Mr. Darcy Quotes

Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room - Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 3. This describes the reaction to Fitzwilliam Darcy and his friend Charles Bingley at the Meryton ball, attended by the Bennet sisters and their mother. Aside from Darcy’s handsome looks, what makes a big impression on the ballgoers is that he is wealthy and worth ten thousand pounds a year. But very quickly they make up their minds from Darcy’s manner that he is insufferably proud and behaves as if he is superior to those around him. From the start they develop a dislike of and a prejudice against him. He is "unworthy" to be compared to his friend Charles Bingley, they decide. Darcy is believed to be partly based on Irish politician and lawyer Thomas Lefroy, who had a flirtation and spent some time with Jane Austen during a break from studying law. Austen’s lack of wealth is believed to have played a part in the pair not ending up together. After Lefroy died in 1869 one of his nephews wrote to Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen Leigh to say: "My late venerable uncle…said in so many words that he was in love with her, although he qualified his confession by saying it was a boyish love."
She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me - Darcy about Elizabeth

She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 3. Mr. Darcy says this to Mr. Bingley about Elizabeth Bennet, when Bingley tries to persuade him to dance with her at the Meryton ball. Darcy’s claim that Elizabeth is not handsome enough to tempt him turns out to be very ironic, since he ends up falling in love with her and marrying her. But when he first meets her here, Darcy looks down his nose at Elizabeth without knowing her. His pride getting the better of him, he considers Elizabeth and the people of Meryton to be his social inferiors.
A most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing - Pride and Prejudice

"But I can assure you," she added, "that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 3. Mrs. Bennet hasn’t any good word to say to Mr. Bennet about Mr. Darcy after she and the Bennet girls return home from the Meryton ball. She detests Darcy for his attitude towards Elizabeth at the ball, and is particularly vexed at him for slighting her daughter by not asking her to dance. Mrs. Bennet is quick to judge Mr. Darcy and forms a strong prejudice against him, based purely on first impressions, labeling him as vain and conceited.

I beg you would not put it into Lizzy’s head to be vexed by such ill treatment; for he is such a disagreeable man that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him. Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half-an-hour without once opening his lips.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Mrs. Bennet says this of Mr. Darcy, when Charlotte Lucas comments on Darcy’s reason for refusing to ask Elizabeth to dance – "poor Eliza! – to be only just tolerable," says Charlotte.

"His pride," said Miss Lucas, "does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud."
"That is very true," replied Elizabeth, "and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Charlotte Lucas and Elizabeth are discussing Mr. Darcy’s pride. Charlotte thinks that if you have everything going for you in life, including family and fortune, you have a right to be proud. However, Elizabeth accuses Darcy of mortifying her pride after overhearing him saying she was not "handsome enough."

Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. Of this she was perfectly unaware; to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Elizabeth may not have been handsome enough for Mr. Darcy to dance with at the Meryton ball, where he found her appearance just "tolerable." But now he sees Elizabeth in a new light as she and Jane spend more time with the residents of Netherfield. Observing Elizabeth close up, Darcy develops an attraction for her, despite having said earlier that she lacked the manners of his class. Now he finds himself drawn to her intelligent expression, her beautiful dark eyes, her pleasing figure and her playful personality. Darcy is mortified by his discovery, because it injures his pride – at the Meryton assembly he was "above his company, and above being pleased." Elizabeth is fully aware of his attentions, but to her he is still the disagreeable man who didn’t think she was attractive enough to dance with.

"There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."
"Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world. Every savage can dance."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Sir William Lucas tries to engage Mr. Darcy about the pleasures and popularity of dancing. Sir William holds it up as one of the great examples of civilized society. But Darcy shows his dislike for the practice by saying sarcastically that "every savage can dance." Yet moments later Darcy unexpectedly changes his tune and wishes to dance with Elizabeth – this is an example of situational irony. Elizabeth refuses him point blank. She in turn uses verbal irony when she says, meaning the opposite: "Mr. Darcy is all politeness."
A pair of fine eyes - Darcy on Elizabeth

"I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."
Miss Bingley immediately fixated her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Mr. Darcy replied with great intrepedity:
"Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Mr. Darcy seems lost in thought at a party in the Lucas house and Caroline Bingley suggests that he must be thinking how insufferable it is to spend evenings with such insipid and self-important people. But Darcy shocks her with his response, admitting that he has been thinking about Elizabeth Bennet’s fine eyes. Caroline sees Elizabeth as her rival for Darcy’s affections and is astonished by Darcy’s revelation.
A lady's imagination is very rapid - Darcy in Pride and Prejudice

A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. This is Mr. Darcy’s comeback to Caroline Bingley, who is astonished that Elizabeth Bennet is his "favourite" and jokingly asks Darcy when the wedding is to be. Darcy’s tongue-in-cheek response keeps up the joke, but it also contains a lot of truth. For marriage is a big obsession with the female characters in the novel and is one of its main themes.
You will have a charming mother-in-law - Pride and Prejudice

You will have a charming mother-in-law, and of course she will always be at Pemberley with you.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Jealous because Mr. Darcy has expressed admiration for Elizabeth Bennet’s "fine eyes," Caroline Bingley tries to come up with something insulting to say about Elizabeth and her family. She sarcastically suggests that Darcy can look forward to sharing lots of time at his grand Pemberley estate with his new mother-in-law – the tiresome and foolish Mrs. Bennet. Family is an important theme in the novel, and while Elizabeth is a lively and intelligent woman, not all members of her family are as attractive as her.

