Why I Love Darcy
For starters, he is insanely attractive. And yes, I know he is a character from a book so we don't really know what he looks like, but I can imagine. Plus, he has had some INSANELY attractive actors over the years portray him, Matthew Macfadyen, Sam Riley, and Colin Firth being my personal favorites. I love the leather coat Sam Riley wears in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so very very much! (I have a thing for long coats)(and long hair)
In the beginning of the book he looks and acts like a stoic, unapproachable jerk but is really just a shy, socially awkward person who has recently been hurt by a man he used to call friend.
Later in the book, he starts to fall in love with Elizabeth Bennet but tries to deny it, knowing his family will never accept her. He leaves her home town and returns to London with his friend only to unexpectedly meet her at his aunt's house a few months later. He falls for her harder than ever and 'against his better judgment,' proposes to her. She rejects him and is both right and wrong in accusing him of some things that he did and did not do.
He is utterly heartbroken: "You have said quite enough, madam. I perfectly comprehend your feelings, and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been. Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness." I can only imagine him standing before a fiery Elizabeth, realizing that he will never win her love in this life and trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. If it was a later time in history, or if Darcy was not in the first circles with a code of conduct to uphold, I can imagine him standing in front of her, turned slightly away, looking down, eyes closed, keeping the tears at bay, holding up a hand, trying in vain to both hide his pain and separate himself from her, which so far hasn't worked.
Darcy returns to Rosings and probably holes up in his room, trying to maintain his temper and tears. He writes a letter to Elizabeth explaining his actions and accusations. He leaves the house early in the morning, waiting for Elizabeth to walk by, probably spending hours on the gardens. He sees her and walks towards her, giving her the letter before retreating, not wanting to see the look of hatred he believes to be in her face. Darcy then leaves Rosings before Elizabeth even returns to the parsonage from her walk.
He feels as if he will never see her again, part of him wanting never to see her again, the other part crying out in pain because he believes he will never see her again.
Months go by. He returns to his home, Pemberley, a day before his friends arrive. Darcy is surprised to see Elizabeth with her aunt and uncle on his property, having already toured the house. He sees her and his heart stops. He doesn't know if she still hates him or not, most likely she does. He wants desperately to show her how much he has changed. For her. He has never loved a woman as much as he loves her and fears he never will again. And if she hates him for the rest of her life, he will hate himself for the rest of his life, because he screwed things up.
He tries to talk to her and she answers his questions but won't look at his face, much less his eyes. He worries she still hates him, yet she looks only uncomfortable. He knows he is talking circles, repeating some questions, but he just can't wrap his mind around why she would possibly be there.
They continue on the walk Elizabeth and her family had been on, Darcy walking beside her uncle. However, Elizabeth's aunt, who had been walking arm-in-arm with Elizabeth switched places with Darcy. Now the two are walking arm-in-arm and that can't be awkward. At all.
Over the course of her stay in the area, they get to talk and Darcy gets to introduce her to his sister, to whom he has told all about Elizabeth, who decides to share this bit of information with Elizabeth. And, just when Darcy thinks he should renew his suit, calling upon her at the inn at which she is staying with her family, finds Elizabeth in tears, trying to brush him off to find her aunt and uncle so they can leave. He is suddenly terrified of losing her again and, in an ingenious bid to buy time, sends a servant after her aunt and uncle and remains by Elizabeth's side, doing as much to comfort her as propriety allows.
He gets out of her that her youngest sister has run off with the very man who tried to ruin his sister only a year ago, George Wickham. He is furious at Wickham for interfering, furious at himself for not dealing with Wickham a long time ago, afraid now that he knows Elizabeth is likely walking out of his life for good this time, torn on what to do about it, for he loves her and wants nothing more than to convince her to take him for her husband yet hesitant to further entangle himself with Wickham and yet, above all, he wants to make those tears disappear and never return to his beloved's face.
So, as soon as she can semi hold herself together, he takes his leave of her, sure this time that he will never see her again. Heartbroken, for the second time, he leaves for London to track down Wickham. He pays for the wedding and the gambling debts and some more for a commission in the regulars. He does all of this for Elizabeth but tries to convince her aunt and uncle, the same ones who saw the two of them together at Pemberley, that he was doing it because he felt that he should have done it long ago. He told them that he was responsible for Wickham because he knew who Wickham's character. However, his attempts failed because her aunt and uncle were convinced that "he was very much in love with her."
Then, time passes and he decides that Bingley should know how he interfered with his love life. When he tells his best friend, he is again terrified of losing a loved one. Charles Bingley is like the younger brother he never had. However, no matter how mad Bingley gets at Darcy, he always forgives him because they are best friends.
They return to Netherfield and call upon the Bennets. Darcy tries to gauge Elizabeth's feelings towards him but simply can't get close enough to her and won't try because he is so nervous and terrified to do the wrong thing and scare her away even more. He never has been good in social situations, anyway.
Days later, after Darcy has returned to town, he is visited by his aunt, Lady Catherine, the same one who owns Rosings Park and wants him to marry her daughter because back then you could marry your cousin and no one cared, who had just come from visiting Elizabeth. Lady Catherine said that Elizabeth vehemently declared that she would never promise Lady Catherine that she would not become engaged to Darcy. Darcy knew enough of Elizabeth's character to know that if she was decidedly against him, she would have no qualms in agreeing to his aunt's demands.
Filled with hope Darcy returns to Hertfordshire. When Darcy and Bingley call on the Bennets the next day, Darcy is roped into a walk with Bingley, Jane, Elizabeth, and Kitty, which means that it will be Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy because Jane and Bingley will go off and talk, away from everyone else. After Kitty leaves to visit a friend, it is just Darcy and Elizabeth. After much awkwardness, Elizabeth breaks the silence first, thanking him for what he did for Lydia. He stops her by saying that he did it for her and her alone. Now, he's crossed the Rubicon and there is only one way of knowing Elizabeth's feelings towards him now.
He says, "You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever." Staring at the women he loves, watching in agony as he sees the many emotions cross her face, willing to give anything for her to return his affections. Maybe not to the full extent of his but enough so that he may have a fighting chance of winning her heart. She opens her mouth to speak and she reassures him that her feelings have changed and that said feelings are the exact opposite of what they were then. The next evening, he seeks the blessing of her father.
Sometime in the future, Elizabeth asks Darcy when he fell in love with her. He says, "I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." They were married. And all the pain my child suffered both in the book and what came before the book was forgotten and replaced the greatest happiness ever known to him.
I love Darcy because he suffers so much and endures so much but yet he loves so much. And after all he has faced in life, he comes out on top and gets the girl. That is why I love Darcy.
And I could go on about the actors, the clothes, and other things. This is just the book.