The reason Mr Darcy is an iconic literary character whose appeal has endured for more than two centuries is not because he's somehow simultaneously both a brooding, Byronic romantic hero and a poor socially awkward shy boy who's too nervous to talk to his crush.
The reason Mr Darcy has enduring appeal is because he transforms from a rich, conceited and utterly unpleasant snob into the best version of himself after a thorough rebuke from the heroine. Instead of resenting Elizabeth when she tells him how much she dislikes him, he realises that she was correct, that he cannot stand the person he has become either. Darcy listens, learns and grows as a person following her reproach of him. For all this, he expects absolutely nothing in return for it from her. Not her love, or her approval, or her thanks. Nothing.
Mr Darcy's character arc is a beautiful example of redemption; of a man turning into the best version of himself he possibly can be out of love not just for the heroine but for his fellow human beings... because being a better person is the right thing to do.
