In a somewhat desperate attempt to understand the male thought process, I picked up "Darcy's Story," Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's perspective! Fascinating read....and I may have learned something. It turns out that Mr Darcy was not an arrogant SOB as Ms Elizabeth Bennett thought, but actually a shy, gentleman. It wasn't that he didn't want to dance with Ms Bennett; he was simply an introvert, who didn't have the ease in social interaction as his friend the extrovert, Mr Bingley. It took him merely a few months to understand that though he was eminently eligible, Ms Bennett was within her rights to refuse him.....the most shocking bit of all was the concept that men would be assured of a lady's true affection before taking the risk. Maybe Mr Darcy was shy?
The interesting sociological learnings did not end there....when sharing my revelations, the severest of my gender, protested with "get real!" and "what a crock of sh__." The empathetic male friends responded quizzically almost, "Now, I never thought Mr Darcy was arrogant at all. I have always thought he was shy."
Would they have gotten together if Mr Darcy wasn't shy? Do opposites really attract?
