Since April 20 marked 20 years of “Pride & Prejudice,” here is why Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Mr. Darcy’s romance lives rent-free in my head today.
Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice features angelic Keira Knightley and swoon-worthy Matthew Macfadyen. To mark this anniversary, I think it’s only fitting that I list the best five romantic scenes of the movie.
My credibility comes from years of romantic comedy research, reading “Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen and watching the Wright’s movie about 10 times on Netflix.
The movie Pride & Prejudice is in my opinion better than Austen’s book because of these five scenes:
5. The U.S. alternate ending (2:00:25-end)
The United Kingdom was “scandalized” by the United States version of the ending. While the UK version ended with Lizzie and her father’s exchange, following Darcy’s second proposal, the US version included an additional moment that rounds out Lizzie and Darcy’s relationship.
“How are you this evening, Mrs. Darcy?” Macfadyen said, who perfected Mr. Darcy’s brooding but sweet personality. Mr. Darcy leans in and proceeds to kiss her forehead, cheeks, and nose. Each time Mr. Darcy whispers “Mrs. Darcy,” he implies that he is “completely, perfectly, and incandescently happy." They share a kiss.
I swoon the whole time, and I think the US population can agree with me, even if the UK is “scandalized” by it. The story may end in this scene, but it keeps me wanting more.
4. Lizzie and Mr. Darcy dancing (39:00- 41:34)
This is the point in the movie where Mr. Darcy makes a fool of himself by telling his friend, Mr. Bingley, that Lizzie isn’t “handsome enough” to tempt him.
Lizzie overhears Mr. Darcy and decides that he is the “last man in the world” she could “ever be prevailed upon to marry.” Those exact words aren’t used until later but it’s clear where Lizzie’s pride is at.
The tension, Hellerman argues, is needed to make a scene memorable. It serves as conflict and moves the story forward. Lizzie and Darcy’s tension and frustration prove this.
In this scene, Lizzie accepts Mr. Darcy’s request to dance. With a lot of tension between them, other dancers in the background disappear. However, the room isn’t empty. Lizzie and Mr. Darcy are so focused on each other that the rest of the world fades away.
EXCUSE ME! How are you not swooning over this!?
3. Darcy’s proposal in the rain (1:08:40- 1:12:24)
It may seem dramatic having Mr. Darcy confess his love for Lizzie in the rain and prominent a cliché in romance movies, but it proves to be a memorable moment.
Mr. Darcy can’t get his words out as he looks at Lizzie with such adoration that I’m slightly jealous that I’m not her. Rain is dripping down his hair and face and the viewer suddenly understands that he’s nervous around her because he loves her.
He then tells her, “I love you” with a slight voice crack. He pauses, then adds “most ardently” with a bigger voice crack. If you’ve never seen the movie before or read the book, it comes as a surprise that he’s proposing to her and he’s awkward to the point where you’re slightly cringing.
Besides that, their characters get to shine in this scene.
Mr. Darcy shows his softer, more caring side, as well as his courage to push past what he sees as barriers. Lizzie shows that she won’t let anyone talk down to her or her family and stands up for herself.
Mr. Darcy’s character change is what makes this scene critically “good.” “A great scene should reveal something new and meaningful about the characters,” Hellerman argues.
This energized scene full of grand proposals, adoring words, almost kisses after a heated fight, and character development proves its status and puts them on even playing fields.
2. The hand flex scene (25:14-25:30)
Die-hard “Pride & Prejudice” fans and hopeless romantics alike, will disagree with putting the memorable “hand flex” at second. It’s a moment that lives in my head rent-free and even more so when Macfadyen unintentionally did it.
Clarisse Loughrey from The Independent said that the secret sixth love language is the hand flex. CBR ranks the hand flex higher than Colin Firth’s wet shirt (if you know you know).
Lizzie is leaving Mr. Bingley’s house and Mr. Darcy takes her hand, gloveless, to help her into the carriage. An etiquette expert from Vanity Fair broke down the scene noting that in Regency England, skin-to-skin is too personal of an action and viewed as inappropriate.
Mr. Darcy walks away and the camera zooms in on his hand as he flexes his fingers. You understand that that bare, minimum touch affected him so much that he had to release the tension. The word “hand flex” is so intertwined in fans' lives that it has become a shortcut for as Loughrey writes, any “tortuously subtle expression of desire.”
Fans have been blogging, posting, and talking about this scene since 2005. Starting at 25:14 and ending at 25:30, Mr. Darcy proves he’s more than arrogant and brooding to the audience and, most importantly, Lizzie.
Yes, I went back and watched this movie specifically for time stamps and to swoon over these scenes.
1. Darcy Smiling (1:29:35- 1:30:14)
We’ve established that despite the dislike from Lizzie and judgment from Mr. Darcy, these two are attracted to each other. It isn’t until this scene, though, that Lizzie learns how much Mr. Darcy loves her and she understands her feelings.
Lizzie is at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s estate, thinking that he’s not there. News flash, Mr. Darcy is very much home, and circumstances bring them to smile at each other as if her aunt and uncle and his sister aren’t in the room, for the second time. Talk about being a third, fourth, and fifth wheel in Regency England.
A smiling Lizzie, who when it came to Mr. Darcy, never smiled before, started the scene that plays on a loop in my head. And let’s not forget about the dreamy hand flex in the background. Mr. Darcy, sir, what are you thinking?
One of Georgianna’s only lines has Mr. Darcy mortified, Lizzie pleasantly surprised, and me grinning ear to ear.
“But he says you play so well,” Georgianna said.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Darcy is in love with Lizzie.
It’s important to note that Lizzie is also grinning ear-to-ear so really you can’t argue...
And this is it folks. This is the scene that has me doubting if I will ever find a man as amazing as Mr. Darcy, putting my standards way out of reach.
To round it out, he proceeds to look at her with such love in his eyes that you think you’re interfering in an intimate moment.
Some of you might be thinking I’m being dramatic, but when a closed-off man who doesn’t show an ounce of emotion besides maybe frustration, shows a drop of his sunny disposition, you’d be swooning too.
It isn’t just because of that. It is because both characters finally seem to understand the other person and flirt…if you could consider flirting a thing in 1813. This is the first time we see through their dialogue all of their sides, not just the prejudice of Mr. Darcy or the pride of Lizzie but the softer, loving, complex sides that make them perfect for each other. This is a Hellerman’s guide for a good scene.
20 years have passed since Wright blessed us with a romance movie that will be in our hearts forever. Now, we must deal with the aftermath of an almost perfect love of Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Morgan Frye is the social media editor of The Setonian. She can be reached at morgan.frye@student.shu.edu.
