#mr wickham

Pride and Prejudice 1995 text posts, part 6 of ? - prev set, next set

Below are my personal takes on who is who in Mother Austen's Pride and Prejudice:

The thing about Wickham is he sprinkles just enough of the truth in the narrative he tells Elizabeth in order to make himself believable. In particular, it's such a genius move in the way he uses Elizabeth's family to make her feel closer to him and help her believe the worst about Darcy:

'My father began life in the profession which your uncle, Mr Phillips, appears to do so much credit to—but he gave up everything to be of use to the late Mr Darcy and devoted all his time to the care of the Pemberley property.'

Not only is it impressive the way his mind works—as he is so new to Meryton and thus would only have recently become acquainted with the Phillipses and their connection with Elizabeth's family, yet he still has the presence of mind enough to remember this fact and bring it up at an opportune moment—but I also find it incredible the way that he positions himself alongside Elizabeth's family, as though they are equal in some way and looked down on/used by people like Darcy. When, in actual fact, the Bennets have far more in common with Mr Darcy who, like Mr Bennet, is a gentleman with an annual income in the thousands, which places them far higher up the social pecking order than an attorney/steward.

Argubly my greatest academic achievement.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)