Not ‘Dishy’ Enough To Be Mr Darcy?
In this Valentine’s month, Dr Gabrielle Malcolm, author of books including There’s Something About Darcy and creative director of our Jane Austen 250th celebrations, takes a look at Elizabeth Bennet’s suitor, a character who has become the archetype of the aloof romantic hero.
‘Darcy was clever. He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well-bred, were not inviting,’ Pride and Prejudice
In an interview for the American television show, CBS Mornings, in July 2024, Matthew Macfadyen was asked about his acting roles in the Marvel Universe and the multi award-winning drama series Succession. The topic of conversation inevitably turned to his performance as Mr Darcy in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice (directed by Joe Wright). It’s inescapable. The interviewer asked him what his exchanges with Colin Firth were like during the filming of the World War II drama, Operation Mincemeat (2021). Did the two Mr Darcys compare notes? Yes, they did, he admitted.
Macfadyen also admitted that he did not ‘enjoy’ playing Darcy. He was ‘worried’ throughout the filming that he was not ‘dishy’ enough to play the character. This is a self-effacing, humble outlook to possess. He felt that the weight of the role was perhaps too much for him. He is married to actor Keeley Hawes, who is currently starring as Cassandra Austen in the BBC adaptation of Gill Hornby’s 2020 novel Miss Austen. The Austen universe is vast and has many branches and alternative timelines.
But looking at Macfadyen, he is perfectly pleasing: a handsome fellow. Who would consider that he is not ‘dishy’ enough to play Darcy?
Here’s the thing. That nervous, shy, self-effacing quality probably helped his performance. It taps into Jane Austen’s irony because Darcy doesn’t think he is ‘dishy’ enough to be Mr Darcy!
Austen calls him a ‘fine, tall person’ with ‘handsome features’ and a ‘noble mien’. Kitty Bennet announces his arrival at Longbourn as ‘that tall, proud man’. Mrs Bennet, on first encountering Darcy, holds forth passionately without mincing her words:
‘ … Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here and he walked there, fancying himself so great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there my dear [Mr Bennet], to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man.’
As one of Darcy’s most vociferous critics, she goes toe-to-toe with him in social situations. That’s a very bold act on her part. Whatever we might think about Mrs Bennet and however much she embarrasses her daughters, she fights their corner. She has a lot at stake, after all.
Darcy makes jibes about the differences between county, rural families, and town society. Mrs Bennet fires off her response within earshot of ‘that tall, proud man’ by complimenting Sir William Lucas as ‘my idea of good breeding; and those persons who fancy themselves very important, and never open their mouths, quite mistake the matter.’
The appearance that Darcy projects, filtered through the other characters’ impressions (and prejudices) of him, forms the basis of how his journey begins and how far he must travel to change. One of the best references comes from a ‘young Lucas’ sibling. He says: ‘If I were as rich as Mr Darcy … I should not care how proud I was. I would keep a pack of fox hounds, and drink a bottle of wine a day.’ He is a type of Georgian superhero.
Mr Darcy is talked about more often than he talks in the first quarter of the novel. Austen expertly crafts the action in this way. As he progresses and changes, however, the underlying elements of his character are revealed, and this is where the variations creep in with his admissions of awkwardness and insecurity. It turns out he is a dutiful son and a caring brother, albeit putting family reputation ahead of other things. He is the best sort of landlord and employer the tenants and workers of Pemberley could wish for.
As his reputation is elevated for Elizabeth and she finds out more about him, hers and the readers’ sympathies shift in his favour. The words of Charlotte Lucas come to mind:
‘One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud.’
Just as the Bennet family is a victim of convention that only allows male heirs to possess Longbourn, so Darcy has fallen to the inevitable weight of his upbringing and the accompanying social expectations. With great privilege comes great responsibility.
He embarks on a successful redemptive journey, however, going from finding Elizabeth just ‘tolerable’, he pulls it back to impress her and find his love reciprocated. He operates in the shadows and the background of the novel in order to save the Bennets’ reputation and bring Lydia home. This causes him to experience his own self-discovery and complete his change. Humility is new for him, but makes apologies not excuses.
‘I have been a selfish being all my life … I was not taught to correct my temper … I was spoilt by my parents … to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared to my own.’
Darcy is pulled up short by his feelings for Elizabeth and determines to at least make amends after she has refused his proposal. She accused him of not being a ‘gentleman’ so he embarked on a mission to be the most gentlemanly he possibly could by aiding her family in secret and not expecting any gratitude. He only did it for her.
Darcy admits that he owes Elizabeth everything. He credits her with teaching him ‘how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.’ He changed. He changed for her. That is one of Austen’s masterstrokes at creating an enduring hero. He is a combination of undeniable flaws and measured responses to problems, with a clear arc of self-discovery and improvement.
So, Matthew Macfadyen might not have felt fully confident in the role as a young actor, with a self-consciousness and concern for others’ disapproval, but it turns out that degree of humility was a very Darcyesque frame of mind. Not ‘dishy’ enough? Miscast? I beg to differ. Perfect casting.
