Colin Firth as Mr Darcy

Actor Colin Firth is probably best known right now for his Oscar winning performance in the leading role in The Kings Speech, but the role that first brought him to the attention of adoring female fans around the world is undoubtedly that of Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC Television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride And Predudice.

With his look and mannerisms, Colin Firth really does fit well into period dramas doesn't he.

Learn more about Colin Firth's role as Mr. Darcy in the sections below, and also about Jane Austen's connections with the City of Southampton.

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is a handsome wealthy and somewhat arrogant gentleman, and one of the main characters in Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice.

He snubs the other main character, Elizabeth Bennet, at their first meeting, however he subsequently finds that he is attracted to her, and tries to court her.

This is made complicated because at the same time a good friend of Darcy, is courting Elizabeth's older sister, and Darcy convinces him that she does not feel the same and is not about to return his affections. When Elizabeth finds out about this, she is furious and breaks off their courtship.

Besotted with Elizabeth, Darcy finally breaks down and tells her how he feels, asking her to marry him. Elizabeth finds the arrogance in the way that he proposes offensive, in particular his statements about the class gap between them, and in no uncertain manner rebukes him.

I could go into more detail, but I know that you already fall into one of two classes... Either you know the story of Pride And Prejudice already, or you haven't yet seen this, and I would hate to spoil the plot for you.

Both Colin Firth and Jane Austen have connections to Hampshire.

I have always enjoyed watching productions in which Colin Firth was an actor, but my interest in creating this lens about Colin Firth as Mr Darcy is that there is a local connection for both Colin Firth as well as Jane Austen to the City Of Southampton on the South Coast of England where we live.

Colin Firth was born in 1960 in the small village of Grayshott in Hampshire which is on the border with Surrey, and had a well travelled childhood, moving from England to India, then at the age of 11 to St. Louis Missouri, but then returning to Hampshire where he went to school in Winchester and then to college at Eastleigh, which is just to the east of Southampton.

Jane Austen was born in 1775 in the village of Steventon, which is also in Hampshire, and died in Winchester in 1817.

She spend part of her life living in Southampton, and also visited nearby Netley Abbey, which is believed to be the inspiration behind her spoof Gothic novel "Northanger Abbey".

Pride and Prejudice which was first published in 1813 is Jane Austen's best loved masterpiece, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide, and it is a period drama set in England in the early 1800's, about a family and their five daughters.

The story centres around Elizabeth Bennet, who is 20 years old and the second oldest of the five daughters, and the society into which they were born. The rules of society, which include manners, education, and morality, played a major role in how people with any importance interacted with each other, and it is the rules of society which dictate the flow of the relationship that she has with the man that she both loves and hates.

The author Jane Austen doesn't leave her readers guessing for long as to what the book is about, introducing them right away to Mr Charles Bingley, a wealthy bachelor who just moved into the area, and who takes a liking to the eldest of the five daughters, Jane, who is two years older than Elizabeth.

Mr Bingley has a friend, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is tall, handsome and very wealthy, but who comes across as arrogant to strangers. On their first meeting he remains aloof and very much just ignores Elizabeth, which causes her to instantly dislike him.

Not long after this, Elizabeth makes a trip to Mr Bingley's home to look after her sister Jane, who paid him a visit and caught a cold having been caught out in the rain. Here Elizabeth comes into contact with Mr Darcy again, and this time he is attracted to her.

Jane's parents assume that she will get married to Mr Bingley, but here the plot thickens with Mr Bingley breaking off his relationship with Jane and returning to London. Elizabeth believes that Mr Darcy has been involved in breaking up the couple, and she accuses him of destroying her sister's happiness.

The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy goes through ups and downs, as do the relationships of the other daughters with their suitors, as the story progresses.

I will not go into more details, because you either know them already, or I would be spoiling the plot of the story for you if you are not familiar with it.

Pride and Prejudice has always been a popular classic novel, but the recent fascination with period dramas on television and in the movies has served to add to it's popularity, especially after the BBC Television miniseries that landed Colin Firth the role of Mr Darcy.