Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist. Brooding, reserved, and magnetic, Darcy initially deeply offends and vexes Elizabeth, but their paths diverge and his character deepens as the two grow closer and mend their differences. Usually referred to only as "Mr. Darcy" or "Darcy" by characters and the narrator, his first name is mentioned twice in the novel. Darcy is considered one of the "most mysterious and desirable leading man of all time" and his character continues to inspire today. Depictions of Mr. Darcy appear frequently in pop culture, notably Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, and Laurence Olivier.
Contents
Character
Mr. Darcy is a wealthy, tall, and handsome young gentleman with an income exceeding £10,000 a year (equivalent to over £800,000 a year in relative income). The Darcy family have long owned Pemberley, a large estate in Derbyshire, England. As the head of the family and single, Mr Darcy is a highly attractive marital prospect; but is widely expected to marry his first cousin, Anne de Bourgh. He is also being pursued by Caroline Bingley, the sister of his close friend, Charles Bingley.
Darcy first meets Elizabeth Bennet at a ball, where he makes rather demeaning remarks about her while she is within earshot. As Mr. Bingley becomes interested in Elizabeth's sister Jane, Darcy continues to interact with Elizabeth and feels drawn to her despite their differences and banter, and is unaware of her confused perception of him. Mr. Wickham, Darcy's childhood friend and now enemy, influences Elizabeth against Darcy by accusing him of betrayal. Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship builds until Darcy declares his love for her and proposes marriage.
Eventually, Mr. Darcy declares his love for Elizabeth and asks for her hand; but in the very course of proposing, he reminds her of the large gap in their social status, insults her family, and is unaware of her negative image of him. Elizabeth is offended and vehemently refuses him, expressing her reasons for disliking him, including her knowledge of his interference with Jane and Bingley and the account she received from Mr. Wickham of Darcy's alleged unfair treatment toward him. Insulted by Darcy's arrogant retorts, Elizabeth says that the rudeness in his proposal prevented her from feeling concerns for him she "might have felt had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner". Darcy departs in anger and mortification; the next morning, he writes and hand delivers a letter to Elizabeth in which he defends his wounded honour, reveals the motives for his interference in Jane and Bingley's relationship, and gives a full account of his dealings with Wickham, who had attempted to seduce and elope with Darcy's younger sister, Georgiana, the previous summer.
Although initially angered by Elizabeth's vehement refusal and harsh criticism, Darcy is shocked to discover the reality of how his behaviour is perceived by others, particularly Elizabeth, and commits himself to re-evaluate his actions. A few months later, Darcy unexpectedly encounters Elizabeth when she is visiting his estate in Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle. Elizabeth is surprised to discover a marked change in Darcy's manner. Having responded to Elizabeth's criticism, Darcy is now determined to display the "gentlemanlike manner" she accused him of lacking and astonishes her with his kindness towards both her and her relations. She is impressed with his patronage of the arts, relationship with his sister, dynamics with his house staff, and beautiful garden.
On discovering that Elizabeth's youngest sister Lydia has fallen prey to and run off with Mr. Wickham, Darcy tracks them down and induces Wickham to marry Lydia, saving both Lydia and her family from social disgrace and assuaging his own guilt for not preventing Wickham's actions. Despite having to pay upwards of ten thousand pounds, Darcy's intervention was done secretly and he did not want anyone to know. After learning of this selflessness, Elizabeth realises she is in love with Darcy. He has relinquished his pride, and she, her prejudice. Bingley returns to Longbourn and becomes engaged to Jane, admitting his misjudgment of her character. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth again, who happily accepts his proposal.
