Mr. Darcy: 200 years old and still making women swoon.

This morning was a typical Moore Haus Friday morning: sleep in to a reasonable hour, mosey on downstairs for breakfast, sit around, and then stay seated when someone undoubtedly decides to put in a movie to start the day.

Today's movie of choice? Pride & Prejudice.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie 3 times already. In Moore Haus alone. And I still stayed to watch the entire thing.

As per usual, most men ran out of the room (or said "this movie's torturous!!" in passing, much to the amusement of those watching) while women flocked to the couch, touching their fluttering hearts at frequent intervals. This is only slight exaggeration here.

All of this makes me wonder, just what is it about this story that is so relevant two centuries later?
I suppose there's a few things that we love to return to time and time again: the twists and turns of love, hate turned to love, an opinionated, intelligent, and (fairly) independent female protagonist (I only say fairly independent because the times restricted the amount of independence a woman could have... however, she was definitely independent for a woman of that time). But definitely, everyone's favorite is MR. DARCY.

So, why does Mr. Darcy never fail to make women swoon?

Because he walks in the morning fog, shirt billowing open, to propose to the love of his life.

• The brooding romantic hero never goes out of style.
• Mr. Darcy is kind and generous, helping save the Bennet family from scandal by paying for Lydia and Wickham's wedding. 
• He dotes on his younger sister.
• He's rich, but doesn't let it get to his head too much-- he's willing to marry beneath his station for the sake of true love, and he doesn't lord his money/station over people (unlike his Aunt Lady Catherine...).
• Modern women long for the gentlemanly manners of eras gone by. If you doubt this, ask one.
• He is in agony/torment over the strength of his love!

 



















































































































































































































 

 

 

 

One of the best scenes ever.

•  He's quite eloquent. Exhibit A: "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." This also ties in quite nicely with the whole tormented with love thing. Unfortunately this quote was not in the recent film adaptation, but oh well, c'est la vie.
  
  An equally eloquent quote which actually was in the movie (and not in the book, if I remember correctly): "My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."What girl doesn't want to hear that from a brooding hero?
• His witty banter with Elizabeth. Nothing's better than a man who can think on his feet.

I cannot possibly name all the reasons women love Mr. Darcy, because let's face it: there are far too many. Everyone has her own "Mr. Darcy" in mind, her perfectly imperfect man who will end up with her by the last chapter. Basically, Mr. Darcy is wish fulfillment for every girl who has the patience to sit through a period piece.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure why I wrote this blog post about Mr. Darcy. Maybe because this blog is Daydreaming in Deutschland and there were several girls daydreaming about Mr. Darcy in Deutschland today? Or maybe because I will always love Pride & Prejudice in its many incarnations. It's such a subtle, beautiful, touching love story... and sometimes, that's the kind of story we all need to hear.