How old is Mr. Darcy?

Mr Darcy is 28 years old in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The clearest basis appears near the end of the novel, when Darcy reflects on his character and tells Elizabeth that he had been proud “from eight to eight-and-twenty.” This makes 28 the standard canonical answer used by readers and quizmasters.

Darcy’s age helps establish his position in the story. He is mature, wealthy, and socially established, but still young enough to change after Elizabeth challenges his pride. He is also considerably older than Elizabeth, who is 20 at the beginning of the novel, creating a gap of roughly eight years.

Readers sometimes confuse Darcy’s age with the ages of other characters. Colonel Fitzwilliam is described as about 30, while Georgiana Darcy is 16. Darcy’s age is not presented in a modern character profile at the start of the book; instead, it is inferred from his own late-novel statement and the surrounding chronology. His age also distinguishes him from the much older Mr Bennet and from younger figures such as Wickham and Bingley.