Mr. Darcy. Colin Firth is in the most popular version of Pride and Prejudice, but other versions are just as good. Matthew Macfadyen plays a wonderful Darcy. Don’t forget that Laurence Olivier himself played Darcy. What do these portrayals have in common?
Handsome men with snooty faces. Heh heh.
It’s been so very long since I’ve seen the Olivier version. 1940’s Hollywood was happy to truncate the story and turn it into a bedroom drama. I don’t really recommend it. However, Olivier’s Darcy is a much happier man than I would’ve expected. Eyes twinkle, if you can believe it. He’s very much an aristocrat still. Some people are naturally beneath him. However, he doesn’t have that reticent temperament that Firth and Macfadyen give Darcy. They are socially shy and, therefore, awkward.
So, what have these two actors, in their own personal ways, tapped into? Their Darcys are unique and similar. When Darcy begins to value Elizabeth, he becomes emotionally generous to her. She can do no wrong. His heart is not given immediately, though. He’s cautious and not impulsive. I think we can say quite definitively that Darcy is no Heart Type.
He’s Head, of course. A Body Type would join a country dance, regardless of social stigma. And he’s no Seven. He just isn’t fun enough for that.
We have Five, which I guessed him to be, and Six, which is what I’ve guessed Mark Darcy of Bridget Jones’ Diary to be.
Fitzwilliam’s character gets to write his letter when Elizabeth rejects his proposal. Mark decides his heart more by consulting his gut: he just knows that Bridget is a good person. Fitzwilliam must use analysis. Even after the pain of Elizabeth’s refusal, he still won’t admit he’s harmed Jane. He can’t see the facts of such an error. Both numbers will weigh right and wrong, but a Five will reason the problem to death. His letter is an example of that process.