Mr. Wickham

Who the hell is he?

His first appearance excited me, I must confess, first in the book and later in the movie. I had not passed page 150 or part 7 in the YouTube videos of the movie. “His appearance was greatly in his favour; he had all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address.” (pg. 54) I actually thought this guy could be the one for Elizabeth, to whom I had favoritism already of course. The way he flirted with Lizzy, the fact that he was very handsome and a soldier made him attractive. In the movie he appears as the only handsome character, the rest are ugly (including Darcy who is supposed to be the prettiest). The actor Rupert Friend is hot I must say. It is all about the looks once again. “Mr. Wickham was the happy man towards whom almost all female eyes was turned, and Elizabeth was the happy woman by which he finally seated himself; (…)” (pg. 57). I fell, like Elizabeth did and the rest of the town did into his good looks and agreeability.

More so when he reinforces the negative reputation that Mr. Darcy already has we (the novel’s characters and me) accept him most pleasantly. That’s natural. When you are meeting someone, usually the first conversations are about things you have in common, including the people you know and your opinion about them. When the opinions match you tend to like the person more, and the fondness is stronger when the opinion of a common known person is negative, don’t know why. This happened to Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham. BUT! Wickham, to our ignorance, was playing the cards carefully to hide his own dishonest character.

We find this out in a letter (pg. 147) from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth that not only twists our image of him (to the point of loving him) but reveals Mr. Wickham true essence supported with prove. Not only Wickham’s false accusations to Mr. Darcy, but that he was a gambler, a fortune-hunter and had deceptive ways. The letters convinces us.

By then I hate Mr. Wickham because I felt cheated for feeling the excitement I felt when I met him, following exactly the feelings that Jane Austen wanted to arise in me. And the scandal is not done when he runs away with Lydia, the young Bennet sister, only sixteen years old and they are not even married. Lydia, not amazingly pretty nor intelligent, silly and absurdly immature and vain that cannot provide him with any of the fortune he searches for, what the hell is he doing? Who the hell he is? What is Mr. Wickham’s true essence? What are his true intentions? I feel betrayed by this character.