Thomas Langlois Lefroy
In 1796, Lefroy began a flirtation with English novelist Jane Austen, who was a friend of an older female relative. Jane Austen wrote two letters to her sister Cassandra mentioning "Tom Lefroy", and some have suggested that it may have been he whom Austen had in mind when she invented the character of Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice", as the courtship between Tom Lefroy and Jane Austen took place over the year or so that "Pride and Prejudice" was written. In his 2003 biography, "Becoming Jane Austen", Jon Spence suggests that Jane Austen actually used her and Tom LeFroy's personalities as the models for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, but not in an expected way. Spence suggests that Jane Austen used Tom Lefroy's more gregarious personality as the model for the novel's heroine Elizabeth Bennet, and her own measured demeanor was used as the model for the male protagonist, Mr. Darcy. So while the exact influence of Tom Lefroy on "Pride and Prejudice" continues to be debated, it does seem certain that his presence in Austen's life is in some way reflected in the novel.
Mr. Darcy's Daughters
The release of the popular TV serial "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) led to a resurgence in interest for Jane Austen's works. Many writers were inspired by Austen, leading to a variety of novelizations and other adaptations being produced. Elizabeth Aston became one of the most prolific authors of Austen-related fiction, with "Mr. Darcy's Daughters" being her debut novel. She had studied the author at St Hilda's College, Oxford under Lord David Cecil, a biographer of Austen. Aston felt that Austen's novels were "as fresh today as when they were written," and compared the novelist's genius with Mozart for "speak[ing] to the soul while it enchants and delights." When crafting her story, Aston opted not to prominently feature Austen characters such as Mr Darcy. Her stories instead feature newly invented characters related to those seen in Austen's works, such as members of the Darcy, Bingley, and Collins families.