She’s flabbergasted by his proposal, and insulted by his presentation of it, especially by his statements about how inferior she and her family are to him.īut what if? It’s not unreasonable to think that a young woman in Elizabeth’s situation might actually pause and consider. Elizabeth is stuck on her initial impressions of Darcy, dislikes him, and believes he dislikes her. Yes, all the circumstances leading to this moment remain the same as in the original. In a nutshell, what would have happened if Elizabeth Bennet had not refused Mr. Somehow, I stumbled across Unequal Affection, and thought the premise was interesting enough to make me want to give it a try. While I’m a fan of Pride and Prejudice (and all of Jane Austen’s works), I’ve never read a P&P spin-off or retelling or any of the other hundreds of variations on the story. He says he can accept that–but will either of them ever be truly happy in a relationship of unequal affection?ĭiverging from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice at the proposal in the Hunsford parsonage, this story explores the kind of man Darcy is, even before his “proper humbling,” and how such a man, so full of pride, so much in love, might have behaved had Elizabeth chosen to accept his original proposal. The incentives for her to accept him are strong, but she is honest enough to tell him that she does not return his affections.

She, on the other hand, is poor, and can expect a future of increasing poverty if she does not marry. What she knows is that he is rich, handsome, clever, and very much in love with her. Darcy’s passionate avowal of love causes Elizabeth to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about him. Wickham, she never troubled herself to believe he was anything other than the worst of men–until, one day, he unexpectedly proposed.Mr. Angered by his pride and reserve, influenced by the lies of the charming Mr. Darcy, she despised him and was sure he felt the same.

Unequal affections lara ormiston