{"id":4441,"date":"2015-05-27T07:17:45","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T11:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=4441"},"modified":"2015-06-05T07:42:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T11:42:01","slug":"mr-darcy-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=4441","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Darcy Revealed?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mr.

(drawing: C.E. Brock, 1895, wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

At last! According to numerous media stories, including this one in The Express of London<\/a>, British journalist and historian Dr. Susan Law has discovered the real-life model for that Pride and Prejudice<\/em> heart-throb, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Law says Darcy was patterned after \u201cthe intense, charming and often controversial 1st Earl of Morley John Parker<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Law, Austen became acquainted with Parker when she spent time at his home, Saltram House in Plymouth (pictured below), which happened to coincide with her work on P&P<\/em>. Parker\u2019s second wife, Frances, was one of Austen\u2019s near friends. Frances also had a literary bent and, Law says, initially Austen\u2019s anonymously published novels P&P<\/em> and Sense and Sensibility<\/em> were believed to have been written by Frances.<\/p>\n

\"Saltram

(artwork: wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

Coincidentally, Saltram House was used in filming S&S<\/em> in 1995. It represented \u201cNorland,\u201d the home Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters were forced to leave after Mr. Dashwood died. A scandalous end to John Parker\u2019s first marriage may have inspired the adultery that shakes the family of Mansfield Park<\/em>, Austen\u2019s third novel.<\/p>\n

Law maintains that in five years of research she has found letters and documents that bolster her case. These claims are detailed in her new book, provocatively titled Through The Keyhole: Sex, Scandal And The Secret Life of The Country House <\/em>(I\u2019m not planning to read and review this one, so I\u2019ve provided the link below now, in case you want to). <\/em>\u201cThe physical similarities in them are obvious,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Earl was tall, dark, handsome and slightly brooding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she\u2019s yet to find that \u201ccast iron bit of evidence,\u201d after spending so much time and effort on her researches, she says, \u201cI am pretty convinced.\u201d I haven’t read her evidence, OK, but I can’t believe the wife of my<\/em> Mr. Darcy would ever<\/em> cheat on him.
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