Sebastian Faulks, in an essay
marking Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary, offers a provocative re-reading of Pride
and Prejudice — one that may challenge even the most ardent Mr Darcy
admirers.
Faulks paints Darcy in stark terms: “mostly miserable” and, at times, “unforgivably cruel.” While modern adaptations have polished him into a brooding heartthrob, Austen’s own text is far more complicated. Faulks argues that Darcy is arrogant, socially tone-deaf, and even manipulative — especially in his treatment of Jane and Bingley. His famed proposal to Elizabeth, which many read as romantic tension, is framed by Faulks as a shocking display of class-conscious cruelty.
