A Marriage Ruined By Mr. Darcy

Jane's marriage with Mr. Bingley displayed the perfect marriage. There existed only one problem in this encounter, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy didn't see this marriage as the best for his friend. What did he see wrong about these two families joining together? Did he have better plans for Mr. Bingley? According to Mr. Darcy: "I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I have rejoice in my success" (Austen, pg144). Mr. Darcy could have separated his friend from Jane for two reasons. One, Jane's family is very poor. Or two, he preferred that his dear friend married his sister instead of Jane. When Mr. Darcy describes his effects on the marriage as having "rejoice in my success," he must have something to gain in the separation. According to this I would have to say that the option that brings more happiness to him is the marrying with his sister. If Mr. Bingley marries his sister then that means that their friendship will be consolidated by joining the two families by marriage. If it were my case I wouldn't mind one of my best friends marrying with one of my cousins or my sister, because in that sense our friendship will be consolidated.

That explanation for his wanting to break up the marriage convinced me of his reasoning. I was surprised to be proved wrong when later, in the letter he wrote to Elizabeth, he gave other reasons for this breaking up. One of his reasons was "The situation of your mother's family, though objectionable, was nothing in comparison of that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters" (Austen, pg148). Mr. Darcy couldn't forget the economical part of Jane's family. He mentions the fact that the situation Jane's family is not the best. Also the fact that every daughter is looking for a man to marry, preferably with money conforms one of the reasons Mr. Darcy broke up the marriage. In other words, he was afraid that his friend marriage's main objective was money rather than love. The state of wealth in this family is the reason why Mr. Darcy disapproved this marriage.