The Dangers of Mr. Darcy

That must be one of my most intriguing blog post titles. :D I'm sure you're curious about what could possibly be dangerous about Mr. Darcy, the most popular hero of all the popular Jane Austen novels.

First things first! :)

Mr. Darcy, when we first meet him in the book... or in either of the two newest movie adaptations... is proud. With rather good reason... he comes from one of the oldest families in England and owns "half of Derbyshire". He's incredibly wealthy.

He's also handsome. And tall. With an inscrutable air of mystery about him.




And then he meets this girl... Elizabeth Bennett.

She's witty, and captivating, and beautiful. Three things that we all like to imagine ourselves to be. 

Mr. Darcy's heart is softened. He falls head over well-shod heels in love with this girl, Lizzy, who comes from a rather ordinary background. Just observe the look of tender adoration in his eyes in the picture above!

They eventually marry, and live happily forever after.

So what's wrong with that? What could possibly be so terrible about a wholesome story like this?

Nothing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this story. I actually enjoy it very much myself and own both a copy of the book and 2 different "Pride and Prejudice"movies.

 Herein lies the danger, my sweet friends:

One word - Obsession.

I've done it too! Before you start to think that I'm pointing fingers, let me say I am as guilty of imagining how wonderful it would be like to marry a man like Mr. Darcy as the next girl. :D

What is wrong with this whole situation is.... when we young ladies begin to absorb ourselves in imaginary worlds of fantasizing about now-perfect heroes, we lose sight of reality. (Now-perfect being even better than perfect, because he has learned his lesson and now will never fail us again) And therefore, when reality smacks us in the face as we blindly run into it while in some daydream about tall, dark, and handsome (RICH) men, we quickly grow discontent.

Girls, real guys are not like Mr. Darcy.

Real guys are not rich. They do not live in perfect mansions with millions of dollars in the bank and servants at their beck and call to banish every miniscule need. Most guys are not wealthy. The style of life which you would be accustomed to would not include your own maids.

This means... you have to do the cooking. And cleaning. And laundry. And when blessed with the incredible joy of children, diaper-changing, feeding, bathing, and all the many tasks that come with raising another little human. It's hard! There's a lot of work to be done! We won't be ladies of leisure if we marry "real" guys.

Real guys are not always "Cuuuuute!" or "Dreamy" or whatever word you wish to describe male perfection. Some of them are, yeah. The models and actors in all the movies and magazines are. But they have a team of makeup artists. And photo-editors that airbrush out all the blemishes and pump up the muscles.

Real guys are just that... real. They have faults. They have flaws. But guess what? So do we! Do any of us girls look like Elizabeth Bennett 24-7, all the time? Maybe some of us look 'as good' as her, when we're all dressed up with our makeup on. But we're not perfect. We have flaws and problems.

Real guys might have a crooked nose. Or a mole on their face. Or they might not be what one could call "handsome" at all. But you know what? If you marry a godly, sweet guy who treats you well and happens to have crooked teeth instead of the stuck-up, unchristian jerk with bulging muscles, you'll end up happier in the long run.

So ladies, don't measure the guys in your life against Mr. Darcy. Don't get  caught up in fantasizing and daydreaming about characters in your romance novels, and don't expect the real men to act like fictional products of imagination.

Okay! Sermonette over. Now let's go watch a period drama... :D