Is Mr. Darcy Really All That?

I'm talking about the actual Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and not Colin Firth. Now, don't get me wrong, the BBC mini series is worth sitting through solely for the Jennifer Ehle's heaving chest in the Pemberley piano scene and for Colin Firth's wet blouse contest. But, I gotta say, Mr. Darcy was a self-righteous, prideful, arrogant asshat for most of the book.

So why do women love him?

Like every Christmas, I re-read P&P. I still love Elizabeth Bennet and how she takes on the world with a wicked tongue that, I suspect, is the most like the author's of any of the books. But I gotta wonder about Mr. Darcy.  He's a jerk and repeatedly. Yet, women (and some men) moan over him like he's the prime example of manhood that all should strive for.

But, again, he's a jerk.

It got me thinking about the number of romance novels out there that I've started and never finished because the main male love interest treated people poorly. Why is this considered a good thing or a sexy thing? I recently did a review of a book where the male locked the heroine in a freaking closet…Am I missing something?

Now, Mr. Darcy grows on me, in no small part because Miss Bennet puts him in his place as he so richly deserves. He, thankfully, sees the error of his ways and strives to be a better person. This standard of the woman changing the man to be the way she wants is often done in romance novels. The relationship between them is fairly believable, at least, because she warms to him over a period of time. And, hey, it doesn't hurt that he shells out a small fortune on her little sister's lover.

I want my heros to be nice. I want them to be like Mr. Bingley, whose good-hearted nature brings plenty of conflict on the scene. I'm tired of brooding men, who have temper tantrums and diva meltdowns.

I do end up liking Mr. Darcy by the end of the book. I just want more nice heros, like Colonel Brandon. And, if you must be a bad guy, at least do it right. Mr. Willoughby, anyone? Purr.

What do you think? Do you want your men brooding and angsty, or do you want more nice guys?