How Colin Firth's triumph has fuelled Jane Austen fever
With Colin Firth poised to claim yet more accolades for 'The King's Speech' at the Screen Actors' Guild awards on Sunday, Jane Austen fans are celebrating the triumphs of the man they first knew as Mr Darcy.
Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in Pride and Prejudice
It is not a truth universally acknowledged that a young American in possession of a good mind must be in want of a long-dead English authoress.
Colin Firth portrays King George VI in 'The King's Speech'
But from Fresno, California, to Manhattan, New York, young people - many in period costume - were last year at the forefront of 235th birthday parties for Jane Austen , the novelist best known for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
Now with Colin Firth - who delighted many Austen fans in Pride and Prejudice - as the hot favourite for Sunday's Screen Actors' Guild awards, the spotlight has once again fallen on his breakout role as Mr Darcy.