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Topic: Pride & Prejudice Question (age differences between characters)

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vampsita avatar
Subject: Pride & Prejudice Question (age differences between characters)
Date Posted: 3/27/2011 2:03 AM ET
Member Since: 1/23/2009
Posts: 3,041
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I just finished reading Wickham's Diary. It's been awhile since I last read Pride & Prejudice, and so I can't remember things exactly. I'm hoping one someone knows where to point me or knows the answers.

Here goes:

1. Who died first, Old Mr. Darcy (father of Georgiana and Fitzwilliam) or George Wickham's father, the steward? Also, when did George's mother pass away?

2. What is the age difference between Georgiana and Mr. Darcy?

3. Are Wickham and Darcy the same age?

I think there might be some inaccuracies in this book, so I'm curious! Are there any websites that have all this information?

lisarichards avatar
Date Posted: 3/27/2011 11:15 AM ET
Member Since: 1/4/2008
Posts: 389
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It's been a while for me too, but I'd assume that George's father died first, so then Old Mr. Darcy raised George.

It seems like Georgiana was 16 and I'm thinking Darcy was about 25, but I may be wrong on that.

I'm assuming that Darcy was a little older than Wickham since he had graduated college and was running things at the estate when Wickham came and announced he was leaving college.  (Or am I getting all of this from the Colin Furth version of the movie which may be inaccurate? lol  It's been a LONG time since I actually read the book!)

readinginthedark avatar
Date Posted: 5/14/2011 8:01 PM ET
Member Since: 1/9/2010
Posts: 4
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1. Wickham's father died first, and Darcy's father finished raising Wickham.

2. Georgiana is sixteen during the period of Wickham's and Elizabeth's friendship in the book, and there is no mention of birthdays. She was fifteen when Wickham tried to take advantage of her innocence and convince her to elope.

3. From what I can remember, no specific age is mentioned for Darcy or Wickham (other than the fact that they grew up together), although it is assumed that they are a bit older than Elizabeth. Also, I think there is something said about Darcy being at least ten years older than Georgiana, so he must be older than 26--my guess is he's in his thirties. Like I said, it's not definite from what I can tell, but I think that Darcy is a little older than Wickham, but they are close in age.