Darcy Smiles a Lot Actually (even before Pemberley)

And it’s important to the plot

(Darcy is almost always portrayed as very stern, even in illustrations)

A friend of mine, Firawren, on Tumblr counted the smiles of every male lead in Austen, and the results may surprise you:

Yes, Mr. Darcy actually smiles or expressess happiness quite a bit.

Data for this graph: 8 smiles, 1 “a sort of smile,” 1 “smile of affected incredulity” not counted when E’s talking about Wickham during the proposal, 1 “expression of heartfelt delight”, 1 “delighted with their engagement”, 1 meditating with pleasure on fine eyes, 1 thinking cheerfully; total 13

Example: “And yours,” he replied, with a smile, “is wilfully to misunderstand them.” (Ch 11)

Now this graph doesn’t account for page time, which is probably why Darcy is outperforming Bingley, or book length, Henry Tilney would probably win if he had a longer novel to smile in, but it does show that the overly broody picture of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy presented in some fan fiction and adaptaions just isn’t accurate. Note: This data took out ironic smiles, only genuine ones are counted.

Also, it’s very important to the plot that Elizabeth has seen Darcy smiling BEFORE Pemberely, because of this quote:

Pride & Prejudice, Ch 43

This moment is very important. One of Elizabeth’s goals in life is to avoid the mistakes of her father. She must know her parents married based on lust (we are told by the narrator); she has watched how it made both of them miserable. She wants to avoid that fate herself. When Darcy walks into the parsonage and gives a very sudden (to Elizabeth) lust-sounding proposal, alarm bells must be going off in her head. Darcy likes her out of the blue and he must have her. This isn’t good!

Portrait of Colin Firth, P&P 1995

She isn’t privy to what we know as readers, he’s been struggling against loving her since before Jane was sick at Netherfield. Which means there are scenes at Netherfield when Elizabeth noticed Darcy looking at her with a smile, and thought he was mocking her. He was thinking, “Aw she’s cute when she walks” and she’s thinking, “He is judging my walking and hardly containing a laugh.” This is something which she does not resolve until she sees the portrait at Pemberley.

It’s not just about him being handsome, she knew that from day one! It’s in the portrait that Elizabeth sees the smile that Darcy’s family has quite literally preserved for posterity. That is Darcy’s real, happy smile, and she recognizes it because he has directed it at her. Which means that him liking her didn’t start in Kent, it started long before, which means his feelings are not ephemeral. It is definitely something she assumed, because one of the things she says during the rejection is that he’ll get over it quickly.

Bust of Mr. Darcy from P&P 2005

It has been most unconsciously done, however, and I hope will be of short duration. The feelings which you tell me have long prevented the acknowledgment of your regard can have little difficulty in overcoming it after this explanation.

Pride & Prejudice, Ch 34

We know that Darcy smiled at Elizabeth early and she noticed it. In an adaptation, it works if it’s a very small smile or something that looks like a mocking smirk (there would be no teeth because of portrait guidelines at the time), because Elizabeth doesn’t realize it’s genuine. It would even help if Elizabeth said something like, “He’s laughing at me again” when Darcy smiles so we know how she interprets it. And then at Pemberley we need that light-bulb moment where it hits Elizabeth that he loved her for a very long time.

Folio Edition of Pride & Prejudice, Anna and Elena Balbusso

Without this realization, the portrait scene doesn’t have as much of an impact. It’s just a nice painting (or bust), not Elizabeth realizing that she is the person who brings out Darcy’s genuine smile. In fact, in most adaptations, both Elizabeth and the viewer would be seeing him smile for the very first time in this portrait!

The scenes at Pemberley are some of my favourite because that is where Elizabeth learns about Darcy’s true character. He is indeed proud, she wasn’t wrong about that, but he has many other qualities that she admires. The report of Mrs. Reynolds, the elegance without ostentation, the preservation of his father’s memory, and the portrait, all play a part in Elizabeth’s understanding before she even meets him again. It was so beautifully done by Jane Austen!

So next time we have an adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, (soon please? Fingers crossed!) let’s have a Darcy who smiles!

Let me know what you think in the comments:

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This happens to be the 2nd year anniversary of my first published Jane Austen fan fiction novel, Prideful & Persuaded. Find out what Mr. and Mrs. Darcy think of Caroline Bingley’s new husband: