Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Darcy, 28, is a well situated gentleman of aristocratic background. Pemberley alone brings him 10,000 a year. He also owns a house in London.

On his maternal side he's related to the Fitzwilliams - his uncle holds a title of an earl, his aunt Lady Catherine and her daughter Anne De Bourgh inherited Rosings and a vast property.

On his fraternal side we know only of his great uncle the judge, and of his own excellent father who was descended from a respectable, honourable, and ancient, though untitled, family.

Mr. Darcy both derives his pride from his place in the society and secretly despises their hypocrisy.

He's a great catch for the Miss Bingleys of the world, but his duty is to marry better than that. He owes it to his family and people. The dearest wish of his late mother, as well as of his aunt Lady Catherine, was that he married Miss De Bourgh - a member of his family whose situation in life was similar to his own. By that he would almost double his property and strengthen his family's position in the world.

His love for Elizabeth Bennet makes him reject his duty and dishonour his family by marriage to an inferior.

Mr. Darcy is a loyal and caring friend. Those whom he admitted to his closest circle may count on him and often depend on his better judgement.

All of his friends have easy manners and are of a lower position than himself. That may be said not only of Bingley or Wickham (who turned to be a great disappointment), but even of Colonel Fitzwilliam who, as only a younger son of an earl, often depends on his cousin.

None of Darcy's friendships are really equal. Darcy depends on no one but himself.

Darcy's relations with his sister and most other people are even more unequal than those with his friends. They respect him and are in awe of him, but they never cease to show him deference.

According to Mrs. Reynolds, his housekeeper, he is the best master and landlord. His sister Georgiana's respect for him almost overcomes her affection. He takes good care of her as her guardian, buys her things that might bring her pleasure (a new piano, a newly refurnished sitting room), but she doesn't cease to be intimidated by him.

There is a certain resemblance of Darcy's portrayal and that of Lady Catherine's. Mr. Collins describes his patroness in almost the same words as Mrs. Reynolds her master. However, Mr. Collins' loyalty and respect are superficial - he has known Lady Catherine only very shortly at that point of the book, while Mrs. Reynolds has known Darcy since he was four.

Similarly both Georgiana and Miss De Bourgh are shy and intimidated by their respective elders. Yet, while Lady Catherine only brags about Anne's talents that her daughter in fact doesn't possess, Darcy makes sure that his sister is as well accomplished as a gentlewoman should be.

Darcy is tall and handsome, of a noble mien.

While Colonel Fitzwilliam isn't handsome at all and Bingley isn't supposed to be as handsome as Darcy, it is possible that Wickham is handsomer.

However, beauty is in the eye of a beholder, and a man who is so great inside simply must be swoon-worthy!

We learn quite early in the book that Darcy isn't a stranger to the charms of the other sex, however, at the same time we are told that none of the ladies he met before had captured his interest as much as Elizabeth Bennet. His initial infamous snub of her notwithstanding, it is her physical beauty that attracts him first.

Darcy isn't a man who would brag about his conquests, or one who would submit to his attraction to a woman thoughtlessly. It's quite impossible to imagine him dallying with a gentlewoman.

However, his attraction to Elizabeth cannot be restrained. Few men would express their passion as eloquently as Darcy does when he says during the Hunsford proposal:

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

or when he later admits in his letter to the utmost force of passion that made him put aside all of the objections he had against his union with Elizabeth.

Mr. Darcy is a man whose feelings are hidden from the public eye, but the passion that lurks from beneath the surface is powerful, and he doesn't withhold it from the woman he loves.

Mr. Darcy is the cleverest man in the book. Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet are among the most intelligent characters, but their mind is nowhere as sharp as Darcy's.

Darcy's wit easily competes with Elizabeth's, and she finds in him a stimulating challenger. Many of his remarks that she strove to ignore at the beginning, appeared to be extremely well applied in the view of the events of the second part of Pride and Prejudice.

Darcy struggles with his feelings for Elizabeth and, knowing that by such a match he would defy his duty as master of Pemberley and his obligation to his family, he admits them unwillingly.

Elizabeth's formidable refusal at Hunsford allows him to see her and himself in a new light. He rejects the hypocritical views of his family and society. He realises that he could never be happy in a match not born out of love, in a marriage to a woman equal in position and wealth but not in understanding and temperament.

Elizabeth and Darcy are not alike in everything, but they complete each other where they need it the most. She will never be easily intimidated by him, and she'll teach him to laugh where he tended to be too serious. He'll teach her to see things in a calmer light and will pass on to her his knowledge of the world.

They both share honesty, passion and devotion to their loved ones and as the book goes on they turn those traits towards each other, each becoming the most important person in the other's life.

After Hunsford Darcy recognises Elizabeth as his true equal and, humbled, asks for her hand again.

In the meantime he gives her numerous proofs of his changed mind. He shows to Elizabeth and her uncle and aunt every civility in his power when they visit his house. He also uses his influences and money, and puts his pride away, to rescue Lydia, Elizabeth's sister, from ruin at the hands of Wickham - Darcy's worst enemy. And, he is truly honoured when Elizabeth finally accepts his hand even though her family's situation had worsened because of the scandal caused by Lydia, and Darcy, by marrying Elizabeth, will have to accept Wickham as his brother-in-law.

Darcy wins more than just the hand of Elizabeth Bennet. Darcy wins himself!

His love for her, and her rejection at Hunsford, allow him to see the man he has always wanted to be.

Darcy learns to reject the chains of false honour, family duty and decorum that at first made him see his union with Elizabeth through the eyes of his relatives and society. He throws out their conceit and reverts to the principle that he has been taught as a child. He comes to despise the hypocritical self he had grown to be.

After his Hunsford lesson a marriage of convenience is no longer an issue. A union built on passionate love to a woman he truly admires and loves, to one he can be proud of, ceases to be a caprice and becomes a necessity. His integrity demands it.

Darcy then chooses himself. The naked man without wealth and connections who one day will knock on Heaven's door with the only woman at his side who is his true equal in everything but earthly goods. The woman to whom he'll be able to pledge before God his undying love in every sense of the word. Elizabeth and his self become his true new priority.

Darcy the private man wins over his public image.