Why does Darcy hate Wickham?

Darcy's dislike of Wickham in "Pride and Prejudice" can be explained by a combination of evolutionary and literary theories. On the one hand, Richard Wrangham's account of male competition and violence suggests that Darcy and Wickham are rivals for status, resources, and mates, and that their conflict is driven by natural selection. On the other hand, Alex Woloch's analysis of character space and distribution shows that Darcy and Wickham are contrasted as the protagonist and the minor character, respectively, and that their opposition is shaped by narrative conventions.

According to Wrangham, human males have evolved to form coalitions that engage in lethal aggression against other groups, as a way of increasing their dominance and reproductive success⁶⁷. This behavior is similar to that of chimpanzees, who also engage in intergroup violence⁶⁷. Wrangham argues that this "demonic male" trait is balanced by a "goodness paradox", which means that humans are also capable of cooperation, empathy, and self-restraint within their own groups⁸. However, this paradox does not eliminate the potential for violence between individuals or factions within a group, especially when there is competition for scarce resources or desirable mates⁹.

In "Pride and Prejudice", Darcy and Wickham belong to the same social class and share a common history, but they have different personalities and moral values. Darcy is proud, reserved, honorable, and wealthy, while Wickham is charming, sociable, deceitful, and poor. They have a long-standing feud that stems from Wickham's attempt to elope with Darcy's sister Georgiana, whom Darcy loves and protects¹². Wickham also spreads false rumors about Darcy to tarnish his reputation and gain sympathy from others¹². Moreover, Wickham courts Elizabeth Bennet, whom Darcy secretly admires and eventually proposes to¹². These actions can be seen as Wickham's attempts to challenge Darcy's status, wealth, and mate choice, and to provoke his hostility.

According to Woloch, the novel is a form of art that creates a complex relation between the one and the many, or the protagonist and the minor characters¹³. He argues that the novel distributes character space unevenly among its characters, creating a hierarchy of importance and attention. He also argues that the novel uses various techniques to shape the characters' identities and roles in relation to each other and to the plot¹³. Woloch suggests that minor characters are not merely passive or marginal figures, but rather active agents who affect the protagonist's development and the narrative's outcome¹³.

In "Pride and Prejudice", Darcy is clearly the protagonist of the novel, as he occupies the most character space and undergoes the most significant transformation. He is also the main object of Elizabeth's interest and judgment, which guide the reader's perception of him. Wickham, on the other hand, is a minor character who appears sporadically and superficially in the novel. He is also a foil for Darcy, as he contrasts with him in appearance, behavior, and morality. He serves as a catalyst for Darcy's change of heart and Elizabeth's change of mind. He also serves as a plot device that creates suspense and conflict in the novel.

Thus, Darcy's dislike of Wickham can be understood as a result of both biological and cultural factors. Darcy sees Wickham as a threat to his survival and reproduction in an evolutionary sense. He also sees him as an obstacle to his growth and happiness in a literary sense. By combining Wrangham's theories of male competition and violence with Woloch's theories of character space and distribution, we can gain a deeper insight into Darcy's psychology and motivation in "Pride and Prejudice".

(1) Is Violence Embedded in Our DNA? – SAPIENS. https://www.sapiens.org/biology/human-violence-evolution/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(2) Nasty, Brutish and Short: Are Humans DNA-Wired to Kill?. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasty-brutish-and-short-are-humans-dna-wired-to-kill/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(3) The Goodness Paradox - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goodness_Paradox Accessed 3/13/2023.

(4) How Early Humans Handled Aggression - The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/how-humans-tamed-themselves/580447/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(5) Pride and Prejudice Chapters 35–42 Summary & Analysis - SparkNotes. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/section8/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(6) Character Foil between Darcy and Wickham in the Novel Pride and Prejudice. https://papersowl.com/examples/character-foil-between-darcy-and-wickham-in-the-novel-pride-and-prejudice/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(7) The One vs. the Many - De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400825752/html Accessed 3/13/2023.

(8) Pride and Prejudice: Themes | SparkNotes. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/themes/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(9) Pride and Prejudice (TV Mini Series 1995) - IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112130/ Accessed 3/13/2023.

(10) What really happened between Darcy and Wickham? | Pride and Prejudice .... https://www.gradesaver.com/pride-and-prejudice/q-and-a/what-really-happened-between-darcy-and-wickham-288871 Accessed 3/13/2023.

(11) Two types of aggression in human evolution | PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1713611115 Accessed 3/13/2023.

(12) Alex Woloch | Stanford Humanities Center. https://shc.stanford.edu/about/people/alex-woloch Accessed 3/13/2023.

(13) Alex Woloch - Stanford University. https://cap.stanford.edu/profiles/frdActionServlet?choiceId=printerprofile&profileversion=full&profileId=54102 Accessed 3/13/2023.

(14) Alex Woloch | Department of English - Stanford University. https://english.stanford.edu/people/alex-woloch Accessed 3/13/2023.

(15) The One vs. the Many | Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691113142/the-one-vs-the-many Accessed 3/13/2023.

(16) Alex Woloch's Profile | Stanford Profiles. https://profiles.stanford.edu/alex-woloch Accessed 3/13/2023.