What if we've been reading Jane Austen and romantic classics all
wrong? A funny, brainy, eye-opening take on how our contemporary love
stories are actually pretty terrifying.
Covering cultural touchstones ranging from Twilight 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
they love 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?
