Open Prompt

Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

            In literature, there are often characters that cannot be categorized as purely good, or purely evil because their actions make it impossible to pin them into one of these groups. Often these ambiguous characters can prove to be the most important. In the case of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of these ambiguous characters exists by the name of Mr. Darcy. Although many are quick to think of him as evil at many points in the novel, when you closely observe Mr. Darcy’s actions and behaviors you cannot pin him into one of these categories and yet he is the most crucial player in this story because his actions make up the majority of the plot in this novel as well as causes the conflict. 

            Mr. Darcy is described right from the beginning as a very rude, and difficult person to like. In his debut at the first ball, he is described as having terrible manners and in general just being a hard person to be around. It also did not help that he was always around his best friend Mr. Bingley, who in contrast was the most well mannered, pleasant person to be around making Mr. Darcy look that much worse in comparison. The whole town admires, Mr. Darcy for being wealthy and of high social status but at the same time, they talk behind his back a lot, simply because of his terrible manners. Also, Mr. Darcy is described as being very selfish and haughty, thinking that he is always better than everyone else. As a result, he refuses to dance with anyone at the balls with the exception of Elizabeth Bennett. After meeting Elizabeth, we really get the details of Mr. Darcy and of what kind of person he truly is. Shortly after this we receive crucial (although false), information about Mr. Darcy from the wicked Mr. Wickham. We learn that Mr. Darcy actually took a lot of money from Mr. Wickham that was rightfully his and essentially screwed Mr. Wickham over. This adds to the build up of Mr. Darcy’s character officially putting him over into the evil category. Elizabeth, confused at her feelings for Mr. Darcy, grows to despise him because of this lie that was planted into her mind by Mr. Wickham.  

            However, after the Mr. Wickham incident, we learn about an entirely different side of Mr. Darcy. This side seems to be completely the opposite of what we have been told up to this point making the reader question the morals of Mr. Darcy, and therefore causing him to seem morally ambiguous. We soon learn that Mr. Wickham’s story is in fact not true, and that the true bad guy of the story was Mr. Wickham and not Mr. Darcy.  We also learn about the loving side of Mr. Darcy. We learn from his maid that he actually is incredibly charming and loving, especially towards his sister and his family. This causes the reader as well as Elizabeth to question everything about Mr. Darcy. On one hand, Mr. Darcy was incredibly haughty and rude at the balls, but on the other hand, we see that Mr. Darcy is actually very caring and generous. The major event that causes the most confusion is when Mr. Darcy pays Mr. Wickham a tremendous sum of money so that the Bennett’s can keep their house, and have a happily married daughter. This shows us a selfless side of him that has not been even hinted at prior in the novel. Elizabeth at this point becomes incredibly confused at what to believe and whether she is in love with Mr. Darcy or not.

            This ambiguity is crucial to the plot development of the novel. If you really think about this classic Jane Austen novel, without this ambiguity and confusion as to what kind of person Mr. Darcy really is, the plot loses much of its meaning and meat. A lot of the novel consists of the Bennett daughters, more specifically Elizabeth, and their pursuit of a husband, in Elizabeth’s case Mr. Darcy, and without this ambiguity causing the conflict in the novel; there would be no novel.

            Therefore, the ambiguity of Mr. Darcy as seen throughout the novel is crucial to the plot of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This ambiguity causes the conflict in the novel as well as makes up most of the plot and therefore, serves to be of great importance.