also proves that he didn’t do this for attention or gratitude, but just to help - he did all this despite his past with Wickham and any connection with Wickham and Lydia causing damage to his reputation - emphasises his love for Elizabeth and his earnestness to help out

“Much as I respect them, I believe I only thought of you.” p391 P3

shows his love for Elizabeth and how much she means to him, saved Lydia purely to make Elizabeth happy - “respect” - noun, admiration for someone/something - saying he respects her family and admires them, despite previously being very affected and put off by their inferiority - shows growth - “only” adverb, shows he thought singularly of Elizabeth

“I certainly have not the talent which some people possess.” (p186) P3

shows darcy is becoming more humble/less prideful - painfully aware of and willing to admit his flaws - he feels comfortable around elizabeth and colonel fitzwilliam - more vulnerable side - referencing ease of conversation/social skills - “certainly” - adverb - sure of this, convinced he is poor in social situations - implies arrogance is façade to hide his insecurities - darcy is a less shallow character than he was previously presented as - here his openness shows he is not afraid to talk about his flaws, understands he has them and would rather be honest

“It was unpardonable. I cannot think of it without abhorrence.” (p392) P3

referring to his previous behaviour towards elizabeth - shows his character development - self-aware, acknowledging his flaws and wrongdoings and how terrible they were - he has reflected on his previous character - “unpardonable“ - cannot be excused - believes his previous actions were deserving of punishment, he can never forget or excuse them - “abhorrence” - loathing - disgusted by his previous self and actions - will never let this happen again - willing to change, wants to be better, has become open to criticism and shows how much elizabeth has affected him - contrast to initial character who believed he knew best - said in direct speech from Darcy as this shows how much he means this

FORM AND STRUCTURE Darcy’s letters P3

When Darcy explains the truth to Elizabeth (about Wickham, Jane and Bingley, his sister, etc) he does it all in a letter, uses indirect speech - reflects how he doesn’t have strong social skills but is honest and cares more about the truth than appearances - trustworthy forms of communication, shows that he trusts that the truth will win, integrally a good person - doesn’t need to be able to use charm/elegance to trick people as he doesn’t lie - fear of opening up/rejection so uses letters to avoid this, able to share the truth and his feelings without having to worry about getting emotional, wants to deliver this calmly and with composure and thought

“not one of his tenants or servants but what will give him a good name.” p262 P3

Mr Darcy’s housekeeper talking about him - she has been complimenting him and saying how kind and good-tempered he is, now saying it’s not just her but all these people will say the same - evidence of Mr Darcy’s goodness - the fact it’s his tenants/servants means a lot, as most of these people would be considered lower class than him - connotes that he shows just as much kindness and respect, if not more, to these people compared to people of the same or higher class than him - discredits the idea that he is prideful and only believes in respecting those of his class or higher