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March 23rd, 2009
09:07 pm
NAME: Nat
CONTACT: Email bookcanon at gmail.
FAVORITE BOOK: Matilda, Roald Dahl.
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CHARACTER: Fitzwilliam Darcy
BOOKVERSE: Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice
TIMELINE: Just after the Netherfield Ball.
AFFILIATION: Informed civilian. Darcy is extremely wealthy, and he's housed a refugee or two recently at Pemberley.
PB: Ioan Gruffudd.
PERSONALITY: Mr. Darcy is a man accustomed to getting what he wants. Nothing in his life has ever been outside of his reach should he lift a finger to try for it, and the fact has given him a certain complacency as well as an air of decided expectation. It could be said, however, that in his defense, such an upbringing is not entirely his fault. Darcy is unused to trial, but fortunately that is not to say he is unequal to the task. He is a man of character, which is to say he has both a feeling heart and a generous nature in addition to the conscious honor of a person of his rank. A perceived debt will be repaid, and he would put his family and his reputation before every penny.
His manners leave something to be desired. Darcy is not, and has never been, a particularly open man. He is not given to excessive speech even when the occasion requires it. There's a studied reserve around him in which he holds his judgments and his thoughts. He is not easy to read either in face or form, and when uncomfortable he only becomes more stoic and immobile. When he decides something is not worth his trouble he becomes unmistakably cold, and arrogance, while not typical of his character, is not beyond him. Ironically, Darcy never puts on airs around those who are beneath him -- only those who act beneath themselves.
APPEARANCE: Mr. Darcy is the kind of man that is never without a perfectly tied cravat. As with all men of his station, he takes time with his appearance, and the expensive, well-suited attire is as much a part of his personality as the characteristic reserve. He is, without doubt, a fine figure of a man, both tall of stature and gracefully in bearing. He is devastatingly handsome in a dark, serious way, with long, sculpted features making up an intense statuesque impression.
In company, Darcy is prone to resting his weight on one foot and counterbalancing with his hands behind his back, especially when he is trying to manufacture ease. When truly disturbed he is given to restless pacing and sleeplessness, an affliction that will reflect on his features for only a few short hours. A frequent rider, Darcy is in excellent condition for a man of his diet and class. On his own estate he is an active participant, and more likely to be seen conversing with men about hay and the rains than at ease in his study. As a scholar, he has a beautiful, tightly woven handscript and an affinity for philosophic books.
BACKGROUND: Fitzwilliam Darcy had the extreme misfortune of being born into the height of wealth and privilege in early 1800's England. He can hardly be blamed for the landed status of his family, or the structured state of his society, of which he occupies a very lofty tier.
Darcy's youth was free of tragedy and pleasant. He was, however, groomed for responsibility; a good thing, as Darcy's much younger sister has been in her brother's care since the early death of their parents. The Darcy siblings are proper but popular on their estate (Pemberley in Derbyshire) by those they employ. Though Darcy is both fond of his sister and even excessively indulgent to her wishes, his is always the final decision, especially after the catastrophe involving George Wickham.
Cared for much above his station as a steward's son by Darcy Sr., the selfish and scheming Wickham redeemed his inheritance for cash, which he immediately gambled away. In need of money to settle his debts, Wickham set about charming the young and innocent Georgiana Darcy for her considerable inheritance, nearly ruining her and the family reputation. Luckily, Darcy interfered in the way that only Darcy can: with polite but forceful potency. Wickham then joined the standing militia, and Darcy had the misfortune to encounter him where he was least wanted: in Hertfordshire.
It was at school that Darcy met his friend Charles Bingley, a good friend though he fell into the precarious social category of "new money." Bingley is good-natured to a fault and is often in need of being saved from himself in every social situation, much to Darcy's discomfort. Like Georgiana, Bingley trusts Darcy's opinion implicitly, which is why he invited him to inspect the property he was considering in Hertfordshire, a relatively quiet county settled into the country.
There, Darcy was confronted with an enthusiastic but (to him) rather motley society. Tact, beyond being entirely absent from local vocabulary, seemed even a foreign concept. It was here he was also introduced to Elizabeth Bennet, a spritely daughter of country gentility whose wit and intelligence charmed Darcy as much as her fine figure. Unfortunately the engaging Miss Elizabeth Bennet is considerably lower in status than the wealthy Darcy, and between his lofty manners and her quick judgment, the two of them have been crossing metaphorical blades all too often. To be honest, Darcy was rather enjoying himself on that count, at least until George Wickham entered the scene.
He paid overdue attention to Elizabeth Bennet, who was unmistakably flattered, and Darcy's dislike of the man only increased as wily Wickham presented himself in far better light to the young woman than Darcy could manage. As a result, Bingley's Netherfield Ball did not particularly improve Darcy's mood. His observation of what he perceived to be an excess of reserve on the part of Miss Jane Bennet towards his earnest young friend (who was playing the suitor in a manner all-too-obvious to anyone with eyes) combined with a thoroughly disconcerting conversation with Elizabeth about his character (of all things!) has left him with the determination to quit the county as soon as possible, ideally with Bingley in tow.
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