Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley… The Narrator, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 2
This is our introduction to the infamous Mr. Darcy from chapter two. Fine, tall, handsome, noble with ten thousand pounds a year! What a social pedigree. What unmarried woman, or over anxious mother would not want to snag him as a husband for themselves or their daughter? Interestingly, the description is subjective, allowing the reader to insert their own physical characteristics to form their ideal Mr. Darcy. How then did the archetype of Fitzwilliam Darcy as dark haired and fair complected come about? Blame the movies.
This striking portrait of a Regency era gentleman matches my impression of what Mr. Darcy should look like in my mind from Jane Austen’s description and the later influence of Hollywood and television. When I came across this portrait of Edmund Lenthal Swifte on the Tate Museum website, I was struck by the incredible similarity to actor David Rintoul who had portrayed Mr. Darcy in the 1979 BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. They could be twins separated at birth by two hundred years. ;)
So gentle readers, who is your ultimate Darcy archetype? In a contest of dueling Darcy’s between Edmund Lenthal Swifte, Sir Lawrence Olivier, David Rintoul, Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen or Elliot Cowan, who really floats your boat? Cast your vote before November 1. You might just be surprised with the results.
David Rintoul will always be my Darcy. He has this air about him which is easy to see why Elizabeth is so angered by his pride.
Plus I also think the dip in the lake is a cop out to make that moment of meeting more awkward for Darcy and Elizabeth but if there is good acting then the moment is wonderful with Darcy being dripping wet.
I also think Firth should have his own show called “Darcy’s Story” becasuse the story of Pride and Prejudice ‘95 seems to focus on how he is feeling and such and I just think THAT IT IS NOT ABOUT HIM. It is about Elizabeth. Yet everyone still loves Firth and dont get me wrong I love that version there are just several things I would have changed and so therefor….
David Rintoul is my Darcy!
Who are we kidding here? No one got hot under the collar about Darcy until the famous wet shirt scene.
We may say we like Darcy’s buttoned up pride but we love it even more when the cravat comes off and he’s looking dishevelled.
It has to be Colin Firth.
Laura Essendine
Author – The Accidental Guru
The Books Limited Blog
Wow! The similarity between Swifte and Rintoul is amazing!
honestly this is not a fair question for me, because ever since I saw Colin Firth when P&P first came out there could never be another! I’ve only seen the latest adaptation and just couldn’t accept anyone else.
If it is just up to looks, Olivier always seemed to have the great mix of glamor and hauteur that Dacry should have (glamor, at least at first, because he is this cultivated man-of-the world with a lot of money – it’s only when the characters start talking to him that he becomes less agreeable).
I complete agree with Virginia Claire about “Darcy’s Story.”
I think I will be lynched by die-hard 1995 P&P fans, but I’ve always been torn between Firth and MacFadyen! It’s these things that keep me awake at night.
Colin Firth will always be my Mr. Darcy. He’s who I picture whether I’m reading or writing JAFF.
While I think MacFadyen is rather more handsome than Firth, I have such a huge amount of contempt for the film in which he acted Darcy, I am biased against him because of it. Firth was my introduction to Darcy and Austen in general, so I have a warm spot in my heart for him that I doubt will ever be replaced.
i am rather fond of olivier. i think that matthew mcfayden, while a very talented actor, looks too coarse for mr. darcy but i can see him more as…say…a seafaring captain…maybe even as wentworth (although i think mr. hinds certainly nailed that one).
Colin Firth always MY Darcy!!
Actually, I think the portrait favors Eliot Cowan a bit more.
But Seriously, can I offer up a write in candidate (even though you didn’t ask) I say Richard Armitage… just because when he played Thornton we were all imagining Darcy.
As for the vote (because you asked) I voted for Cowan.
And what’s with the cleft chins? They all seem to have one. ;-)
Colin Firth for me, but I wonder who would make a good blond Darcy? That would be a controversy!! Like Daniel Craig being Bond…
I’m glad we can vote for more than one ;) a combinations of Olivier’s looks, Macfadyen voice, and Firth’s acting/mannerisms would be the perfect Darcy for me.
