1. George Wickham is a fictional character created by Jane Austen who appears in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.
47 Facts About George Wickham
1. 2.
George Wickham is introduced as a militia officer who has a shared history with Mr Darcy.
3.
George Wickham has traits of the main protagonists of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: the hero, Tom Jones, and his half-brother, Blifil.
4.
Sheryl Craig suggests that George Wickham is named after the contemporary spymaster William George Wickham, who was a figure of some notoriety at the time.
5.
Once he appears at Meryton, George Wickham is noticed, especially by the Bennet sisters: his youth, his manly beauty, his distinguished look and bearing speak immediately in favour of this handsome stranger seen in the street.
6.
George Wickham has all the appearance of the ideal romantic hero.
7.
Susan Morgan notes that in contrast to Austen's introductions of other characters, George Wickham's introduction "tells us nothing of Mr George Wickham's qualities or nature, but only of his looks and manners".
8.
That is why, when her aunt, Mrs Philips, invited some officers and her nieces to her home the following evening, she is flattered to be "the happy woman" with whom George Wickham spends most of the first evening.
9.
George Wickham seems to her much more worthy of interest when he appears to be an innocent victim of the cruelty and jealousy of Mr Darcy, whom she finds so unpleasant.
10.
Jennifer Preston Wilson asserts that George Wickham relies upon making a very good first impression and carefully reading his audience to find out their sympathies.
11.
George Wickham lies with skill, especially by omission, taking care not to mention his own faults, and remains close enough to the truth to deceive Elizabeth: nothing he says about the behaviour of Darcy is fundamentally wrong, but it is a warped presentation, "pure verbal invention" according to Tony Tanner.
12.
George Wickham is protected by the mask of his fine manners and the certainty that Darcy, anxious to preserve the reputation of his younger sister, would not stoop to denounce him.
13.
George Wickham thus recognizes that she failed in judgment, "because his attitude, his voice, his manners had established him straightaway as in possession of all qualities".
14.
George Wickham admits to being at first mistaken by the appearance of righteousness and an air of distinction.
16.
George Wickham is a good-for-nothing and a scoundrel who shows two forms of evil.
17.
George Wickham is "imprudent and extravagant" as Colonel Forster finally discovered, which meant, in less diplomatic language, that he had love affairs and piled up debts, especially gambling debts.
18.
George Wickham searched desperately for a financially advantageous marriage: in Meryton, Wickham openly courted Mary King from the moment she inherited 10,000 pounds, but her uncle took her to Liverpool.
19.
George Wickham refuses to leave him, insensitive to the collateral damage the scandal will cause to her family, but he only marries her in desperation, negotiating the terms with Darcy who uses his connections and his fortune to procure Wickham a position, and save Lydia's respectability, allying himself with Mr Gardiner for the occasion.
20.
Elizabeth and Jane, who are the only ones to know the whole truth of George Wickham's character, continue their financial support of their sister, and Darcy helps George Wickham in his career, but the doors of Pemberley remain definitely closed to him.
21.
George Wickham represents the traditional figure of the debauched and depraved libertine from novels of the eighteenth century.
22.
George Wickham is no exception to the rule: he has charm and immediately captivates by his apparent frankness and friendly ease.
23.
George Wickham has defects that are much more serious than those of the bad boys in the other novels: a formidable manipulator of language, he is the only one who recklessly plays a big game, the only one who slanders with such impudence; and things go much worse for him than for them who, on the contrary, do not end up banished from good society.
24.
George Wickham is the only one of lower social status.
25.
Darcy himself refuses to tie George Wickham's origin to his conduct, since he considers, in his letter to Elizabeth, that George Wickham's father was "a very respectable man, who had the responsibility of the entire Pemberley estate for years" and admirably performed his duties.
26.
Robert Markley argues that George Wickham's seduction spree is a way to revenge himself on the gentlemanly society that he has the education, but not the funds, to access.
27.
The narrator uses George Wickham to argue against the idea of love at first sight, and Hall states that this allows Elizabeth to consider the attractive reliability of the "boy next door", Darcy.
28.
George Wickham can confirm that he was raised at Pemberley at the expense of Mr Darcy Senior, and knows that he is in the army, but fears that he has turned out badly: "I am afraid he has turned out very wild".
29.
George Wickham is convinced that what he says is true because he looks so honest, and that is what justifies and reinforces her dislike for Darcy.
30.
For Richard Jenkyns, George Wickham's deceptiveness is the "pivot upon which the entire plot turns".
31.
Jane Austen uses nearly the same words to describe Charles Bingley and George Wickham: both are likable, charming, cheerful, have easy manners, and above all, have the air of a gentleman.
32.
Bingley is impressionable, weak even, without much knowledge of himself, but he is simple and honest, while George Wickham is a hypocrite and a true villain who hides his "lack of principles" and his "vicious tendencies" under his likable airs.
33.
George Wickham is assumed to be honest because he is handsome and his manners are charming.
34.
George Wickham was the son of the steward, he probably always felt envy and jealousy towards the heir.
35.
George Wickham is persuaded that Darcy has rejected the friendship of Wickham only because he is "a poor man of little importance".
36.
Shortly after having been spurned by Elizabeth at Rosings, Darcy comes to Longbourn to explain his attitude towards George Wickham and tell her of the attempted abduction of his sister.
37.
George Wickham is shown playing croquet with Elizabeth who speaks fondly of Jane, who has just received a letter from Caroline, expressing the hope that her brother will marry Miss Darcy.
38.
George Wickham says that being loved by Elizabeth would be a privilege because of her loyalty towards those for whom she cares.
39.
When Mrs Gardiner warns against reckless commitments, as in the novel, her niece reassures her that she is not in love with George Wickham, but adds, nonetheless, that the lack of money rarely prevents young people from falling in love.
40.
Lydia, by contrast, seems to be already very interested in George Wickham and tries to get his attention.
41.
George Wickham appears as a much darker character than in the previous version, which may explain why the attraction he exerts over Elizabeth is less emphasized than in the 1980 series.
42.
George Wickham prudently asks Mrs Gardiner if she personally knows the Darcy family, and his distress at the knowledge that Elizabeth has met Colonel Fitzwilliam at Rosings, and that her opinion of Darcy has changed is visible to the audience.
43.
George Wickham has the "reptilian charm of a handsome sociopath", which suggests an unhappy marriage.
44.
Darcy reveals to Elizabeth that George Wickham had once eloped to Las Vegas with his sister Anna, maxed out her credit cards on gambling, and finally abandoned her.
45.
George Wickham is depicted as an ambiguous character, but very positive and charming, who initiates Amanda Price into the customs of Georgian society.
46.
George Wickham saves her from being engaged to Mr Collins by spreading the rumour that Mr Price was a fishmonger.
47.
George Wickham plays a central role in the 2022 Claudia Gray novel, The Murder of Mr George Wickham.