Monday, April 23, 2012

Mr.Darcy vs. Mr. Bingley

Two characters in my novel, Pride and Prejudice, that are very well contrasted to each other would have to be Mr.Bingley and Mr.Darcy. The way I know this is because both men were at a ball and both were very handsome. "Mr.Bingley was good-looking and gentleman-like; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy unaffected manners." Mr. Darcy was declared to be much handsomer than Mr.Bingley by all the ladies. The only thing that was difference from the two were their choice of manners. As stated, Mr. Bingley had a great amount of manners while, on the other hand, Mr. Darcy did not. "He was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased." Mr. Darcy was one who was too proud to be caught "mingling" with lower class. He did not try to hide it either. During the ball, Mr. Bingley had went over to Mr. Darcy to see if he wanted to dance. He replied, "I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be unsupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand with." Then Mr. Bingley began gesturing towards Elizabeth Bennet, stating that he should dance with her, the rude man replied, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me." He did not care that Elizabeth was in eat distance to hear the crude remarks. Mr. Bingley, though almost just as rich as Mr.Darcy, was extremely social. He immediately left him and he danced with almost every girl in the room and did not care to do it twice. He chatted and mingled with anyone in sight. This was true proof of compassion and friendliness.

I believe Jane Austen, the author, probably put this in the novel because she intended to show how amazing Mr. Bingley truly was. He was the new guy in town and the most eligible bachelor. Everyone was so ready to show off their daughter to him. To show how perfect he was, Jane Austen showed how rude Mr.Darcy was. I think she did an excellent job because it starts out having the two very much alike by their looks and social class but yet so different by their personalities.

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