He wasn’t tall, dark, handsome after all

He is literature’s most eligible bachelor: handsome, wealthy and the inspiration for countless romantic spinoffs in the past 200 years.

Fans of the brooding Mr. Darcy, then, may wish to look away now.

Leading academics have researched how Jane Austen’s character was likely to have looked, and the results are a far cry from the tall, dark and handsome leading man fans may have imagined.

In fact, a real-life Mr. Darcy of his day was more likely to have a long nose, pointed chin, powdered white hair and a pale complexion, historians say. The team, led by Professor John Sutherland, have unveiled what they call the “first historically accurate portrait” of the character.

They did so by looking into the “scraps” of description Austen provided. They also examined Austen’s relationships and the men who may have inspired her character, and the socio-economic, cultural and lifestyle factors of the time.

Her romances have been well documented over the centuries, with possible influences including John Parker, the first Earl of Morley, and Thomas Lefroy. Both sported powdered hair and had long, youthful faces with pale complexions.

Other noblemen at the time, including Horatio Nelson, Leveson Gower and Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, all had similar features and were considered the sex symbols of their time.

The team subsequently concluded that, unlike Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen’s depictions on screen, he would have had slender, sloping shoulders and a modestly-sized chest. A muscular chest and broad shoulders would have been the sign of a labourer, not a gentleman.