This week's Reader Question comes from Birdie from Lady of the Manor:
Do you think Wickham was maybe (on the way to) falling in love with Elizabeth?
It's hard to say. Since Pride and Prejudice is told through Elizabeth Bennet's perspective, we really don't see how other characters are feeling except as seen by Elizabeth. We do know that Mrs. Gardiner was uneasy about Elizabeth's being in love with Wickham and we know that Elizabeth said that she was not in love with Wickham. But other than what Elizabeth has observed in Wickham, we can't know for sure what Wickham was feeling. Was he really in love (or on the way to being so) with Elizabeth or was he never really serious about her? I can really see both sides of the argument.
 |
| Wickham, the experienced fortune hunter Picture from The P&P95Forever Club |
One side might argue that he wasn't because he was an experienced fortune hunter that knew that he needed to marry for money. And since Elizabeth had no fortune (the most she would have been entitled to was one thousand pounds), he probably was never really serious about Elizabeth.
But on the other hand (and I'm starting to feel a little Fiddler on the Roof here), he did approach Elizabeth often enough and they would talk a lot by themselves. And since Elizabeth shared his dislike of Mr. Darcy, hey! that was a big thing they had in common. In this case, Wickham would be very similar to Willoughby and Elizabeth would have been Marianne: like how Willoughby never intended to fall in love with Marianne but did anyways, Wickham never intended to fall in love with Elizabeth and it's possible that he might have been on the way to being in love.
The 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice hints at the latter (though it wasn't really hinted at in the book). Remember this scene?
In that scene, Wickham essentially implies that he would have married Elizabeth if it wasn't for the fact that he needed money. Could he just have been saying that and didn't mean it? Possibly. Could he have been sincere as well? Also possible.Elizabeth: I hear I am to congratulate you on your forthcoming betrothal to Miss King.
Picture from The P&P95Forever Club
Wickham: I think you must despise me.
Elizabeth: Oh, indeed I do not, believe me! I understand, as my younger sisters are not yet able to, that handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain ones.
Wickham: Miss Bennet . . . I would wish you to believe me that . . . had circumstances been different . . . .
Elizabeth: Had old Mr Darcy never had a son. Oh, yes. But life is full of these trials, as my sister, Mary, reminds us daily
(Script Source)
What do you think? Was Wickham ever in love with Elizabeth? Or was he never serious about her? Leave a comment!
Thank you, Birdie, for sending in your question. If you have a question you would like to submit for me to do a post on, leave a comment. Just follow these guidelines. It can be about anything related to this blog: period dramas, blogging, reviews, etc.
God Bless,
Right... I think he's just one of those jerks who sports with a lady's affections on purpose, combined with wanting to "amuse himself" at the time and he found Elizabeth's company enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThen what's interesting is that he made Elizabeth think that his company was enjoyable by encouraging her dislike of Mr. Darcy. It's like he found Elizabeth's company enjoyable, but he wanted to make sure that she would keep him company. It's one big mind game that he plays.
DeleteI think he liked Elizabeth a bit- I don't think he was ever serious, but I think that if he had been honorable, he would have been in love with her. If that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteIn other words...he wanted to fall in love with her, but he was too mercenary to do it.
Makes sense to me. To him, money was more important than love.
DeleteI agree....he definitely liked Elizabeth, but as soon as Miss King came along with her however many thousand pounds it was...
ReplyDeleteAnd when Miss King is taken away by her uncle to Liverpool, he comes back to Lizzy expecting to be received in the same way!! Ugh.
I looked it up: Miss King had ten thousand pounds. Not as rich as Georgiana Darcy (who had thirty thousand pounds), but still a good chunk of change. And as opposed to Elizabeth (or Lydia for that matter) who probably would only get ten thousand pounds, Miss King was the better catch (monetarily speaking). Luckily for Miss King, her uncle got her away from Meryton.
DeleteI don't think such a blackguard is capable of being truly in love with anyone but himself. I think he could have preferred Lizzy to all the other women at least in Meryton. I am certain he would have picked Lizzy over Lydia for as horrid as he was, he was reasonable intelligent (you can tell in the movie that is gets annoyed with Lydia's stupidity when they are holed up in London). I haven't read the book in the while but I know I have always had the impression that the movie exaggerated his attachment to Lydia as compared to Lizzy.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Between Lizzy and Lydia, Lizzy was probably the better match for him. I think the only reason he ended up with Lydia was because she was willing to elope with him (something that Lizzy would have never done).
DeleteWickham, though maybe not in the throes of love, was, I think, very sensitive to Lizzie's intelligence. I think he knew she was a remarkable lady, and was impressed. It was obvious that he had somewhat of a respect for her, although maybe not as much as he should have had, since he lied to her. But I think, the fact that he admired her is very evident, even if he never fell completely in love.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think compared to all the other women in Meryton, Wickham probably liked Lizzy the best. Though I wonder if the main reason why he liked her was because she so fully believed him about Mr. Darcy... 'course everyone else in Meryton believed him as well when he finally told everyone about it.
DeleteThanks for answering my question so in-depth. I have to agree with you analysis. It's been quite a while since I read the novel or watched the '95 adaptation, so I've not really got all the 'evidence' on hand, but what you say sounds very reasonable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking an interesting question! I hadn't really thought about it before, so it was really fun thinking through your question.
Delete