MacFadyen is my choice! While at this time it is the only P&P I’ve seen (ha), I do plan to see the others and will respond back to this blog with my thoughts. I must say Macfadyens’ voice, eyes, lips and stature leaves me WEAK. The way this movie is filmed…..almost every scene fully embodies that period.
I am a Firth fan, especially from the BJD movies…so I’ll be renting that version of P&P soon!
Colin, COlin, COLIN, and then the delectable Elliot Cowan. Yum.
Colin Firth’s Darcy was definitive and no one can beat it. no one can deny that, even Colin himself. he has based the character. as if Mr Darcy was meant to be played by him.
as for Matthew, he was also brilliant. but not as good as Colin.
[...] Laurel Ann at Austenprose wants to know which of the film adaptations has captured best the Mr. Darcy of YOUR imagination (as [...]
1. Colin Firth as mr Darcy ! in PP 1995 i think it is still the best interpretation. Conveys haugtiness,passion and struggle but also with and amusement at the sime time as following the book closely (except perhaps the wet shirt scene but I did not mind that either;). The added scenes that where there were entirely plausible for a young man of Darcys class (like fencing, hunting and riding. Poor mr Darcy looked atelisabeth Bennet as if he had not eaten in 2 weeks and she was his favorite dish ;). Hopefully there will not bee to much difficulties producing some heirs to Pemberly !!:)
2. Matthew Macfadyen does a nice interpretation of Darcy in the film of 2005.His Darcy is a bit less haughty that Firths Darcy but he Fiths the film well. He even tries to Kiss Elisabeth !! Not entirely Austen but nice in the context of the film.
3- Laurence Olivier does a tolerable good Darcy in a bit silly film that bears not to much resemblance to the book.
4. DavidRitnoul :( in the PP1980 The man is a total Stick and walks around as if he has a poker in his back.and his general deportment is stiff as a stick. how any woman could fall inlove with him(especially a lively young woman as Elisabeth Bennet )escapes me totally. How they should be able to producing any children in a enjoyable way escapes me totally!!
My vote is for Matthew Macfadyen. I have alwasy thought that Colin Firth is really elegant though cold, but Matthew has something in his sight that makes him be elegant and sweet; tender, lovely…. Well, I still vote for Matthew.
My 2nd submission;
Finally saw P&P from 1995 with Colin Firth and loved the fact the P&P story was a longer version (more like the book). If only Joe Wright could of made his 2005 movie version of P&P longer with Matthew Macfadyen!!! Overall I like Colin as an actor, seen him in BJD & “what a girl wants”, and loved him in those movies…but just didn’t see the same emotion in the P&P movie even when he was longing for Lizzie.
My vote remains with Matthew Macfadyen.
I think, Elliot Cowan is better!
He will be a very famous actor, soon.
realy, great actor
furthermore, he have a different handsome.
loves..
No question about it! Elliot Cowan has the looks, the haughtiness down to a tee. He is my Darcy forevermore.
Colin all the way. That picture doesn’t do the gorgeous man justice.
Matthew was a shy, nervous, unsure Mr. Darcy with a tulip bulb nose who always looked as though he were EXPECTING Lizzy to flair up and shout at him.
Lawrence was better (and cuter), but far too friendly, easy, funny, and submissive. Plus he was surrounded by women in hoop skirts and hair bows. Um, excuse me?
David was good, but he swung the other way to be…well, TOO stiff and formal. He reminded one of a talking stone. I liked him better in the second half of the movie, where he was smiling and being a bit more approachable. On the other hand, maybe that’s Austen’s point…? But he wasn’t handsome enough. Nuff said.
Elliot Cowan… he didn’t even get together with Lizzy! What’s up with that? Cute though, I’ll give him that.
Swifte looks just a bit too…young. That’s all.
Which leaves us with Colin Firth.
Passionate. Gorgeous. Looks good in Regency clothes. Tall. Imposing. Smart. Loves his sister. Loves Lizzy fiercely. Good repartee. Amazing sportsperson. In short, THE Mr. Darcy.
I hope you all duly appreciate that I am taking up time when I should be working to write this. :DD
Definitely Elliott Cowan… smoulderingly sexy and brooding at the same time. That’s how I pictured Mr Darcy when I read the book, which I always do before I watch any film versions.
