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.
Pride &amp; Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy
Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy is a 2003 independent film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name set in modern-day Provo, Utah. The film received mixed reviews, with more negative reviews than positive. Critics accused the film of its poor editing and its rough application of the story to modern life. Positive reviews praised Kam Heskin's performance as Elizabeth and enjoyed that the film was "cute". Although the film included aspects of LDS culture, most critics agreed that the film's connection with LDS culture was trivial, making the film more universally accessible to viewers.