Darcy’s steady character and noble minds determine that his love was not mere overnight’s impulse. After having been accused of arrogance and selfish of the feelings of others, Darcy decided to make a change of himself. In order to win the favourable impression of Elizabeth, he invited Elizabeth, her aunt and uncle to visit his Pemberley. No efforts spared on the part of Darcy, we can find his manners remarkably improved and his behavior strikingly altered! That he should even speak to her was amazing! – but to speak with such civility, to inquire after her family! Never in her life had she seen his manners, so little dignified, never had he spoken with such gentleness as to this unexpected meeting. What a contrast did it offer to his last address in Rosing’s park, when he put his letter into her hand! She knew not what to think nor how to account for it! Of course, she could account for it! Love was the real cause of all those amazing alternations.

We can get a better understanding of Darcy’s character through Lydia Wickhame’s case. He certainly had deep aversion to Wickhame for he had seduced his sister in vain and slandered him maliciously. However, his affection for Elizabeth outweighed anything else. He did his utmost to rescue L:ydia and Wickhame from their trouble. He met Lydia and Wickhame several times, extricate them from their debts and assist them in their marriage. Without consideration of humiliation and social position, he did all these things secretly and consciously. The only motive he professed was that his conviction of its being owing to himself that Wickhame’s worthlessness had not been so well-known, as to make it impossible for any young women of character, to love or confide in him. But we were all deeply touched by the real motive behind this.

Elizabeth is my favorite heroine. “She was a young woman very much addicted to making speeches, very pert often, fond of having the last word, and prone to hasty judgements, with really nothing but her prettiness and a certain sharp smartness of talk to recommend her.”(Margaret oliphant 290) She was self-dignified and sensible, valued true love as something noble and lofty, but never trade self-esteem with love, never trade money with love.

Her refusal of Collins’ pompous proposal is a mirror, which reflects, for the first time, her perception and character, and her attitudes towards love. Elizabeth lived in an acquisitive society, a society which treats a penniless old maid less as a joke than as an exasperating burden upon her family. Elizabeth, if she were not lucky enough to marry a rich man, would have not enough money to support her future life, which she was fully aware. Nevertheless, she turned down Collins’ proposal against her mother’s will. Because no love ever existed between them. Collins foolishness and falseness sickened her. We have already observed the insistent significance of the entail and Collins, who would inherit the estate when Bennet died. In proposing to Elizabeth, the magnanimous Collins said that he knew that she would, after her father’s death, had no more than a thousand pounds in the four percents. Such hieroglyphics, which Collins asked to threaten Elizabeth, but nothing could shake her firmness. Her choice proved to be wise later. Collins then married Charlotte, whose marriage was considered by Elizabeth as unaccountable and ridiculous. She thought that Collins was a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man and that woman who married him, couldn’t have a proper way of thinking.

Then came the proposal of Darcy, yet her prejudices against Darcy ensured the same results. There were three things Elizabeth seriously holds against Darcy: She thought he had spoiled J ane’s chances with Bingley; that he had done this because he despised the social position of the family, and that he had ruined Wickhame’s career without due cause. In spite of deeply-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man’s affection, and though her intentions did not vary for an instant, she was at first sorry for the pain he was to receive. Obviously, Darcy’s proposal was more impressing than that of Collins, as it derived from the true affection. But his haughty words insulted Elizabeth’s self-esteem. She was by no means to sacrifice her self-respect to accept Darcy’s court. She hurled his proposal sharply and decidedly in his face. “ I had not been for a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.” (J ane Austen 154) Ruffled and vexed as he was, he was still impressed by her courage and frankness. As a matter of fact, her harsh refusal of Darcy’s proposal increased his admiration instead of reducing his passions.

Elizabeth, however, was a witty and sensible lady. She tried to find the real character of Darcy through her own observation and understanding. Later, she was invited to visit Pemberley, Darcy’s home. At Pemberley, Elizabeth’s understanding of Darcy deepened. She never took anybody’s words lightly without giving them her proper consideration. Having been informed of Darcy’s great assistance in Wickhame and Lydia’s case and Wickhame’s true character, Elizabeth became more favorably inclined to him than ever before.