Illustration of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy with neutral expressions on their faces

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

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Mr. Darcy vs. Mr. Wickham: Character and Marriage Views in Pride and Prejudice

Summary:

In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham are contrasting characters. Darcy initially appears haughty and proud, but he is fundamentally sincere, loyal, and kind, with a strong moral code and capacity for love. His pride stems from his social status but evolves as he falls in love with Elizabeth. Wickham, in contrast, is charming but deceitful, motivated by greed and self-interest. His pride is shallow, and he marries for money, lacking genuine affection or moral integrity.

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Contrast the characters of Darcy and Wickham in Pride and Prejudice.

Wickham, in social settings, and on the surface, is incredibly charming, talkative, polite, courteous, amiable, agreeable and pleasant.  Darcy, on the other hand, comes off as haughty, quiet, bored, rude and a bit snobby.  Wickham, as a character, is fickle, money-grubbing, insincere and manipulative.  He is materialistic and filled with vices and weaknesses that he constantly succombs to.  He is willing to use people to get what he wants for his own life, and uses his charm to manipulate others.  Darcy on the other hand, is sincere, loyal, kind, thoughtful, and not focused on money at all. He is a good man, who does not have bad habits.  He is a good brother and a true and loyal friend.  He lives by moral codes, wheras Wickham does not; Wickham's only moral code is to serve himself.

Once you get to know Darcy, you realize that he is not snobby at all, and very friendly and kind.  His weakness is that he is shy and awkward in large groups; he admits as much to Elizabeth.  Once you get to know Wickham, you realize that his charm is his only recommendable trait; he is instead a disloyal disappointment to those that care for him.

I hope that those thoughts help to get you started; good luck!

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How do Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham compare or contrast in Pride and Prejudice?

Thematically speaking, the characters of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham digress in just about every aspect of the novel. This is because, even though they come from different backgrounds, they did have a similar upbringing which Darcy's father's death would lead to their definite separation. 

When it comes to the theme of "pride", the two men can certainly be considered proud, but differently.  While Darcy's pride comes out of the legacy of his family name and history, Wickham's comes from  greed, arrogance, and from his determination to feed his ego by ruining good women.

As far as marriage goes, Darcy certainly maintains the customs of the upper classes to marry their own kind, until he meets Elizabeth and then everything changes. Contrastingly, Wickham is an immoral (or amoral) libertine who prefers to elope with young women to ruin their reputation, or else to marry uniquely for money. 

In terms of behavior, we know already that Darcy's inability to be sociable comes from his lack of experience with "the masses". He is, after all, a gentleman of high birth and is used to a specific "set" of people.  Perhaps the Bennets are his first (and most unfortunate) brush with a "peasant" family of good means, but no title. Granted, Bingley's fortune was not acquired through the most honorable means, but he still belongs to the "London set" that would make him "fashionable". However, we learn upon Elizabeth's visit to Pemberley that Darcy is actually a kind and decent man who is humble and tender, even to his servants. His behavior is deceiving, but for the better.

Wickham ends up in the military as a last resort since his squandered away the money that Darcy's father (who is also Wickham's loving godfather while he is alive) allotted him upon his death. However, military discipline does little to curb Wickham's natural ability to deceive for the worst: he uses charm, a sad (invented) story about himself, and his attractive looks to cause harm, and to lie to others. This is how Elizabeth falls for him, and then realizes bitterly how wrong she had been once he betrays her family by running away with Lydia

Overall, Darcy and Wickham are two young men that come from respectable families. Darcy comes from high breeding while Wickham is the son of a respectable man who managed Darcy's father's estates. This closeness allowed Wickham to have a good upbringing along with Darcy, even gaining the love of Darcy's father. However, the nature of their characters separate them greatly, as well as Wickham's greed and talent to deceive. If it had not been for those aspects, Darcy and Wickham may have been easier to compare than to contrast.

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How do Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham's views on marriage compare in Pride and Prejudice?

One way in which Darcy and Wickham are both similar with respect to views on marriage is that they both, at first, actually reject the idea of marrying Elizabeth or any Bennet. Mr. Darcy rejects the idea because he knows that, while the Bennet sisters are the daughters of a land owning gentleman, he also knows that their mother comes from the merchant class. Their mother's sister, Mrs. Philips, is married to a lawyer in Meryton while their mother's brother, Mr. Gardiner, is a merchant in London. Regardless of the fact that Darcy's close friend is actually also a member of the merchant class whose father earned their fortune through trade, we observe Darcy snubbing the girls for their relations, saying that their mother's social background "must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world" (Ch. 8).

