MR DARCY VS MR THORNTON

Among the most fascinating male characters in fiction of all times, Fitzwilliam Darcy (Jane Austen’s  Pride and Prejudice) and John Thornton ( Elizabeth Gaskell’s  North and South ) have been very often compared to and associated with one another. Do you think they share much or very little? This is what I’m going to write about today leafing through two of my favourite novels.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Mr Darcy 
Here is how he is introduced by Jane Austen on his first appearance at the Meryton Assembly:
“Mr Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike;… but his friend Mr Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr Bingley,…”

Mr Thornton

The first physical description of John is given by Elizabeth Gaskell through Margaret’s eyes. The two had already met for about half an hour but the girl prejudices against northern people and their habits had made her blind to what Mr Thornton looked like. Now he was visiting their house for tea and she noticed how handsome he was for the first time. The first thing she noticed was that he had a “tall, massive frame” which contrasted with her father’s slight figure.

“Now, in Mr Thornton’s face the straight brows fell low over the clear, deep-set earnest eyes, which without being unpleasantly sharp, seemed intent enough to penetrate into the very heart and core of what he was looking at. The lines in the face were few but firm, as if they were carved in marble, and lay principally about the lips, which were slightly compressed over a set of teeth so faultless and beautiful as to give the effect of sudden sunlight when the rare bright smile, coming in an instant and shining out of the eyes, changed the whole look from the severe and resolved expression of a man ready to do and dare anything, to the keen honest enjoyment of the moment, …”

PERSONALITY

Mr Darcy’s temperament is analysed in comparison to Mr Bingley’s. This is how he is seen at the beginning of the novel .
“Between him and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of a great opposition of character. Bingley was endeared to Darcy by the easiness, openness, ductility of his temper, though no disposition could offer a greater contrast to his own he never appeared dissatisfied. On the strength of Darcy’s regard Bingley had the firmest reliance, and on his judgement the highest opinion. In understanding Darcy was the superior. Bingley was by no means deficient but Darcy was clever. He was at the same time haughty, reserved, abd fastidious, and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting. In that respect his friend had greatly advantage. Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offence”.His strong temper, his self- confidence, his contempt for inferior social ranks are the result of his upbringing. (But we know he will change in the end!)

Mr Thornton’s behaviour in society is totally different from Darcy’s. This is how Margaret sees him as her host at the dinner at Marlborough:
“… his whole manner, as master of the house, and entertainer of his friends, was so straightforward, yet simple and modest, as to be thouroughly dignified. Margaret thought she had never seen him to so much advantage. When he had come to their house, there had been always something, either of over-eagerness or of that kind of vexed annoyance which seemed ready to presuppose that he was unjustly judged, and yet felt too proud to try and make himself understood. But now, among his fellows, there was no uncertainty as to his position. He was regarded by them as a man of great force of character; of power in many ways. There was no need to struggle for their respect. He had it, and he knew it; and the security of this gave a fine grand quietness to his voice and ways, which Margaret had missed before”.
His strong – willed temper, his pragmatic outlook on life, his brooding mood are the result of his need to grow-up as soon as he could and to face the troubles his father had left them all in. He is very proud of his self-made success, of the high position he has got to in society. But he is also a hard-worker, he over-works and fights for his mill and his workers.

BACKGROUND

Mr Darcy
He has inherited his great estates five years before the story begins, at his father’s death. His patrimony amounts to ten thousand a year. He is of noble rank, since he is the grandson of an earl.

Mr Thornton
John comes from a middle – class family. Since his father committed suicide in a moment of financial difficulty, young Thornton has had to work hard to pay back his father’s debts and to provide for his mother and sister. He is a successful self – made man and he is proud of his accession in society. Now he runs a cotton mill, Marlborough Mill. in Milton and he is also the magistrate of the city.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS

Mr Darcy lives at Pemberley, his magnificent residence with a huge park in Derbyshire, with his beloved younger sister, Georgiana. He is kind and protective to her, especially, since her great disappointment with Mr Wickham (do you remember? She was going to elope with him but her brother stopped her just in time!) Looking at his tender affection to sweet Georgiana, Elizabeth starts changing her mind on Darcy (or was it because of  Pemberley?)

