Lit Reader’s Reviews > Mr. Darcy's Marriage Contract: A Pride and Prejudice Variation > Status Update
Lit Reader
is 26% done
So far Darcy has been nothing but decent, kind and considerate towards Elizabeth. She met him through her uncle Gardiner, who is Darcy’s dear friend and confidante.
So HOW IN THE WORLD does Elizabeth get into her head that Darcy is a snob who dislikes Wickham because he is a servant’s son and lower in social class??? This makes no sense, and it stinks of Lizzy reading P&P beforehand [ eye roll ].
— Apr 17, 2026 06:18PM
So HOW IN THE WORLD does Elizabeth get into her head that Darcy is a snob who dislikes Wickham because he is a servant’s son and lower in social class??? This makes no sense, and it stinks of Lizzy reading P&P beforehand [ eye roll ].
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Lit’s Previous Updates
Lit Reader
is 90% done
Pet peeves = cliché phrases or formulas repeated as fillers and with a bit of a modern ring
- utterly and completely
- “My thoughts exactly”
- “I could not agree more”
— Apr 20, 2026 10:16AM
- utterly and completely
- “My thoughts exactly”
- “I could not agree more”
Lit Reader
is 82% done
Yeah, this Lizzy is a nasty piece of work ! This is Elizabeth addressing the step-mother who raised her and the mother of her younger half-sisters…
“ And from now on, if any of you wishes for something particular from me, you will beg me, with proper gratitude and humbleness! Not asking, not demanding, but begging and showing thankfulness afterwards! “
— Apr 20, 2026 07:26AM
“ And from now on, if any of you wishes for something particular from me, you will beg me, with proper gratitude and humbleness! Not asking, not demanding, but begging and showing thankfulness afterwards! “
Lit Reader
is 81% done
Here it comes ! The set down moment >> Elizabeth unleashes an “epic” talk to Mrs. Bennet about how entitled she is and how poorly she has treated Elizabeth [ eye roll ]
I strongly dislike these contrived moments of “reckoning” authors inflict on characters they want to demean or punish. It gives “power” to main characters and highlights a childish idea of “justice”.
I find it usually misogynistic.
— Apr 20, 2026 06:29AM
I strongly dislike these contrived moments of “reckoning” authors inflict on characters they want to demean or punish. It gives “power” to main characters and highlights a childish idea of “justice”.
I find it usually misogynistic.
Lit Reader
is 71% done
The “two steps forward, one step back” progress in the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth is getting boring.
He is courting her within marriage, she remains clueless about his/her feelings, and they are both constantly getting interrupted by servants/family/random trouble whenever they get a private moment and a small understanding between them!
— Apr 19, 2026 06:27PM
He is courting her within marriage, she remains clueless about his/her feelings, and they are both constantly getting interrupted by servants/family/random trouble whenever they get a private moment and a small understanding between them!
Lit Reader
is 52% done
Darcy likes Elizabeth and he has been nothing but honourable and courteous to her. Elizabeth likes Darcy, so every time she gets nervous she “unintentionally” brings up her money, “unintentionally” offending him [ eye roll ]
Also, it’s really awkward to read how much Elizabeth despises her stepmother and how she only deals with her Bennet sisters out of social obligation.
— Apr 19, 2026 06:24PM
Also, it’s really awkward to read how much Elizabeth despises her stepmother and how she only deals with her Bennet sisters out of social obligation.
Lit Reader
is 25% done
Elizabeth knows her husband (Darcy) despises Georgiana’s husband, she knows he was a former family friend and now her husband disapproves of him. She knows Darcy is pained by him marrying Georgiana.
So when she meets Wickham “by chance” in the rain, she thinks it’s perfectly natural to INVITE HIM INTO THE HOUSE when Darcy is away, and feed him brandy and cake !!!!
— Apr 17, 2026 06:06PM
So when she meets Wickham “by chance” in the rain, she thinks it’s perfectly natural to INVITE HIM INTO THE HOUSE when Darcy is away, and feed him brandy and cake !!!!
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J.C.
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Apr 17, 2026 06:32PM
I'm seeing this problem a lot lately: characters who seem to have read P&P separately from the events in a story. This seems to be the most common issue: Darcy identified as "proud" or "a snob" even though he's never done anything in the current story to deserve such an appellation.
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It happens often ! :)Another iteration of this is when Elizabeth is raised in, or goes through a whole different set of circumstances (poverty, mourning, turmoil, loss) and she is STILL described or expected to be witty, clever, happy, charming ! [ eye roll ]
The situation is similar here, but not precisely; this Elizabeth is raised at Longbourn by a demanding step-mother, no Mary, and hints of lack of materal warmth. Yet she is not expected to be witty (yet) or as carefree as canon Lizzy is — this Elizabeth is certainly more sombre than standard Lizzy… we shall see !
Lit wrote: "It happens often ! :)Another iteration of this is when Elizabeth is raised in, or goes through a whole different set of circumstances (poverty, mourning, turmoil, loss) and she is STILL described..."
The blurb of the story made me think it might be similar to "The Marriage Bargain" by L. Marin. Do you find any similarities to that book other than Darcy is marrying Elizabeth for her money?
J.C. >> I recall The Marriage Bargain had a cruel Darcy acting badly towards Elizabeth at every page, this Darcy is more humble and actually quite a decent human being who is growing to like/appreciate Elizabeth. While TMB had Darcy marry only for mercenary reasons, this new Darcy is framed to need the money for reasons of need/honour/affection for her sister, ans he is very sentitive to the moral debt he owes Elizabeth.
This Darcy is very stupid anyhow, because of WHY/HOW he is being pressured by Wickham, and he comes across as a bit of a wimp (in my opinion), but at least he doesn’t hate and demean Lizzy as I remember in TMB :)
Thanks for the insight. I'm a bit on the fence with this one, so I'm following your journey closely.
There is a lot of contrived “mystery” here, which is not really a mystery, but Elizabeth is in the dark, and maybe we should be in the dark too, because Wickham’s secet demands and lurking is REALLY hard to understand so far :)