The Olympic Sport of Marriage Proposals- Part 2

2. Mr. Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth

Proposal: Mr. Darcy comes into the house and has a sudden and slightly awkward outpouring of his feelings for Elizabeth. Unlike Mr. Collins he immediately focuses on love: "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be represented. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." As he is explaining the "strength of his attachment," Elizabeth begins to feel that he is overconfident about receiving a positive response. When Elizabeth spurns his proposal, Mr. Darcy becomes flustered and points out her lack of civility, and becomes even more angry when Elizabeth begins to accuse him of things that he has not done.

Score: I give Mr. Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth an 8. He put himself out there and told her exactly how he felt, only to be harshly rejected. I did not give him a higher score because his delivery could have been a bit more smooth, and because Elizabeth noted some overconfidence (whether it was there or not.)

Response: When Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, her first response is remotely civil, but after that her level of politeness goes downhill. Mr. Darcy even says, "I might, perhaps, wish to be informed why, with so little endeavour at civility, I am thus rejected. But it is of small importance." She then tries to back this up by saying that her incivility was provoked, and reveals her prejudices towards him in the lines "Had not my own feelings decided agsinst you, had they been indifferent, or had they even been favourable, do you think that any consideration would tempt me to accept the man who has been the means of ruining...the happiness of a most beloved sister?" Elizabeth continues by accusing him of foul play with Mr. Wickham, though she has never heard Mr. Darcy's side of the story. Finally, she delivers the final blow with the lines "You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it" and "...and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."

Score: I give Elizabeth a 2 for her response to Mr. Darcy's proposal. Though he may have been a little overconfident, he put his heart on his sleeve and told her how he really felt. Blinded by her prejudice against him, Elizabeth could not contemplate the sincerity of the proposal nor could she reject him in a polite manner. Fortunately, Mr. Darcy cares about her enough to write her a letter explaining the entire the situation, in hopes that she will overcome her prejudice against him.