Was this Nenagh judge the inspiration for Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy??
Thomas Lefroy was born in Limerick in 1776 and later became a judge in Nenagh. He died on this day in 1869, many years after a brief love affair with renowned novelist Jane Austen which led many to suspect that he was the inspiration for not only Mr. Darcy, but many heroes of Austen’s classic novels.
According to Laura Boyle, writing on janeausten.co.uk, the couple enjoyed a 'whirlwind relationship’ in 1796. They had ‘found much in common, sharing opinions and books.’ As evidence of how close their relationship was, it is pointed out that ‘he lent her “Tom Jones”, an amazingly racy novel, not likely to be found on the shelves of her clergyman father.’ Austen spoke of Lefroy in her own private correspondence- ‘I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together ... He is a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man.’
Unfortunately, the romance was not to last any longer than a few weeks. In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Jane conveys how deeply affected she was by the thought of losing him- “At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea.”
As Boyle points out, the romantics among us may find it difficult to forgive the man who loved and left Jane Austen but it has been suggested that maybe we should be grateful to him. If Jane Austen had married, it is doubtful that she would have had the time or encouragement to write and without this period of awakening, without this loss, we may never have seen Jane Austen’s novels in print. Boyle reaffirms that ‘it is possible to see aspects of Tom Lefroy and his relationship with Jane in every hero she created.”
Writing in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, David Murphy and Sylvie Kleinman somewhat puncture our enthusiasm that a Tipperary judge may have been the inspiration for Mr Darcy, one of literature’s best-known characters, when they claim that there is no real evidence to substantiate the claim.
Whether he really was the inspiration for Mr Darcy or not, what seems certain is that Lefroy and Austen left a long-lasting impression on each other. When asked many years later at the age of 94 if he had loved Jane, Lefroy admitted that he had, despite 70 years having passed since their brief romance.
Sources:
https://janeausten.co.uk/.../who-was-the-real-tom-lefroy
https://www.dib.ie/biography/lefroy-thomas-langlois-a4772
