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with him for his wish of independence” (133). Additionally, Elizabeth thought nothing of his
spilling his “tragic” past to her when still a stranger in volume one, chapter sixteen, and she
failed to see the inconsistency between claims he made in their first conversation and his later
actions. In short, Elizabeth has turned a blind eye to behaviors in him that she would ordinarily
criticize in anybody else. Why?

Elizabeth did like Mr. Wickham, but her true motivator was her dislike of Mr. Darcy. Mr.
Wickham was walking proof (to her) of Mr. Darcy’s awfulness, and as long as his story was true,
Elizabeth could justifiably criticize Mr. Darcy as much as she wanted, for whatever reason she
wanted, and it was easier to believe that he was guilty of other injustices (e.g., Mr. Bingley’s
leaving Netherfield). Furthermore, “[Mr. Wickham’s] countenance, voice, and manner, had
established him at once in the possession of every virtue” (180). Mr. Wickham was simply
likeable, and Mr. Darcy was not. That simple fact confirmed for Elizabeth whom she should
trust.

More than anything, Elizabeth enjoys being right in her insights, so it is not surprising
that denial is her first response to Mr. Darcy’s side of the story about Mr. Wickham. “She wished
to discredit [the letter] entirely, repeatedly exclaiming, ‘ … this must be the grossest falsehood!’
–and when she had gone through the whole letter, … put it hastily away, protesting that she
would not regard it” (179). Denial is her natural reaction because Mr. Darcy’s story about Mr.
Wickham threatens to overturn Elizabeth’s most cherished beliefs, and Elizabeth, of course, does
not want to experience that.

However, Elizabeth is intelligent and has not been entirely blinded by emotion. It is Mr.
Darcy’s sordid tale about Mr. Wickham which pulls Elizabeth back into the letter despite her
original determination not to read it again, and, on her second reading, Mr. Darcy’s words start to

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