#yes every argument I make must reference at least 3 other JA novels

[bethanydelleman]

Should Darcy have warned Meryton about Wickham?

Long Post: In Mrs. Gardiner’s letter (Ch 52) of Pride & Prejudice, Darcy gives this motive when explaining why he is helping Lydia:

The motive professed was his conviction of its being owing to himself that Wickham’s worthlessness had not been so well known as to make it impossible for any young woman of character to love or confide in him. He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride, and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world. His character was to speak for itself. He called it, therefore, his duty to step forward, and endeavour to remedy an evil which had been brought on by himself.

So by his own admission, he ought to have warned Meryton about Wickham. But why? What is the social context and reasoning that went into this situation? This whole thing bothers me a lot because I don’t like that Darcy left the lower classes vulnerable to Wickham.

In Sense & Sensibility, Elinor Dashwood (who is famously polite) asks people for an account of Willoughby’s character:

“But who is he?” said Elinor. “Where does he come from? Has he a house at Allenham?” (to Sir John, Ch 4)  Mrs. Palmer might be able to give some more particular account of Willoughby’s general character, than could be gathered from the Middletons’ partial acquaintance with him; and she was eager to gain from any one, such a confirmation of his merits as might remove the possibility of fear from Marianne. She began by inquiring if they saw much of Mr. Willoughby at Cleveland, and whether they were intimately acquainted with him. (Ch 20)

Which leads me to believe that this sort of gossip was acceptable and even encouraged. We also see Mr. Allen contentiously look into Mr. Tilney for Catherine, who is under his protection:

How proper Mr. Tilney might be as a dreamer or a lover had not yet perhaps entered Mr. Allen’s head, but that he was not objectionable as a common acquaintance for his young charge he was on inquiry satisfied; for he had early in the evening taken pains to know who her partner was, and had been assured of Mr. Tilney’s being a clergyman, and of a very respectable family in Gloucestershire. Northanger Abbey, Ch 3

And Mrs. Croft in Persuasion also says she knew her future husband by character before she married him, “I had known you by character, however, long before.” (Ch 10) Which means she has heard gossip about him, but a very specific kind of gossip. This sounds almost like a character resume.

So Wickham shows up in Meryton. Darcy knows Wickham’s character, he knows about “the vicious propensities—the want of principle” which is exactly this “general character” that Elinor wants to know about. Now Elinor asks, but so does Jane when she inquires into the matter with Bingley. And what does Elizabeth get in return?

“Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends—whether he may be equally capable of retaining them, is less certain.”

I’m sorry, but that sucks, Mr. Darcy. That is the most vague warning ever! Caroline says, “Your sister has been talking to me about him, and asking me a thousand questions”. Darcy has all the information that both Jane and Elizabeth need, but he does not provide it at all. Caroline does a far better job in warning:

Let me recommend you, however, as a friend, not to give implicit confidence to all his assertions; for as to Mr. Darcy’s using him ill, it is perfectly false; for, on the contrary, he has always been remarkably kind to him, though George Wickham has treated Mr. Darcy in a most infamous manner.

And from Bingley: Mr. Wickham is by no means a respectable young man.

Unfortunately, this is second hand information, and it might have worked if Elizabeth hadn’t already heard Wickham’s firsthand account, with all his names, facts, and everything. But I really think this is the failure right here, Jane asked and the person with first-hand knowledge of Wickham’s character did not answer her. Instead, he left Meryton, the tradespeople, the unmarried women, and the militia, to figure out Wickham themselves.

Now Darcy may not have made much headway among the gentry, since we know that he was not generally liked, but I think the lower classes, which is where Wickham did the most damage (He was declared to be in debt to every tradesman in the place, and his intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction, had been extended into every tradesman’s family) Darcy might have had better luck. Also, letting people know that Wickham doesn’t pay his debts doesn’t get anywhere close to the big secret of Georgiana! Darcy could easily say Wickham should not be extended credit, just write to someone in Lambton, “it was yet a well-known fact that, on his quitting Derbyshire, he had left many debts behind him, which Mr. Darcy afterwards discharged.”

And now we come full circle back to Elinor. The Middletons don’t know Willoughby very well because they only see him when he visits Allenham. Elinor tries to get a better account from someone who lives nearby Willoughby, because it is hard for news to travel in this era! Tradespeople in Lambton can now warn each other but they can’t really advertise that Wickham is a squelcher. Darcy being around to inform them of Wickham’s general character should have been a game-changer, but instead it wasn’t. Darcy said almost nothing.

So why? Many people argue that Darcy was protecting Georgiana, but Darcy knows a lot about Wickham, many things that would not be at all associated with his sister. After all, they grew up together. Also, if Wickham talks about Georgiana, he implicates himself. But if that is the reason, it still leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Georgiana is wealthy and protected, she could probably weather the damage to her reputation. The Bennet family, unwarned about Wickham’s character, could have been destroyed.

I think you can also argue that Darcy thought everyone was too poor to be an object of prey to Wickham, who wants to marry rich. It could be argued that he didn’t think Wickham would seduce a daughter of a gentleman. But why run the risk?

The lack of warning does fit with what we learn of Darcy’s flaws, “to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own.”

Discharging debts created by a person associated with Darcy’s family in a town near his house can easily be interpreted as pertaining to himself and his circle. He feels an obligation to the tradespeople that he himself relies upon. He probably just didn’t care about the people of Meryton. And he leaves them to figure it out for themselves, knowing that Wickham can be very deceptive. Importantly, when Darcy repents and fixes the Wickham situation, he makes sure all the debts in Meryton are paid. Because he realizes he was wrong not to warn them.

So I think the answer is that by his own admission, Darcy was wrong to not at least give a warning about Wickham. “Gossip” about a person’s general character seems to be an acceptable form of communication and Wickham’s character (and his own) was asked about. He was remiss.

I am fully open to rebuttals.