Channelling Mr Darcy himself, Old House takes a satirical look at the ultimate alpha male with the July publication of Mr Darcy's Guide to Courtship: Secrets of Seduction from Jane Austen's Most Eligible Bachelor
NEW YORK, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Old House announces the July publication of Mr Darcy's Guide to Courtship: Secrets of Seduction from Jane Austen's Most Eligible Bachelor. Written satirically from Darcy's perspective, it is sure to stir debate among the millions of Austen fans about whether or not this ultimate alpha male suitor was really an arrogant jerk and gently pokes fun at the long-standing tradition of projecting idealized fantasies on this character when, in reality, after the marriage, the fantasy would be over and Darcy would revert to his old ways.
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Jane Austen created THE literary romantic hero in Mr Darcy, who has made generations of women swoon since the publication of Pride and Prejudice two hundred years ago. But for most of the novel he is, as the Austenblog called him, "…just a jerk." The Guardian's Cherry Potter debunked the idealized view of Darcy, saying, "The fact is that dark, smoldering, moody, charismatic, arrogant Darcy types… turn out to be rigid, dominating and controlling." And Journalist Sheryl Plant denounced our fixation with Darcy in even stronger terms: "It really is about time we let Darcy go and turned to men who are capable of more equal and open relationships." Welcome to the latest chapter in the 21st century debate between academics, bloggers and millions of fans of Jane Austen: Is Darcy a rude, arrogant jerk and therefore a terrible example of a romantic hero and shouldn't women know better by now?
Channeling Mr Darcy himself – before he's mellowed by contact with Elizabeth Bennet – this July publication takes a satirical journey into the mind of this archetypical alpha male suitor. Full of unapologetic pride and meticulously cultivated prejudice, it reveals Mr Darcy's secrets of seduction, giving advice to both ladies and gentlemen on the rules of courtship – advice that is delightfully amusing…and generally awful! On subjects including making oneself agreeable, identifying an appropriate partner and how to escape the unwanted attentions of rogues and fortune-hunters, he pulls no punches:
- Immoderate laughter, wild gesticulation or running about the place is exceedingly unbecoming in a female and may be taken as a token of a disturbed mind.
- It is a peculiarity of the sex that most females expect – with no small degree of solemnity, I assure you – that we should be able to read their minds.
- It is not good form to languish around in such violent paroxysms of self-pity that you live only to be an instrument of annoyance to the rest of the world.
This witty concentrated megadose of Darcy and Darcy-isms will amuse Jane Austen fans and make them wonder what they would really think of Darcy (domineering, aloof, opinionated, controlling?) if they encountered him in real life – and of why this archetype still persists in women's affections and fantasies. Darcy offers them this advice:
"Some believe that where the yearnings of the heart are concerned, we all have a better guide in ourselves than any other person can be. Nonsense. In truth, you can have no better guide than this book."
Mr Darcy's Guide to Courtship
The Secrets of Seduction from Jane Austen's Most Eligible Bachelor
by Fitzwilliam Darcy 9781908402592/$14.95/Paperback/July 2013
Media Contact: Ilise Levine
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Old House, distributed by Random House
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