Mr. Darcy Elizabeth's love. Morgan wrote that the gratitude that Austen meant for Elizabeth to feel for Darcy "...is a gratitude that, despite all the obstacles which realism can provide, despite time, conventions, and misunderstanding, despite her wrongs and his own limitations, Mr. Darcy can see Elizabeth honestly and can love her as well." One critic, Wilbur Cross, wrote at first Darcy displays outrageous arrogance to Elizabeth, but the novel ends with an "almost pitiable humiliation of Darcy", which was a testament to the power of women to tame men. The character of Fitzwilliam Darcy has appeared in and inspired numerous works.
Pride and Prejudice Bennet family. He is a pompous and obsequious clergyman who intends to marry one of the Bennet girls. When he learns about Jane and Mr. Bingley, he quickly decides to propose to Elizabeth, as the next in both age and beauty. Elizabeth and her family meet the dashing and charming George Wickham, who singles out Elizabeth and tells her a story of the hardship that Mr. Darcy has caused him by depriving him of a living (position as clergyman in a prosperous parish with good revenue that, once granted, is for life) promised to him by Mr. Darcy's late father.