Duty and Desire Duty and Desire Duty and Desire is a 2004 historical Romance novel by Pamela Aidan. The second in the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy, the novel examines Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" from the perspective of Fitzwilliam Darcy, the central male character of that novel. In relation to "Pride and Prejudice", on which the novel is based, "Duty and Desire" takes place between Darcy's initial leaving of Hertfordshire and his reappearance in "Pride"'s narrative at Rosings Park. Following on from the events of "An Assembly Such as This", the novel opens with Fitzwilliam Darcy preparing for the Christmas season with his
Mr. Darcy standards of English masculinity as unlike the heroes of the 18th century with their excessive politeness and unwillingness to offend, Mr. Darcy says whatever he likes, which showed his authenticity and honesty, which were the most important attributes for a man in the new Romantic age. Even after Mr. Darcy apologizes to Miss Bennet for his brusque rudeness, his honesty meant that change of heart was sincere, and not the polished words of a follower of the cult of sensibility. More broadly, the character of Mr. Darcy showed the emergence of a new type of rawer masculinity that could not