Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Austen makes clear
that Elizabeth Bennet is often too quick to judge. Once she forms an impression,
she seeks to interpret everything around her accordingly so as to validate her
first impression. Her readings of others are often quite accurate, but this is
not so with George Wickham. Her positive views of Wickham – and ensuing willingness
to believe him wholeheartedly – then stem less from a genuine trust in his
character and more from her desire to further validate her negative views of
Darcy.
Upon meeting, Elizabeth
and Wickham almost immediately strike up a conversation regarding their ill
thoughts of Darcy. Wickham is one of the few people in the novel who fully
agrees with Elizabeth’s negative view on Darcy. She observes Bingley’s friendship
with Darcy, Jane’s reluctance to judge him too quickly, and even her mother and
younger sisters’ appreciation of his money. Wickham is the first to see no
positive qualities in Darcy, and Elizabeth latches on to this, ensuring her
trust in Wickham and thereby validating her opinion of Darcy.
Consequently,
Elizabeth refuses to accept ill-perceptions of Wickham until receiving Darcy’s
letter. When Jane relays to her that Bingley’s perception of the conflict
between Darcy and Wickham, Elizabeth is quick to refute her. She tells Jane, “I
have not a doubt of Mr. Bingley’s sincerity… but you must excuse my not being
convinced by his assurances only. Mr. Bingley’s defense of his friend was a
very able one I dare say, but since he is unacquainted with several parts of
the story, and has learnt the rest from that friend himself, I shall venture to
think of both gentlemen as I did before” (94). Elizabeth is quick to discredit
Bingley’s account, even though she has come to value his character. Furthermore,
when she and Mrs. Gardiner discuss Wickham’s relationship with Miss King,
Elizabeth again is quick to contest any of her aunt’s criticisms against
Wickham. When Mrs. Gardiner suggests that Wickham only pursued Miss King for
her money, Elizabeth is quick to defend him (even though this goes against
previous standards she had held Bingley to regarding her sister). She tells her
aunt, “A man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant
decorums which other people may observe. If she
does not object to it, why should we?”
(151). Tarnishing Wickham’s supposedly perfect character would contradict her
long-standing poor impression of Darcy, so Elizabeth latches onto the “virtue”
of Wickham rather than accept outside advice from a respected source such as
Bingley or Mrs. Gardiner.
Elizabeth’s
trust in Wickham then extends from her need to be correct in her judgments –
particularly regarding Mr. Darcy. She cannot accept otherwise of Wickham
without being wrong about Darcy as well, so she selectively chooses to ignore
the bad in Wickham until she can no longer avoid it. Her realization upon Darcy’s
letter then is a crush to her pride, as she must accept her judgments about
both men were incorrect.
You make an interesting point by noting that Elizabeth’s views of Wickham depend heavily on her adverse opinion of Darcy. Elizabeth’s fondness for Wickham grows as she discovers his distain for Darcy matches her own. At first, their dislike of Darcy unites them. The novel explains, “[Elizabeth] was very willing to hear [Mr. Wickham], though what she chiefly wished to hear she could not hope to be told, the history of his acquaintance with Mr. Darcy” (66). Elizabeth’s anger fuels her attempts to uncover the root of Darcy’s pride and ungentlemanly behavior because she cannot fathom Darcy as anything but a selfish aristocrat. Elizabeth readily accepts Wickham’s response as fact because she hopes to confirm her previously formed notions of Darcy’s defects rather than waiting to understand the whole story. While Elizabeth assembles such strong negative opinions of Darcy early in their relationship, she retracts her ill-mannered judgments in favor of the truth. She refutes her previous beliefs about Darcy after hearing his side of the story. When Elizabeth reads Darcy’s letter after rejecting his proposal, the novel notes, “But every line proved more clearly that the affair. . .was capable of a turn which must make [Mr. Darcy] entirely blameless throughout the whole (176). As you point out, Elizabeth buries her own pride and misbeliefs in order to see Darcy in a new light. Now, Elizabeth views him as a kind friend and noble brother rather than a prideful and insolent man.
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