Pride and Prejudice
Abigail Reynolds is the author of seven Regency-set variations on "Pride and Prejudice". Her Pemberley Variations series includes "Mr. Darcy's Obsession", "To Conquer Mr. Darcy", "What Would Mr. Darcy Do" and "Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World". Her modern adaptation, "The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice", is set on Cape Cod.
Mr. Darcy
Vivien Jones notes that Darcy's handsome appearance, wealth and original arrogance signify to the reader that he is the hero of a romance novel.
Wickham's irresponsible elopement with Lydia allows Darcy to demonstrate that he now feels responsible for Wickham's continued bad behaviour by his silence - if he had made Wickham's bad character known, Lydia would have been safe. Darcy chooses to involve himself in arranging Lydia's marriage, despite the risk to his own reputation. Elizabeth dismisses him at first as "intricate", though she adds that "intricate" men are at least "amusing". Though Darcy treats Elizabeth with contempt, he always finds her to be "uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes" and is "caught by the easy playfulness of her manner". At one point, Elizabeth notes that "Mr. Darcy is all politeness" and speaks of his "grave propriety". The term "grave propriety" is meant ironically, noting that Darcy is polite, but only in the sense that he possesses the mere civility of "the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world". However, despite his barely tactful behaviour, it is implied he has deeper feelings of affection for Elizabeth, which he has difficulty in expressing and which she often does not notice..