However, there are also elements of conventional romance in the novel,
notably, in the success of Jane and Bingley's love.
[Elizabeth points out Bingley's ridiculous dependence on Darcy's opinion]
To what extent is Pride and Prejudice an inversion and criticism of conventional romantic-novel expectations?
To a great extent, Jane Austen satirises conventional romantic novels
by inverting the expectations of "love at first sight" and the celebration
of passion and physical attractiveness, and criticising their want of sense.
However, there are also elements of conventional romance in the novel,
notably, in the success of Jane and Bingley's love.
[Elizabeth points out Bingley's ridiculous dependence on Darcy's opinion]
The first indication of Austen's inversion of accepted romantic conventions
is Elizabeth and Darcy's mutual dislike
on first sight. However, Jane and Bingley fall in love almost immediately,
and the development of their romance follows conventional romantic-novel
wisdom, down to the obstacles in the form of Darcy's and Bingley's sisters'
disapprobation (the typical disapproval of the Family) and the attraction
between the rich young man and the middle class maid. Their Cinderella
story ends in happily-ever-after, as does Elizabeth's and Darcy's. Elizabeth's
defiance of Lady Catherine recalls Meg's defiance of her aunt in Little
Women, and
Darcy's willingness to accept Elizabeth despite the inferiority of her
connections is a triumph of conventional romantic-novel expectations. [But
Bingley and Jane are easily put off. The obstacles are slight, the passion
slighted.]
One of the most striking examples of Austen's satire is her emphasis
on reason,
as opposed to the wanton passion lauded into the bulk of romantic novels.
Lydia and Wickham's marriage is seen as a triumph of their
"passions" over their "virtue", and she is certain that "little permanent
happiness" can arise from such a union. This is exemplified by Wickham's
continuance of his extravagant
habits, and the degeneracy
of any feelings between them to indifference.
The indifference Mr Bennet has for his wife, and the unsatisfactoriness
of his marriage, is another warning against unthinking passion.
Elizabeth rejoices in her freedom from Wickham. Austen shows the
development of Elizabeth's love for Darcy, from "gratitude and esteem"
after the letter to the certainty of love she realises at the onset of
the Lydia episode.
Even Jane and Bingley's happiness are accounted for by the presence of
an "excellent understanding in Jane and the superexcellent disposition,
and a general similarity of character
in both." Elizabeth sees the mutual benefit that must arise from her marriage
with Darcy; from her liveliness "his mind would have been softened, his
mind improved" and she would benefit from his "judgment" and
[gd.] "knowledge of the world".
However, the emphasis on the need for reason does not preclude all
passion; Jane Austen does not, as she has been accused of, forsake passion
for "consciousness". The rationale behind Elizabeth's love is sound;
yet there exists another element of passion and love and care, that causes
her to be embarrassed and apprehensive and eager
in Darcy's presence, and that moves Darcy to propose to her despite the
inferiority of her connections and the disapprobation of his aunt. Austen,
unlike her Romantic counterparts, advocates a balance
between passion and reason in romance.
Elizabeth's and Jane's marriages are seen as the "happiest, wisest, most
reasonable end" -- with the emphasis equally on "happest" as well as
"reasonable".
That Austen does not wholly invert romance-novel conventions and
reject passion entirely is seen in Charlotte's marriage. Charlotte is the
antithesis of the conventional romantic heroine, she declares herself that
she "never
was" a romantic, and that "happiness is entirely a matter of choice". Her
marriage to Mr Collins is for the "pure and disinterested desire of an
establishment".
Austen does not advocate going to the extent that Charlotte does
and marrying entirely for "disinterested" purposes; Elizabeth was clearly
right in refusing Mr Collins' proposal as she married Darcy in the end.
Mr Benneth confirms this by remarking at Charlotte's silliness in securing
a marriage that he doubted would allow her happiness.
However, Jane Austen's depiction of Charlotte's "contentment"
and Elizabeth's tribute to Charlotte's management
of her house and marriage, that "it was all done very well" suggests a
respect for
Charlotte in following her own principles. Austen's frank acknowledgment
of the necessity
for intelligent young women to marry as a "preservative from want"
and her constant mention of the futures of the parties concerned (seen
in Mrs Gardiner's reminder to Elizabeth of the impropriety
of marrying Wickham as he is impoverished) illustrate a truth
about the society then and the state of womanhood. Doing so makes her unique
among many conventional novelists who deride the wealth of detail she provides
and the pragmatism which she acknowledges. Austen satirises the general
unreality and fairy-tale quality of conventional romances.
In Elizabeth herself can be seen an inversion of conventional romantic-novel
expectations. The heroine is generally expected to be more vapid and
pliable. Elizabeth's physical attractiveness, "next to Jane in birth and
beauty", is a genuflection to the accepted conventions of romance, but
her appeal lies more in her "wit and vivacity".
Her liveliness, which she terms "impertinence", and which leads her to
tease Darcy; her moral integrity
in exhorting Jane not to "change the meaning of principle and integrity"
for a friend, and in standing up to Lady Catherine; her intellectual strength,
in sparring with Darcy and in realising the contractions inherent in certain
social norms; her level of self-awareness, often expressed with some self-deprecation,
as in asking Charlotte not to wish her such an "evil"
as finding agreeable "a man whom (she is) determined to hate"; and her
capacity for reflection and growth, in contrast to the rest of her sisters,
set her apart from the generality of romantic heroines.
Darcy, on the other hand, is first portrayed as the typical Romantic
hero; dark, handsome, "of noble mien", mysterious, brooding, arrogant,
clearly superior. Austen inverts typical romantic wisdom by allowing him
to grow. He comes to realise and repent of his arrogance in disdaining
Elizabeth and her family. The humility
with which they approach each other is a criticism of the general thoughtlessness
of the love portrayed in conventional romance novels.
Austen satirises the romantic form in her insistence on reason and
reflection to balance passion. While she decries Lydia's wanton thoughtlessness
and allows Mr Bennet one piquant moment of regret that he cannot "respect
(his) partner in life", she does not celeebrate Charlotte's lack of passion
and love. Austen inverts accepted romantic conventions by having Elizabeth
maintain her dislike of Darcy right up to and including the time when he
proposed. Her change of sentiment, while not lacking in the emotions that
make her "the happiest creature on earth" are entirely justified by her
perception of the "goodness"
and moral strength
of Darcy's character. The ludicrousness of Mr Collins' proposal to Elizabeth
reflects the ridiculousness in adhering strictly to feelings and forms
celebrated by conventional romantic wisdom (the necessity to profess the
"violence of (his) affections" and his insistence that Elizabeth's refusal
is but the coquetry of "elegant females").
Furthermore, the emphasis on moral integrity, mutual respect and
need for a knowledge of each other's character and understanding is an
invasion of conventional romantic-novel expectations and a criticism of
the heedlessness and unthinking passion glorified in prevailing romantic
sentiment. However, the fairy-tale element of the ending, with Darcy defying
family pride, entrenched prejudice and previous rejection to win Elizabeth's
heart, and Bingley returning to Jane despite his sisters' efforts, is in
order with romantic-novel expectations, as is Jane's and Bingley's romance.
Austen has taken the best of accepted conventions, the love that can redeem
a man, and incorporated 
into her novel, while criticising the want of sense and reality of the
other conventions.