She was shown into the breakfast-parlour, where all but Jane were assembled, and where her appearance created a great deal of surprise. That she should have walked three miles so early in the day, in such dirty weather, and by herself, was almost incredible to Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley; and Elizabeth was convinced that they held her in contempt for it. She was received, however, very politely by them; and in their brother’s manners there was something better than politeness; there was good humour and kindness. Mr. Darcy said very little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone. The latter was thinking only of his breakfast.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 7. Concerned for her ill sister Jane and having no carriage, Elizabeth walks alone through three miles of muddy fields to Netherfield. Elizabeth doesn’t fit the image of the typical 18th century woman, she is headstrong and independent-minded and likes to break gender and class conventions. She suspects – and turns out to be right – that the Bingley sisters Caroline and Louisa are not impressed by her behavior and hold her in contempt. But Mr. Darcy feels "admiration" for Elizabeth and the brilliant complexion the exercise has given her, though he doubts her wisdom is traveling so far alone.

"I am afraid, Mr. Darcy," observed Miss Bingley in a half whisper, "that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes."
"Not at all," he replied; "they were brightened by the exercise."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. The snobbish Caroline Bingley once again guesses wrong about Mr. Darcy’s thoughts. Aiming to puncture his admiration for Elizabeth’s "fine eyes," she makes a jibe about Elizabeth’s three-mile walk through the mud to Netherfield. But Darcy is even more admiring of Lizzy’s eyes after the exercise.

"I am astonished," said Miss Bingley, "that my father should have left so small a collection of books. – What a delightful library you have at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy!"

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. While Elizabeth is visiting the Bingleys to see her ill sister Jane, there is a discussion on reading, in which Caroline Bingley compliments Mr. Darcy on his excellent library at Pemberley. A love of books is something which Darcy and Elizabeth share, and one of the things that draws them closer over time. Of course Caroline has little interest in reading, but pretends she does in order to gain the attention of Darcy.

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant, "no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved."
"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. To be an accomplished woman, according to Caroline Bingley, one must be able to sing, play music, draw, dance, have a pleasant voice and graceful walk. Quite a tall order and indicative of the high expectations for 18th century women who wanted to get on in life. Mr. Darcy chips in say there is something even more important for such a woman: improving her mind by extensive reading.

I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. After hearing the high standards Darcy and Caroline Bingley require for an "accomplished" woman, Elizabeth gently pokes fun at them. The quick-witted Elizabeth is not afraid to challenge Darcy, saying she is surprised that he knows any accomplished woman because of the high standards and skills he expects. Here Austen is criticizing the level of expectations from women in her society as being unreasonable and unfair.

"Elizabeth Bennet," said Miss Bingley, when the door was closed on her, "is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by undervaluing their own; and with many men, I dare say, it succeeds. But, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art."
"Undoubtedly," replied Darcy, to whom this remark was chiefly addressed, "there is meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. After Elizabeth and Caroline Bingley debate about what makes "an accomplished woman," Caroline attempts to damage Elizabeth’s reputation by accusing her of employing a "very mean art." She falsely claims that Elizabeth tries to make herself look good in a man’s eyes by criticizing other women – but the irony is that we all know it is Caroline who is guilty of doing that. However, Mr. Darcy’s response shows that he sees through Caroline and is far from impressed by her ruse.

"And so ended his affection," said Elizabeth impatiently. "There has been many a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!"
"I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love," said Darcy.
"Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9. When Elizabeth jokes about poetry driving love away, Mr. Darcy disagrees and alludes to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In this play the bard metaphorically compares music to the food of love. However, Elizabeth counters that poetry may nourish strong love, but weaker love would be killed by one good sonnet.

"To yield readily – easily – to the persuasion of a friend is no merit with you."
"To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either."
"You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy argue about the merits of accepting the advice of friends, after Darcy suggests that his friend Mr. Bingley is easily swayed. Elizabeth comments that people who are easily persuaded by friends hold no merit with Darcy. She accuses him of being too detached and dismissive of the opinion of friends. But Darcy makes clear his belief that a person should follow their own convictions. The exchange foreshadows how Bingley will be later be influenced by others in matters of the heart. The banter also shows Darcy’s close-up encounter with Elizabeth’s "liveliness" of mind, something he later admits to falling in love with.

"Oh!" said she, "I heard you before, but I could not immediately determine what to say in reply. You wanted me, I know, to say ‘Yes,’ that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt. I have, therefore, made up my mind to tell you, that I do not want to dance a reel at all – and now despise me if you dare."
"Indeed I do not dare."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10. Mr. Darcy has just asked Elizabeth to dance a reel with him, and when she doesn’t answer, he repeats the request – because he obviously likes her. But her strange reaction here is to refuse him and suggest that he only asked her so that he can make fun of her. Is she trying to tease and punish him perhaps? It is more likely that the early prejudice she formed against Darcy is still very much at play here.

Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry; but there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10. Although she does not know it yet, Elizabeth is showing the first signs of attraction to Darcy – "amazed at his gallantry." Darcy is also falling in love with Elizabeth but sees this as dangerous because he is a higher class than her. There is considerable irony going on in this scene, as Elizabeth has refused to dance with Darcy and expects him to be affronted. Instead he is gallant. He on the other hand is bewitched by her sweetness and archness, when she intended the very opposite – to cut him down to size. Darcy also thinks, were it not for her inferior connections, he might fall in love with her – which is exactly what is happening. Austen is satirizing the snobbery of the upper class and the class divide in the social awkwardness between Darcy and Elizabeth.
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