The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love.
By Rachel Feder
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Summary from NetGalley:
What if we’ve been reading Jane Austen and romantic classics all wrong? A literary scholar offers a funny, brainy, eye-opening take on how our contemporary love stories are actually terrifying.
Covering cultural touchstones ranging from Normal People to Taylor Swift and from Lord Byron to The Bachelor, The Darcy Myth is a book for anyone who loves thinking deeply about literature and culture—whether it’s Jane Austen or not.
You already know Mr. Darcy—at least you think you do! The brooding, rude, standoffish romantic hero of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy initially insults and ignores the witty heroine, but eventually succumbs to her charms. It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers plot, and one that has profoundly influenced our cultural ideas about courtship. But what if this classic isn’t just a grand romance, but a horror novel about how scary love and marriage can be for women?
In The Darcy Myth, literature scholar Rachel Feder unpacks Austen’s Gothic influences and how they’ve led us to a romantic ideal that’s halfway to being a monster story. Why is our culture so obsessed with cruel, indifferent romantic heroes (and sometimes heroines)? How much of that is Darcy’s fault? And, now that we know, what do we do about it?
ARC provided by Quirk books via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
I have read my fair share of Jane Austen books, and I will admit that Pride and Prejudice is probably my favorite of the lot. But that said it has been twentish or more years since I read them and society’s views on romance has certainly changed in that time. So while I didn’t agree with every point this author made I could see her side of things on many of them.
I found myself really engaged in this book. The author has a very light and breezy writing style which you don’t often see in nonfiction. She is also very humorous and there were a couple of times that I found myself smiling at her anecdotes or even giggling a little. Her use of contemporary TV shows, songs and books, also made what could have been a very dry dissertation more interesting. There were a few instances when the same theme was repeated several times, which got a bit annoying but otherwise her reasoning was solid.
I don’t think I ever dated a Darcy, but I found the chapter on real people’s experiences with that type of romance interesting. It supported Ms Feder’s thesis that many people subscribe to the Darcy myth, in that if your love interest is standoffish and rude then he must be into you. But not every love interest wants to be saved or changed, so tread carefully.
I think if I had Ms Feder as my English professor I would have enjoyed those classes a lot more. If you have ever read Pride and Prejudice or just about any romance book based on the enemies to lovers trope this is a book that I think you will enjoy.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
this sounds so interesting! I loved Pride and Prejudice back in high school but I definitely think I’d have a different mind set towards it now. I’m going to add this one to my list!
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