ABSTRACT
Graham’s unbecoming comparison of the rather average-looking Firth with his attractive, brooding alter ego Darcy verges on the offensive; to add insult to injury, the piece finishes with the note ‘[T]urn to page 126 for the second and final token for your Darcy poster’ (Graham 1997a: 23). Obviously there cannot be the clear separation intimated by Graham between the dull Firth and the sexy Darcy, for they are inextricably physically linked in the unique way that actors always are with the roles they play. Yet Graham’s comments suggest the importance to ‘Darcymania’ of maintaining a distinction between the performer (Firth) and the performed (Darcy).