I’d have to side with the majority and vote for Colin Firth. Matthew Macfadyen was good and I did enjoy Eliot Cowan more than I thought I would given that I considered it a comedy of sorts! By the end of LIA, I desperately wanted Amanda to be with him!
I did not care for Laurence Olivier’s Darcy but then I’ve never understood the appeal of that actor in general. David Rintoul was just too brooding for me (even taking into account the level of broodiness expected of a Darcy!)
Colin Firth best pulled off the “pride” aspect, with a fine showing of coldness and distance, which made the first marriage proposal scene all that more surprising. Also at the end when he finally starts to smile – wait, he is capable of showing any emotion at all?! Matthew MacFayden came off too whiny and soft.
For me personally, it is and always will be Elliot Cowan. :-) His portrayal of Mr Darcy, his demeanour, his looks and his voice is how I always imagined Mr Darcy. Both Colin Firth’s and Matthew Macfadyen’s versions of Mr Darcy were terrific, however, Elliot Cowan’s performance gives us more of an insight into Mr Darcy, of his struggles with his feelings and emotions. Granted the story is slightly different but then again that was the point. I simply loved this somewhat different version of P&P (LIO) and just can’t get enough of Elliot Cowan. What can I say, I am an instant fan of Elliot Cowan, he has the whole package.
[...] Vote for who represents your ultimate Mr. Darcy HERE. [...]
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I was never a Firth fan– although I do like that mini-series. Love, love, love Matthew Macfadyen’s subtle Darcy mannerisms too. But of late, Elliot Cowan’s portrayal does it for me. Very prideful, haughty and smokes of power and money. His total set down of Miss Price in Netherfield totally gave me anxious chills. He plays Darcy as I imagine he would have made any average woman feel — very plain, a bit insecure and yet, every bit attracted to him, in spite of herself. (And the water scene — well thats just good TV fun.) IMO, of course.
This is a no-brainer–Colin Firth, all the way. For me, it’s not the wet white shirt scene (although that scene on the DVD is frequently replayed), it’s when he’s watching Elizabeth sing and play at Pemberley and he’s just staring at her with this mixture of adoration and love and seeing her with fresh eyes and his hair is all wavy and… yeah.
sigh…
How can we not vote for Colin. Every time you hear anything about P & P it’s always about Colin. Even in “Lost in Austen” (which I own on DVD and have watched several times) Amanda talks about Colin Firth. He really is the “real” Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Well, I’ve only seen three Darcy’s: Firth, Macfadyen and Cowan, so I can’t really comment on the other two. I’ve read the book over and over again since I first read it years ago. I just love it, I love the characters, the story, the manners, I love everything about it. Colin Firth used to be my Darcy for years, he’s a brilliant Darcy, no doubt about it. Macfadyen was compelling but not unlikeable enough, as Darcy should be when out of his comfort zone, I think. Cowan was very much very Darcy in my opinion, and the writer of Lost in Austen did a fabulous job at defining Darcy’s personality out of the context of the book. Personally, I’d have to vote for the three of them because they all brought something new to Darcy’s complex character, but even thought Firth’s image as Darcy is hard to get rid of, every time Darcy’s mentioned now, immediately Cowan comes to mind. He was just a perfect Darcy.
I think exactly like heather an April!!!
I love Mathew! He´s wunderful. Mabey I think so because I´ve seen this version first when I think of Mr. Darcy while I´m reading the book. I think Colin is a great actor and I love him as Darcy in Bridget Jones (no one coulth have been more perfekt for this role), but Mathew will always be MY Mr. Darcy!!!
Matthew Macfadyen is my winning Mr. Darcy! I first saw the BBC version and – absolutely loved it! – David Rintoul and all (the poker is not up his back but his …). So, like the addict I am, I had to see the A&E version right away. While Colin Firth is definitely a yummy man(!) this version was all wrong. Firth was so enamoured of himself that he cast all the women wrong. Guess he didn’t want any competition. Then the Olivier version, then Bride & Prejudice, then BJD. Then along comes 2005 P & P. Sitting in the theatre, stressed because the movie is fast-forwarding thru the whole story, but at the end, Matthew Macfadyen is striding through the mist, and before I know it, I’ve seen the movie 3 times in the theatre, then countless times at home. How do I get a copy of Lost in Austen??