Mr. Darcy...every women's dream man
Mr. Darcy. *sigh* There honestly is no man I would rather meet. There is something so captivating about the way Jane Austen develops her characters. She constantly introduces them one day, and by the end of the novel your heart is swarming with dozens of different emotions towards them. For example, Mr. Darcy is introduced as an arrogant, insufferable, ignorant, cheauvenistic elite. By the end of the novel, he is perfect for Elizabeth in every way possible. Why can't that happen in real life? *sigh*:(
Mr. Darcy's no nightmare, but he's no vision either
Let me start by saying I can understand why women find Darcy attractive--he's handsome, rich, thoughtful, eloquent....
But my heart belongs to Edward Rochester.
For instance, Darcy romantic statements can be easily summed up in a page--throughout the entire book. Mr. Rochester can take up 14 or 15 in a single setting.
Ex: Darcy: "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must alllow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."
My darling Edward: "Then you are mistaken, and you know nothing about me, and nothing about the sort of love of which I am capable. Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still: if you raved, my arms should confine you, and not a strait waistcoat--your grasp, even in fury, would have a charm for me: if you flew at me as wildly as that woman did this morning, I should receive you in an embrace, at least as fond as it would be restrictive. I should not shrink from you with disgust as I did from her: in your quiet moments you should have no watcher and no nurse but me; and I could hang over you with untiring tenderness, though you gave me no smile in return; and never weary of gazing into your eyes, though they had no longer a ray of recognition for me.....You see now how the case stands--do you not?" he continued. "After a youth and manhood passed half in unutterable misery and half in dreary solitude, I have for the first time found what I can truly love--I have found you. You are my sympathy--my better self--my good angel. I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wraps my existence about you, and kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."
See? I'm not saying anything against Darcy's romantic statement, it's just that Edward's passion kind of blows him out of the water, IMO.
So, in conclusion, I would rather meet Edward Rochester (and marry him, if possible :) but Mr. Darcy is extremely attractive as well, and I hope you find him someday.
Mister Darcy in real life
I would like to say something concerning this subject : Let's not forget that Jane Austen remained single . That puzzled me : a woman that has dedicated her life in writing novels concerning marriage and love has never found her true love .
These novels about marriage and love ( let's not forget that in those days most of the people were married and stayed married sometimes till one of the partners died) were ment in my opinion to give a ray of light to the people that had never found happiness in real life ( and why not in their own marriage ) .
It is very hard to find nowadays a man that resembles even a bit to Mr Darcy ( in the good sense ; not in the sense of pride :smilielol5: ) .
Let's not forget that Mr Darcy is an exception too among the members of the high class : he appreciates a girl that likes to read and who can approach a wider variety of topics without being boring or annoying .
He also has a sense of decency and honour that can rarely be found nowadays in society .
So, in my opinion, I think that Miss Austen has created the man that she would have wanted to marry and I'm very happy that she shared her dream with all her faithful readers .
Yes I agree with what you said
We sometimes forget that sometimes characters are born due to the imagination of the writer .The writer has got to make them as credible as he or she can . You've mentioned Sherlock Holmes: let's remember what happened when Arthur Conan Doyle ,, murdered" Sherlock ? Well that happens when you're a great writer .That is also the case in our disscution : Mr Darcy is sought in the real life .And of course let's not forget that this happened with the help of the movies (that didn't existed when Jane lived ) especially with the one made in 1995: it was a crucial moment when Mr Darcy received a face and a body Colin Firth .
What I was meanin to say was
that Arthur Conan Doyle didn't want anymore to hear about Sherlock Holmes and so he wrote a story in which Sherlock Holmes dies .It became a huge scandal because a lot of people loved Sherlock and I'm not sure but it seems he received some menacing letters that threatened him with death in case he wouldn't write a new story in which Sherlock was alive . And so he did ......
And that was the case when the character comes to life and becomes sometimes even more popular than the author himself .
In Mr Darcy's case he became associated with a living and breathing creature such as Colin Firth . And as we look at a another movie such as ,,Bridget Jones" ( where Renee is supposed to be a sort of Elizabeth ) Colin again is another Mr Darcy . But in this movie the girl is not so smart as Elizabeth ( she looks a little bit too much like Lydia ) but she is trying her best to become someone else .