The Power of Mr. Darcy’s Hand Flex in ‘Pride & Prejudice,’ 20 Years Later

• In the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, a scene between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet has become an iconic meme 
• Director Joe Wright says Matthew Macfadyen’s memorable hand flex was unscripted 
• This April, the movie returns to theaters ahead of its 20th anniversary this fall

Two decades ago, Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen brought new life to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice as enemies-turned-lovers Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. 

The beloved adaptation directed by Joe Wright is rife with memorable scenes evoking either love or heartache, longing or confusion. There’s Elizabeth rejecting Darcy in the pouring rain (I mean, he did call out “the inferiority” of her birth while confessing his love). There’s Darcy walking through a meadow at daybreak to propose to her (the piano accompaniment here — “Dawn” by Dario Mariane — still brings tears to my eyes). 

Yet there is one particular moment that has risen to internet fame — and I absolutely get why. 

The scene in question comes early in the film, well before declarations of romance have even been considered, let alone said out loud.

Following several meetings where the two have exchanged tense glances and terse words (including Darcy describing Elizabeth as “barely tolerable” in their first scene together), Elizabeth is helped into a carriage by the nobleman. Darcy holds her hand ever so delicately as she gets inside. While brief, something deeply moving happens in that instant. Elizabeth stares as he heads back to his home, the wind blowing at her bangs, her eyes stuck on his figure. 

As Darcy walks away, he flexes his hand. 

I remember seeing this for the first time in theaters, and while often a cynic to romantic stories (another essay, perhaps), this got me good. I even remember my instant reaction being, “Oh, they’ve got each other good.” And I’m not alone!

Twenty years later, Macfadyen’s portrayal of Mr. Darcy — most specifically, his hand flex — continues to captivate the hearts of millennials and the internet. It has been dissected in many an op-ed or BuzzFeed breakdown, received plenty of TikTok love, and, of course, rose to millennial meme fame. 

It’s received onscreen tributes such as in The Summer I Turned Pretty, when Christopher Briney’s Conrad flexes his hand while saying goodbye to Lola Tung’s Belly. 

There is even a study about what makes Austen’s literary works, and in this case Mr. Darcy, so meme-worthy — pointing to how the character’s complexity and male vulnerability were especially appreciated in the wake of the #MeToo movement.  

“Darcy, who balances conventional male qualities with sensitivity and respect for women, is in many ways the perfect antidote to the male behavior that legitimately prompted such outcry,” said Georgios Chatziavgerinos, a doctoral researcher at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Education and one of the study’s authors. 

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The love for Darcy’s hand flex has also been recognized by the film’s cast and crew. Director Joe Wright recently told PEOPLE that while the open-and-close of Darcy’s hand wasn’t scripted, it’s “an important moment in the book” and thanks to Macfadyen’s acting (bless him, truly), the hand flex came to life. 

According to Wright, he wanted the scene to showcase “that although their conscious minds are fighting against each other, their bodies are like two magnets just drawn to each other, and that as they touch even that, little hand lifting helping her, which is pure etiquette of the period, somehow creates this kind of electronic shock wave through them, through them both, and then he has to shake it away.”

In a behind-the-scenes featurette for the film, Knightley explained why the era of the story makes that hand flex all the more romantic.  

“They don’t really touch,” Knightley said of men and women in the 18th century. “Women don’t shake hands with men, so the first time is when he helps her into the carriage, which is a really beautiful moment, because it’s the first skin-on-skin touch, and I think today we don’t think twice about that at all.”

As for Macfadyen, he briefly discussed the scene in an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air in 2022, crediting Wright for spotting what seems to have been an unconscious decision. 

“He doesn’t miss a trick, and he’s so alive to things,” Macfadyen said of the director. “He saw me do it in a take, in a rehearsal or a take. And he, I remember him just going, ‘Get that.’ So they just did an extra shot on the hand.” Ever the gracious one, that Darcy. 

Some might argue the hand flex has been obsessed over because of who our leading couple is. 

Literally, when has there even been a hotter duo to portray the 19th-century couple — Kiera “Serving Pout” Knightley and Matthew “I Play Hot Wealthy Men Well” Macfadyen were perfect for this. While The Mummy is my top bi-panic film, Pride & Prejudice could be a close second because of the palpable chemistry and good looks between these two.

But, above all, the hand flex has become a top-tier millennial meme because the moment is both subtle and powerful. It is a brief, soft, yet poignant depiction of the first flicker of connection. 

Look, there is nothing wrong with more overt displays of affection. Plenty of those have become memes as well, like Jack and Rose’s “I’m flying” scene from Titanic. But, like Knightley said, there is beauty to be found in simplicity — a coat being placed over your shoulders on a chilly date night, a kiss on the forehead before your partner leaves for work. Those moments, perhaps more than anything else, can bewitch one’s body and soul.

All of us could ponder for ages on what Darcy’s hand flex meant and why it’s become such an internet sensation. Was he trying to hold onto the memory of Elizabeth’s hands? Was he trying to shake the feeling of her off? Or was a seconds-long touch with her so kinetic that he — and his fingers — can’t comprehend what just happened. 

Honestly, I still don’t fully know what I believe — but there are plenty of memes and fancams out there to help me decide. 

Pride & Prejudice is back in theaters once more beginning April 20. Ticket information can be found here.