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.
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
While "Pride and Prejudice" does not mention actual dates for its events, the first three novels are set in a period starting in late 1811, based on dates shown in various letters between the characters. They reference historical events including the War of 1812 with the United States of America, the assassination of the British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, the Luddite raids, and the Ratcliff Highway murders, referred to as having taken place in Wapping. Historical characters also appear, such as Beau Brummel and Lady Caroline Lamb. Austen's own first novel Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, is obliquely referred to in the second novel, "Duty and Desire".