Elizabeth and Darcy

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice revolves around the relationship between Ms. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitswilliam Darcy. There are several relationships that take shape in the novel, but the dynamic between Elizabeth and Darcy takes much longer to evolve into love. Through blinding pride, they eventually learn to sacrifice some for each other. Austen’s use of irony and conflict characterize the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy.

Irony is used extensively in the dynamic between Elizabeth and Darcy. The first scene between the two is Elizabeth listening in on Darcy’s conversation with Mr. Bingley. When remarking on Mr. Bingley’s suggestion to dance with Elizabeth, Darcy tells Mr. Bingley, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” (Austen 13) This is one of the most ironic moments in the novel because it proves to be totally false. Darcy’s response was not a direct attack on Elizabeth, but rather Darcy’s pride coming out to prevent him from dancing with a partner that was not already taken. Soon after, Darcy begins to change his opinion of Elizabeth while she stays at Netherfield to care for Jane. After a visit from Mrs. Bennet and her daughters, Mr. Darcy “could not be prevailed on to join in their censure of her [Elizabeth], in spite of all Miss Bingley’s witticisms on fine eyes.” (Austen 46) Darcy is starting to question his initial impression of Elizabeth, but shows no signs of doing so. The irony comes from Elizabeth, who remains totally unaware of this change in Darcy and continues to act based on her prejudice from his initial remark. Conflicts also play a major role in the development of the relationship dynamic as they show how the two headstrong prides of Elizabeth and Darcy clash with one another. One of the biggest conflicts in the story is Darcy’s statement of love that turns out to be a marriage proposal. Immediately after his profession of love, he talked about “His sense of her inferiority, of its being a degradation, of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination.” (Austen 188) There was also significant irony behind the proposal because it focused not so much on his love for her as much as the sacrifice he was taking towards his image. Elizabeth’s remaining prejudice from their initial encounter led her to reject his proposal, which prompted a total change in Darcy. The next day, Darcy wrote a letter to Elizabeth in defense of himself and admitting some errors in judgment. With this letter, Elizabeth finally begins to change her view of Darcy, which is ironic because it took a more than a marriage proposal to change her image of Darcy. Their next encounter is at Darcy’s place of residence when Elizabeth is visiting. She is surprised to see him because he was expected a day later. Throughout the entire encounter, Darcy was very “civil” and polite, making Elizabeth further question her own opinion of him. Later, Darcy clears up the incident with Lydia and Wickham, which makes Elizabeth feel incredibly indebted to Darcy. Soon after, Elizabeth finally accepts Darcy’s second marriage offer.

Based on the first line of the novel, which reads, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,” the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy was ultimately successful. (Austen 5) The use of irony and conflict shaped the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy. Their first conflict, Darcy’s insulting remark of Elizabeth, set Elizabeth with a prejudice against him. The irony is that as Elizabeth hardened more and more towards Darcy, he was feeling warmer towards her and reconsidering everything he thought of her. His first proposal came as an utter shock to Elizabeth, who rejected it with the same prejudice. The following accidental encounters and Darcy’s saving of the Bennet family name made Elizabeth realize she was wrong about Darcy and that he was indeed to be her husband.