Mr. Darcy

Now it's time for some thoughts on Mr. Darcy. One thing I already know I won't be able to get away from on my blog is Jane Austen, and recently I had an epiphany.
For awhile I had been asking myself, why do women LOVE Mr. Darcy so incredibly much? Hmmm.....I mean at the beginning of the book he's very much a jerk. I myself have a personal adversion to jerks, so I know this is not the most attractive feature of a man. True he's a nice guy in the end, but why are so many women so completely crazy about this man?
I have come up with a theory. I thought it might be slightly original, but my husband quickly guessed it before I could even tell him what it is, so maybe it's not as ground breaking as I thought. Still, I'd like to share it with you.
I think most women are madly in love with the character of Mr. Darcy (aside from the denziens of females my mother's age who's real reason is just that Colin Firth played him in the BBC version, and they have selected him as their generation's sex symbol, but as I was saying) because Mr. Darcy is an example of a man who CHANGED for a woman.
Think about it. What is the number one goal for many women when they meet a man? That's right, they want to "change" him. Women are proactive. They think "If only I can change such and such, then he'll be the PERFECT man for me!"
So what's the problem with this? Well ladies, and I hate to break it to you, Mr. Darcy is different because he CHOSE to change for Elizabeth. The type of men you are trying to change are not going to do it of their own free will. For such a thing to be worthwhile, they are going to have to want to change on their own.
Women love Mr. Darcy because he is unattainable. The man who will CHANGE for them.
I'm sorry girls, but he's a literary character.
But fear not. We probably can't make men WANT to change for us as women, but we can use our brains and find men who are more compatible in the first place. The best men are the ones who don't need changing.
Anyone ever see Due South? =)