Mr Thornton lives in a big house attached to the mill with his spoilt shallow sister, Fanny, and his strong-willed mother, to whom he is deeply attached. He has taken care of the two of them since his father’s death.

IN LOVE WITH THE HEROINE…

Mr Darcy denies even to himself that he is attracted by Eliza Bennet and these are the first words referring to her he utters at Meryton, when asked by his friend Mr Bingley to dance with her: “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men…” . Elizabeth and Mr Darcy meet again at Netherfield, at Longbourn and at Rosings but nothing make her - or the reader - suspect he is in love. So his marriage proposal comes utterly unexpected and is definitely rejected. Elizabeth is offended by his words regarding her social inferiority and inadequacy. So , infuriated, she accuses Darcy of being the cause of her sister’s and her new friend Wickham’s unhappiness and refuses him as the last man on Earth she would ever accept to marry. Well, these are not exactly the words she uses…Why don’t you have a look at this clip? (from Pride and Prejudice, BBC, 1995)

Mr Thornton is immediately attracted by Margaret. She comes from the South and is strongly prejudiced against the people in Milton. “I do think Mr Thornton a remarkable man; but personally I don’t like him at all”, she says to her father. The man, instead, though he finds the girl “proud and disagreable”, can’t avoid being charmed by her beauty. Their meetings, too, are nothing “courtshiplike” and Mr Thornton first marriage proposal comes rather unexpected to an even offended Margaret.

The day before a crowd of desperate starving strikers had attacked Marlborough Mill and Mr Thornton. Margaret was there by chance. She urged Thornton to face the crowd, to talk to them, but when she realized she had put his life at risk, she protected him from a blow with her own body and was hit.
Thornton and his family misunderstood her gesture and he couldn't resist the idea of thanking her for saving his life with a marriage proposal. Here is the film version of Thornton’s first proposal (from BBC North and South, 2004).

CONVERSION OF THE HEROINE AND... SECOND PROPOSAL

Mr Darcy reveals himself generous, tender, honest, trustful and, little by little, Elizabeth comes to love him. Her “conversion” from contempt to love starts with the reading of Darcy’s letter revealing the truth about Wickham. Then, it goes on at Pemberley when she listens to Mrs Reynolds’s – the housekeeper – appreciating words for her kind master and especially after seeing his transformation into a loving caring brother to Georgiana. After discovering his involvement in the happy finale of her sister’s elopment with Wickham … she’s terribly ashamed for her wrong first impressions. Fortunately, there will be a greatly welcome second proposal… Here is  the final happy ending  in the 2005 romantic version.

Mr Thornton will prove himself generous and loyal to Margaret and her family. As a magistrate, he will close the investigations on a case of murder in which the girl might be involved. Margaret starts appreciating him just when his good opinion of her is completely lost: he has seen her at night in the company of a mysterious man – her brother, indeed – who might be a murderer but she firmly denies. In the end , Mr Thornton will discover the truth and the two will find a compromise, a good agreement between North and South… The second proposal is lovely both in the book and in the TV adaptation, though in a very different setting in the two cases: Margaret’s cousin’s house in London in the book and a busy Victorian railway station halfway between Milton and Helstone (Margaret’s home in the South) in the TV series...

Do you think Darcy and Thornton have been correctly associated as similar characters? Or do you think they are rather different? Very different? I’d like to know your opinion on them. Which of the two is your favourite?

Difficult choice, isn’t it?

RELATED POSTS

THORNTON & DARCY HAVE A CONVERSATION FILMING NORTH & SOUTH THE ULTIMATE LITERARY CRUSH PRIDE & PREJUDICE WOMAN IN LOVE (There's an interesting part about Mr Darcy attitude to love)