Look it’s 100% fine to like Joe Wright’s awkward Darcy, as a new character, it’s just not Jane Austen’s actual Darcy, whose characterization was so important that she put it in the title

It may be a less known fact of her biography that Jane Austen kickstarted both one angel penchant for cotillion and one demon love for spy adventures

sometimes I think about that guy on amazon who reviewed pride and prejudice and did an entire angry, weirdly math focused rant about how awful darcy is and then ends it all with "I could carve a better man out of a banana"

the universal experience of beginning 'pride and prejudice' (2005) with the opinion that matthew macfadyen as mr darcy is perfectly tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt you and ending it bewitched, body and soul.

Trying to sleep and was looking at books and that eventually led me to think of Pride and Prejudice and yk what moment we need to appreciate more?

That scene where Caroline is doing her pick me shit and joking with Darcy about Elizabeth's pretty eyes and she's like when you guys get your marriage portrait done do you think any painter could do her eyes justice?

And our boy Fitzy doesn't even HESITATE he's like I think a painter would do a great job at getting her eyelashes and the way they look in the sunlight and it's just like

MY GUY HAD U ALREADY BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT??? U HAD THE ANSWER LOCKED AND LOADED WERE U ON YE OLDE GOOGLE LOOKING UP WEDDING PORTRAIT ARTISTS NEAR ME??? DID U HAVE A REGENCY ERA PINTERST BOARD OF UR DREAM WEDDING TO LIZZY ALREADY MADE UP????

Darcy Smiling BEFORE Pemberley is VITAL

At last it arrested her—and she beheld a striking resemblance of Mr. Darcy, with such a smile over the face, as she remembered to have sometimes seen, when he looked at her.

Mr. Darcy is smiling in his portrait

Elizabeth finally realizes that he's been smiling AT HER

THE WHOLE TIME

HE LOVED HER THAT WHOLE TIME

HE WASN'T STARING AT HER TO FIND SOME SORT OF FAULT AND LAUGH AT IT, HE WAS LOOKING AT HER WITH LOVE.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY GIVE US AN ADAPTATION WHERE DARCY SMILES AT HER AT NETHERFIELD SO ELIZABETH KNOWS WHAT HIS FREAKING SMILE LOOKS LIKE!!!

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

I love that Elizabeth and Darcy are so ready to effectively tell each other they're full of shit. This happens a bunch of times, but I was re-reading their conversation at the Netherfield Ball and they're both kind of refreshingly Done.

[Darcy:] “Do you talk by rule, then, while you are dancing?” [Elizabeth:] “Sometimes. One must speak a little, you know. It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together; and yet, for the advantage of some, conversation ought to be so arranged as that they may have the trouble of saying as little as possible.” [Darcy:] “Are you consulting your own feelings in the present case, or do you imagine that you are gratifying mine?” “Both,” replied Elizabeth archly; “for I have always seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds. We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb.” “This is no very striking resemblance of your own character, I am sure,” said he.

It's also pretty funny, because I suspect Darcy is thinking of this sort of thing in a later conversation at Rosings:

“You mean to frighten me, Mr Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me. But I will not be alarmed, though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.” “I shall not say that you are mistaken,” he replied, “because you could not really believe me to entertain any design of alarming you; and I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know, that you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which, in fact, are not your own.”

Elizabeth: When you saw me at Pemberley after I told you you were the last man in the world I’d ever be prevailed on to marry… were you angry?

Darcy: I was surprised. That took about (checks watch) thirty minutes to shake off. Then I wanted to marry you again.

he's a 10 but he's the last man in the world i could ever be prevailed upon to marry

so i was rewatching pride and prejudice the 1995 version and just have to make this

So when Darcy went to fix the Lydia/Wickham situation, he first tried to get Lydia to return home, only bribing Wickham into marrying her when she wouldn't. This is sensible by modern standards, but we know from everyone else's reactions Lydia *failing* marrying Wickham would bring the Bennet family shame. Darcy knows this, and doubt he planned to leave the situation as is. So how did he originally plan to fix it?

I think Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy was gonna channel his inner Emma Woodhouse (didn't have to dig far, they're very similar people) and play matchmaker. In my headcannon Darcy checked his "Possible Husbands for Georgie" list against his "People who owe me Gargantuan favours" list and offer whoever came up money to marry Lydia.

Now, he would want to spare the Bennets of as much of the scandal as possible, and wouldn't want to take the merit in front of Lizzie, so all would most likely happen discreetly through Mr. Gardiner, while Lydia was in London, and she would move to her husbands immediatly after.

However, I wanna propose a different scenario: Lydia returns to Meryton. Scandal ensues, the Bennets are disgraced. Then, within two weeks, a random well-off man shows up intent on courting Lydia and *only* Lydia. He heeds nobodys warnings and gives no explanations. Lydia loves it. Every other mum in Meryton is furious. The Bennets are confused and paranoid. Imagine the drama. The intrige. The million questions still unawnsered long after Lydia eventually gets married and leaves. Bingley marries Jane (cause of course Darcy still told him he'd been wrong to pull them apart, and Bingley would) and Darcy's still somewhat around. Maybe him and Lizzie get together, maybe not, but every time the topic comes up he gets all sheepish and awkward and she gets suspicious and it's a thing. It's their new dynamic.

I made a thing

There needs to be an "Austen adjacent men" bracket. So many hotties in Austenland (and other properties I guess) and no way to rank them.

it may not be a full bracket but your wish is my command - here are some austen-adjacent men to vote on...

curse my spelling mistakes *Mr Nobley

thinking about this bad summary of Pride and Prejudice I made in eighth grade so I wouldn’t forget the plot while doing a report

please don't tell me I am the only one who thinks that the way Mr. Darcy basically spits out "M... Mr. Wickham?" while his head tilts and he walks menacingly closer to Elizabeth - clearly angry - during the rain scene in Pride and Prejudice (2005) is very, very hot?

no? just me?