I think Pride and Prejudice really hits for me because it differs from a lot of other period romances. At least in my experience, the leading lady typically has one love interest and social ideals and customs, and miscommunication are what keep them from getting together. Not to say this doesn’t happen in Pride and Prejudice, but Pride and Prejudice also has several men who court Elizabeth.
I genuinely cannot think of another period romance where there were other men courting our leading lady without being outright evil, but Pride and Prejudice doesn’t do that. We have Wickham, who is the second biggest contender, and is that outright nefarious man, but there is also Mr. Collins and Darcy’s cousin I can’t remember the name of, nor can I be bothered to look it up.
What I love most is we get to see how each are a bad match for Lizzy. Starting with Mr. Wickham, he is a liar and very willing to pursue any woman who can either elevate his situation, or he can blackmail the family of into giving him money. He does not have good intentions in the slightest, which really doesn’t gel with Lizzy’s uprightness.
Mr. Collins is the next obvious bad pick for similar reasons. He is self centered and self righteous. He cares more about flattery than actually being a sociable person. He is not someone Lizzy can respect, and that is very important to her. She needs a respectable man with a backbone and Mr. Collins just isn’t that.
Darcy’s cousin stands apart from these two in that he is respectable, has a good background, and is honest. However, he doesn’t work with Lizzy because they both need to marry above their station in order to have the means they need to live comfortably.
These men really stand to elevate Mr. Darcy because we get to see how he has everything every other suitor lacks. He is honest, works on becoming sociable, has the means to care for a wife and children, and is respectable.
In short, I really appreciate the fact that we have others who court Lizzy. It really emphasizes how he is the best for her because he has everything she needs in a partner. Even more so since he works on obtaining the things she needs that he lacks. It honestly makes me wish we saw more of this used well because it hits so hard when done right.