Depictions in film and television
Analysis
Mr. Darcy is a proud and arrogant man, particularly to those that he considers of lower social status. It is suggested that he is a member of the old Anglo-Norman aristocracy, as indicated by his own name as well as that of his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. At the dance, he does not dance with any ladies outside his own party because he believes them to be beneath him in class and beauty. He does, however, mention later on to Elizabeth that he does not find it easy to make new acquaintances and finds it hard to converse with people he does not know. This shows a sort of shy, perhaps even reclusive nature in Darcy that is not illustrated before this point in the book. After receiving Mr. Darcy's letter of explanation, Elizabeth notes: that she has never "seen anything that betrayed him to be unprincipled or unjust—anything that spoke him of irreligious or immoral habits; that among his own connections he was esteemed and valued". For example, his behaviour with Bingley is more than brotherly as he rescues him from what he believed was a bad marriage and is a constant companion at his side. Through Elizabeth, he learns to be less boastful and arrogant because he realizes that his actions have deeply affected others. This arrogance is seen in his first proposal to Elizabeth whereby he acts with more pride rather than in a loving manner. Despite the way in which Elizabeth often mocks him, she is surprised by his "gallantry" as he persists in pursuing her.
Vivien Jones notes that Darcy's handsome appearance, wealth and original arrogance signify to the reader that he is the hero of a romance novel. Wickham's irresponsible elopement with Lydia allows Darcy to demonstrate that he now feels responsible for Wickham's continued bad behaviour by his silence – if he had made Wickham's bad character known, Lydia would have been safe. Darcy chooses to involve himself in arranging Lydia's marriage, risking his own reputation. Elizabeth dismisses him at first as "intricate", though she adds that "intricate" men are at least "amusing". Though Darcy treats Elizabeth with contempt, he always finds her to be "uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes" and is "caught by the easy playfulness of her manner". At one point, Elizabeth notes that "Mr. Darcy is all politeness" and speaks of his "grave propriety". The term "grave propriety" is meant ironically, noting that Darcy is polite, but only in the sense that he possesses the mere civility of "the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world". However, despite his barely tactful behaviour, it is implied he has deeper feelings of affection for Elizabeth, which he has difficulty in expressing and which she often does not notice.
Cultural influence and legacy
The character of Fitzwilliam Darcy has appeared in and inspired numerous works. Both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet feature as part of science fiction author Philip José Farmer's fictional 'Wold Newton family', which links numerous literary characters (such as Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes) via an interconnected family tree of people and events. According to Farmer's works, both were exposed to radiation from a meteorite that struck Wold Newton in Yorkshire in the 1790s (a documented event). This allowed them to be the ancestors of many other famous literary characters, some of whom possessed unusual or even superhuman gifts and abilities. Numerous re-imaginings of the original work written from the perspective of Mr. Darcy have also been published, among them American writer Pamela Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy, and English author Janet Aylmer's successful novel Darcy's Story published in the UK (ISBN 9780952821021) and later in the United States (ISBN 9780061148705).
Helen Fielding has admitted she "pillaged her plot" for Bridget Jones's Diary from Pride and Prejudice. In Bridget Jones's Diary and its sequel The Edge of Reason, Bridget Jones is constantly mentioning the 1995 BBC adaptation and repeatedly watches the scene in the fourth episode where Darcy (Colin Firth) emerges from a pond wearing a wet white shirt, and refers to the Darcy and Elizabeth of the TV series as "my chosen representatives in the field of shagging, or, rather, courtship". When in The Edge of Reason Bridget becomes a journalist, she is flown to Italy where she is to interview Firth about his (then upcoming) film Fever Pitch, but finds herself only asking him questions about Mr. Darcy and the filming of the "pond scene". This scene was shot but not included in the film adaptation of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. This scene can be seen in the DVD's extra features. Colin Firth's "pond scene" made it into Channel 4's Top 100 TV Moments. Colin Firth has found it hard to shake off the Darcy image, and he thought that playing Bridget Jones's Mark Darcy, a character inspired by the other Darcy, would both ridicule and liberate him once and for all from the iconic character.
Darcy's status as a romantic hero transcends literature. In 2010 a protein sex pheromone in male mouse urine, that is sexually attractive to female mice, was named Darcin in honour of the character.
On 9 July 2013, a 12-foot (3.7 m) fibreglass statue of the figure of Mr. Darcy emerging from the water was installed in the Serpentine Lake of London's Hyde Park for a promotion of British television's UKTV channel. Modelled on actor Colin Firth, the statue made the rounds of several English lakes before its final installation in Lyme Park, a location where the programme was partly filmed and already a pilgrimage site for Pride and Prejudice fans.