Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy. Blahhhhh ...
How is it that Mr. Darcy, of alllllllll the fictional characters of the entire fictional world, has become every woman's paragon of a dream man? He is rude and stuck up, grumpy and bad-tempered, loves her against his will and reason and judgment, and only after her basically humiliating herself in front of him (and it's not even her fault, it's her immature sister's fault ... but that's another post), does he come round and think, "oh, gee, maybe she's, like, the most wonderful woman I've ever met in my entire life and I would be a blankety-blank fool to let her marry someone else" ???
Why not Mr. Knightley? Or Edward Ferrars? -- I admit, he doesn't seem to be the brightest of bulbs (esp. as portrayed by the droolly-St-Bernard-eyed Hugh Grant), but at least he is kind and devoted.
...
No, you're right, that doesn't count for much.
...
Or for that matter, Will Ladislaw, or Mr. Thorton, or Mr. Rochester, or Sir Percy, or Lord Peter, or ... or anyone else you can think of. I'm just thinking of some of my favorites, but there are so many countless fictional men to admire; why has Mr. Darcy become the stereotypical heartthrob?
WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN?
I believe that there is at least one admirable quality about him. He does not seem to have that sort of "pushy" trait that I seem to see in so many young men that I meet (Yeah, I don't meet that many, but of ones I HAVE met). "Pushy" is not really a very good word, but I can't think of any better one. Usually, I divide men-who-like-girls into two catagories. It would take a very long time to explain EXACTLY what I mean, but... "I will sum up."
ReplyDeleteOne catagorie is intent on impressing and possessing the girl. They will please and flatter her (not excessively, but somewhat), and tell here as often as they reasonably can that she is right. This is selfish and weak on the man's part. He does not often consider the girl, her thoughts, and standards, but tries to bend her into going his way.
The second group is more concerned with the girl herself, not with those rosy cheeks, or whatever. He doesn't "depend" on the girl for his world to keep spinning. He is usually much more honest with her. To me, it seems that this love is not as selfish. It is more pure and true.
Mr. Darcy is not the former group; therefore, I like him for that reason (I can't stand weak, wobbly people like that). However, he does go to quite the other extreme, and is very much the opposite.
I know...go ahead and laugh. I know I'm not making myself very clear. Or at least, not as clear as I would like. There is so much more that I've thought of, but I haven't been able to put into words yet. This comment is unripe. It really should have waited until I had thought about it much more. But there you go. Sorry for the long comment.
Answer to question in 2 words: Collin Firth. :) (That's not my opinion. It's my guess about the general opinion.)
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. So, you are saying that although he may be socially patronizing and condescending, he is not personally so with Lizzy?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I think a lot of people (read: females) really like Colin Firth. Personally, I dunno; I prefer Mr. Knightley. But that is personal opinion and of no social or blog value whatsoever ;)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Darcy is so amazing because he is man enough to admit that he's wrong. He actually tells Lizzy that he was wrong and she was right. (Well, so does Lord Hollingford, but he's kinda old, and not very cool.) He is able to get over himself enough to accept her for who she is, and not give her up because of her family and very undesirable connections. He sacrifices a lot for her, and that makes him very cool. If you think about it, Mr. Knightly, amazing as he is, doesn't have to give up much when he marries Emma. His personal sacrifices don't amount to more than not being able to live at Donwell for a few more years. Other Austen heroes do go against their families, but I guess when you consider that Darcy is accepting Wickham as his brother-in-law for the sake of the woman he loves, that pretty huge, all things considered.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, Maria- Colin Firth. 'nuf said.
Random-non-related-rant:
ReplyDeleteWhy does Google have to tell everyone when a post has been deleted? Please don't tell the world that we had a typo and needed to redo it. It's embarrassing!
Sorry, I need to get my own blog instead of using Catherine's as a place to post my musings... Sorry, Coz!
Hrmmm. Interesting theory. But yes, I agree, you should get your own blog :D SO I CAN READ IT! YAY!
ReplyDeleteI don't have the time to go into detail right now, but I believe it's to do with the fact that, unlike most of Jane Austen's other heroes, but is not a Mr Perfect. He has trouble in certain social situations and he does not always conform with what is socially acceptable. I've always felt that his patronising attitude only masks his own insecurities. Yes, he may come across as rude and stuck-up, but there is one thing that he does: He learns. In the end, he is man enough to admit that he has made a mistake and that Lizzie was right. At the beginning, he may have wondered why he loved her against his will and better judgement, but by the end he has understood that while she is his inferior socially, she is his equal intellectually. I guess what I'm saying is: What women find attractive about him is that he is not just another of these one-dimensional Mr Wonderfuls that drop out of the sky (because those are just boring, right?), but that he is a man who clearly has his faults, who makes mistakes, but who, in the end, possesses enough humility as to allow Lizzie to turn him into a better person.
ReplyDeleteI hope this makes sense.
Also, I'm not sure if this also applies to other women out there, but what I've always admired about him is his refusal to play the role society expects him to play on the marriage market. It testifies to his complete honesty. Being true to himself is more important to him than people's opinions, and I like that. :)
I like that theory. Esp. the part about him learning/growing/changing as well as defying marriage market expectations ;) That does give him points.
ReplyDelete