The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love

This provocative if only intermittently convincing study from Feder (Harvester of Hearts), an English professor at the University of Denver, deconstructs the “myth of the haughty crush turned romantic hero,” as epitomized by Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Feder suggests reading the novel as Gothic horror, a genre Austen “totally loved,” and contends that she created Darcy as a “kind of monster” whose dark underside (“He pays a dangerous rake [George Wickham] to marry our heroine’s sister [Lydia Bennet] so that Darcy can marry Lizzy without tarnishing his reputation”) has been largely ignored by conventional readings of the novel as a romance. Feder makes a persuasive case that Wickham is a “serial predator” and Darcy a jerk who “teaches us to excuse bad behavior and seek out people... who treat us like crap”; she overreaches, however, in condemning Darcy for “chaining Lydia to her predator,” downplaying Lydia’s agency in choosing to run away with Wickham. Additionally, the concluding sections detailing the disappointment of Feder’s acquaintances who have “dated Darcys” feels out of place. This doesn’t always persuade, but it’s sure to spark debate. (Nov.)