Tumblr crosspost (27 May 2020)
Feb. 14th, 2022 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineAlso, speaking of Darcy and Elizabeth’s mutual influence reminds me of the complaint that it’s about people changing other people and therefore #problematic.
And, uh, no. It’s human, in the best way.
We are social beings. People are influenced by one another and our interactions with each other; this is not really up for debate. The question revolves around how we’re influenced, how far it goes, in which direction, etc. And the idea that people’s influence on each other can never be positive just seems a ridiculous degree of cynicism.
Neither Darcy nor Elizabeth set out to change each other at any point. They choose to shift their approaches to the world without altering their underlying personalities (this is part of the reason that Mrs Reynolds’s testimony is so deeply important). At the same time, this choice is a consequence of their effects on each other. They absolutely do influence each other for the better—and that is something that can and does happen.
#it's like people took 'we can't force each other to change' and ran all the way to 'nobody impacts each other ever' #there's a critic who described darcy and elizabeth's dynamic as 'they influence each other for the better but the change comes from within' #and that is just #exactly it! #if there's anything i love about p&p it's how it simultaneously engages w/ the realities and dangers of the world #while remaining profoundly hopeful anyway #it is actually okay to write about people not making each other worse thanks & goodbye
And, uh, no. It’s human, in the best way.
We are social beings. People are influenced by one another and our interactions with each other; this is not really up for debate. The question revolves around how we’re influenced, how far it goes, in which direction, etc. And the idea that people’s influence on each other can never be positive just seems a ridiculous degree of cynicism.
Neither Darcy nor Elizabeth set out to change each other at any point. They choose to shift their approaches to the world without altering their underlying personalities (this is part of the reason that Mrs Reynolds’s testimony is so deeply important). At the same time, this choice is a consequence of their effects on each other. They absolutely do influence each other for the better—and that is something that can and does happen.
#it's like people took 'we can't force each other to change' and ran all the way to 'nobody impacts each other ever' #there's a critic who described darcy and elizabeth's dynamic as 'they influence each other for the better but the change comes from within' #and that is just #exactly it! #if there's anything i love about p&p it's how it simultaneously engages w/ the realities and dangers of the world #while remaining profoundly hopeful anyway #it is actually okay to write about people not making each other worse thanks & goodbye