While Wickham does not snub the girls due to their relations, but is rather always very well mannered and friendly, especially towards Elizabeth, Elizabeth is well aware of his penniless situation and that he would never marry a woman who also had no fortune, like herself. However, his manners to her are so open and warm and so sincere in wishing her happiness that, even after he becomes engaged to Miss Mary King, Elizabeth is convinced he has not forgotten that "Elizabeth had been the first to excite and to deserve his attention, the first to listen and to pity, the first to be admired" (Ch. 27). Hence, while he is kind, even Wickham snubs the Bennet girls due to their lack of inheritance.

In contrast, while Darcy snubs Elizabeth at first, his admiration for her character and love for her becomes so passionate and sincere that he is forced to do away with his first inclinations to resist the connection, even though Elizabeth has no fortune and some of her family members are from the merchant class. Wickham, on the other hand, never feels any true love or admiration for anyone. His primary motives continue to be self-gratification and money. He even acknowledges that he had no intention of marrying Lydia and that she ran off with him due to "her own folly alone" (Ch. 52). Hence, Wickham is only persuaded to marry Lydia with Darcy's money.

Thus, while at first both Darcy and Wickham relate marriage with social class and money, Darcy soon genuinely loves despite those things while Wickham continues to be self-serving and only marries for money.

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Compare the pride and prejudice of Darcy and Wickham.

Fitzwilliam Darcy becomes well known at Longbourn and in Meryton for his terrible pride. He believes himself, at least initially, to be superior to the individuals who live there, and he therefore feels entitled to his pride; he believes that he has a "'real superiority of mind'" and that, therefore, his pride is justified and, as he says, "'under good regulation.'" Further, his pride is on full display when he makes his first proposal of marriage to Elizabeth Bennet. He says that he fears being rejected, but Elizabeth can tell that he really expects to be accepted, despite what he says. Even though he has a great deal of pride, Darcy does not really feel much prejudice. He strongly dislikes Wickham, for example, though this dislike isn't the result of prejudice but, rather, the result of Wickham's dishonest and dishonorable past behavior. Darcy, though he could feel some prejudice against Elizabeth as a result of her family, grows to love her anyway.

Wickham, on the other hand, does not seem to have much pride or feel much prejudice. He is willing to lie to anyone and accrue debt with local tradesmen in order to keep up appearances, but he behaves so dishonorably that what seems like pride is probably more appropriately called vanity. Further, he doesn't seem to develop prejudice against individuals—he is actually quite easy to get along with and charming—and tends to win everyone over for a time (until they realize his deception).

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Compare and contrast Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Darcy has a noble though reticent character. He is generous and compassionate though only those who know him are privileged to see this side of him. He has the rare ability to see through some else's eyes (albeit only when their view is forced upon him as Elizabeth's was) and change his flawed perceptions and behaviors. He is trusted and depended upon by his friends and family. He has a deep and strong capacity for love and goodness though he has small tolerance for foolishness and vanity.

Wickham, on the other hand, is a manipulator who seeks only hi own advantage even at the risk of the well-being and safety of others. He is selfish and greedy though he disguises this under deceptive smooth flattery. He has only one view of life and that his own, which is focused upon gain and wealth. He has no ability to understand or care about his flawed perceptions and behaviors and certainly no interest in changing them. He is distrusted by everyone who has known him and in every town that has extended him welcome--he repays welcome with unpaid debts.

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How do Wickham and Darcy's actions and words compare in Pride and Prejudice?

Wickham is a much more slippery character compared to Darcy.  Wickham says all the things everyone wants to hear and is thought to be very well mannered and charming.  But, he is actually a liar (about his station in life and his relationships with the Darcys) and not a gentleman.  This is shown by his willingness to disgrace Lydia and the Bennets by running away with Lydia and refusing to marry her unless his debts are paid for.  He rarely has money and is a gambler.

Darcy on the other hand, is very disagreeable in his speech, he is thought to be ill mannered and overly proud.  But, he is actually kind and a gentleman.  This is shown when he anonymously settles Wickham's debts to save Lydia's reputation.

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