Man’s Change Through Love
Theresa Larkin
Every man accomplishes his goals distinctively, and has his own individual characteristics that are apparent when faced with life’s situations. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy initially embraces a personality of self-superiority and conceit. It is because of his feelings for Elizabeth that he learns to reveal his emotions more openly and develop a more modest character. In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Robert Cohn is primarily a physically strong, but shy man who does not stand up for himself when talked down upon. However, his feelings for Brett cause him to set aside his polite values, resulting in violent attacks against others. Both Darcy and Robert encompass their individual qualities, but these qualities gradually transform when they each become devoted to a woman.
When Darcy first sees Elizabeth, he is not especially attracted to her, nor is she to him. He blatantly reveals to Mr. Bingley at the ball that “she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt [him]” (Austen 8). He is enthralled in his own pride and high financial status and fails to acknowledge Elizabeth as a beautiful and fine-quality woman, and this lack of consideration creates a mutual dislike between them. Elizabeth states that “[she] could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified [hers]” (15). Even as Darcy begins to show a liking for Elizabeth, he has still not liberated himself from his over-sized ego. When Sir William proposes for Elizabeth to dance with Darcy, she refuses, and although Darcy “[requests] to be allowed the [honor] of her hand, [he does so] in vain” (21). At this point, Darcy’s opinion of Elizabeth is one of a higher quality than when he first noticed her; however, his arrogance is too high for her independent and bright demeanor to be undermined. If she gave in to his advances, it would only make him more self-absorbed; thus, refusing him aids in reducing his pretentiousness. However, she eventually “attracted him more than he liked” (50) as he is too preoccupied with the fact that she is of a lower financial status than he. However, love progressively overcomes his prejudgment, and he begins to see Elizabeth’s true nature. This is what diminishes his conceit and allows him to fall in love with Elizabeth for who she is.
It is at Rosings where a change of character in Darcy is evident. When he visits Elizabeth, he waits no longer than several minutes when he hastily opens up to her and declares that “in vain I have struggled. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you” (162). In only a matter of months, Elizabeth has had such an affect on him that he has put aside his conceitedness and discrimination to focus on whom he truly loves. Their eventual marriage is proof that someone’s love for another can alter the former’s initial flaws. Darcy admits to Elizabeth he has always been too proud, and that she has changed him for the better. He tells her:
As a child…I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit…such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you I was properly humbled (317).
It is at this point that Darcy has truly changed his ways. He is no longer the judgmental, pompous man that the reader has met in the beginning of the novel. He is now humble and in love. Unfortunately, Cohn’s situation in The Sun Also Rises is not as favorable.
In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway allows the reader to immediately ascertain that although Robert Cohn is physically powerful, his demeanor is not. The narrator, Jake, tells the reader that Robert “was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton… [and] he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness” (1). Robert sees himself as inadequate and he is thus very indecisive throughout the novel, not knowing what his purpose in life really is. His five-year marriage, cut short by infidelity on his wife’s part, is discouraging enough, and then Frances only makes his feeling of insufficiency worse. She is very possessive of Robert. Jake knows this and claims “[he] rather liked [Cohn] and evidently [Frances] led him quite a life” (15).
It is obvious that Jake and Robert are close companions, proven by their many outings together and Robert’s statement that he sees Jake as his best friend. However, their friendship slowly loses its strength when Robert asks Jake to tell him what he knows about Lady Brett Ashley. Given that he can no longer be with Brett, Jake is clearly jealous that Robert is interested in her. Robert claims that “[he] shouldn’t wonder if [he was] in love with her” (46) while Jake is consistently defensive against any possibility of Robert and Brett being together. He tells Robert that “she’s a drunk. She’s in love with Mike Campbell, and she’s going to marry him” (46). However, Brett’s engagement does not hinder Robert’s amorous feelings for her. Her decision to take Robert on her trip to San Sebastian because she “thought it would be good for him” (89) only furthers his attachment towards her.
The group trip in Pamplona is where Robert’s normally shy behavior is tested and altered into a hostile, violent persona. Michael is the initial influence of this behavior when he relates the bull-fight to Robert’s own life: “I would have thought you’d loved being a steer, Robert. They lead such a quiet life. They never say anything and they’re always hanging about so” (146). Mike is obviously annoyed and fed up that Robert is constantly tagging along with Brett and staring at her, admiring her beauty. Robert’s responses of “Shut up, Mike” (146) and “Go to hell, Mike” (147) are only the beginning of the cruel modification of Robert’s shy personality.
At the café, Robert’s obsession with knowing where Brett is sways Mike to jokingly tell him that she’s “gone off with that bull-fighter chap” (194). When, understandably, knowing that he would never want his friend being his former love, Jake also refuses to tell Robert where Brett is. Robert threatens Jake by asserting “I’ll make you tell me—you damned pimp” (194). Robert, completely abandoning his polite respect to fighting solely in the ring, utilizes his boxing ability by knocking Jake out. He is too enthralled with the fact that Brett could be with Romero and even admits afterward that it was his thoughts of Brett that caused his behavior. “[He] couldn’t stand it about Brett. He states “[he] was crazy” (198). He displays aggression again when he finds Brett and Romero together, trying to beat Romero up as much as he can. Mike is the one who tells Jake that “[Robert] nearly killed the poor, bloody bull-fighter. Then Cohn wanted to take Brett away…damned touching scene” (205). Because of Robert’s preoccupation with Brett, his personality changes for the worse.
Both Austen and Hemingway do a superior job of demonstrating that if a man is in love with a woman, he will focus on obtaining a relationship with her, even if it means abandoning any former traits or values. Because of the type of author Austen is, writing with a strong emphasis on emotion and civility, the reader ultimately sees Darcy as a wonderful, romantic man who is in love with Elizabeth and changes his prideful ways because of her influence. Because of Hemingway’s darker, straightforward writing style, the reader sees Robert as an eventually crazy man who changed his way of life for a woman he may never have been able to attain. The truth is that neither character is extremely romantic or extremely psychotic. Both authors essentially wrote about the same topic—a man, who has already established his individuality, falls in love with a woman and changes himself only to obtain love and attention from her. In Darcy’s case, it made him a better person. In Robert’s case, it did not. Perhaps that is why the novels have their titles. Pride and Prejudice consists of Darcy’s initial self-importance and prejudice against Elizabeth’s lack of wealth. It is the absence of Darcy’s pride and prejudice that ultimately brings them together. The Sun Also Rises consists of the sun setting, so to speak, on Robert’s initial shy personality and polite values. What he did not realize was that the sun can rise as well— he did not have to transform into a person of poorer quality to gain loving attention from Brett; he could have attempted to do so without abandoning his positive traits. Both authors proved in their works that a man will ultimately change qualities about himself to be with the woman whom he loves.
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