Mr. Darcy: INTJ

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Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

ESFJ: Why don’t you want to come?

ME: I am the Mr. Darcy of your friend group.

Ni: Mr. Darcy hates crowded places, conventional parties, and pretty much anything that requires him to converse amiably with other human beings. Yet, he has a profound understanding of other people and can size up their character very quickly. He’s rather prideful, but is able to come to terms with his judgements being occasionally inaccurate. His focus is narrow and he prioritizes to prevent the potential tragic consequences that he foresees occurring as a result of current events. Darcy is usually ten steps ahead of the game with regards to knowing what will happen next.  He is always planning for the future and tends to get caught up in his visions as opposed to enjoying the present moment.

Te: Mr. Darcy likes to take the initiative and isn’t afraid to butt his head into other people’s affairs in order to make sure that they’re safe in the long-run. For example, his actions to interfere in Bingley and Jane Bennet’s courtship due to his belief that Jane doesn’t love Bingley equally. He doesn’t talk a lot, but when he does, he’s usually blunt and abrupt. He may not be a people person, but he knows how to orchestrate other people and organize them towards the best possible outcome, often without their knowledge. Darcy is firm in his decisions and once his Ni has plotted a course of action, he carries it out with calculation.

Fi: Darcy isn’t particularly comfortable expressing his emotions, but prefers to think objectively. At the same time, his principles and feelings are the primary motivations behind everything he does. He is opinionated and always does what he believes to be most authentically right and true to himself, no matter the immediate cost. He isn’t daunted by uncomfortable truths and will stand up for himself when faced with false accusations.

Se: Darcy is often overwhelmed by physically stimulating environments, thus his eternal hatred for dancing and parties. He tends to zone out of the present and into his thoughts, and this makes him come across as aloof. When he doesn’t pay as much attention to his external environment (suppression of the Se function), his judgements of people are less accurate.

7 thoughts on “Mr. Darcy: INTJ”

  3. My ISFJ mum every time we watch P&P: “Darcy always looks so angry all the time!”
    Me INTJ: He’s just serious. That’s all.
    Me thinking: Hmm.. wonder why my parents said I always looks so angry when I was younger… :P

    Personality differences. *throws up hands*

    Thanks for this post! Very informative and thorough analysis of Darcy for sure!

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    • An inferior Se function can be suppressed, and is very likely to be suppressed in less mature INxJs. However, any level of Se can be suppressed and often appears very much like an underdeveloped Se function. The difference isn’t really big enough for me to gripe too much about it definitionally.

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  5. I don’t know if it’s Colin Firth in general or the role of Mr Darcy he is playing that is doing this magic, but his eyes…!! I can’t help but notice his eyes! He has such soulful eyes! No matter if (as Mr Darcy) he looks at the person he loves (lizi) or a stranger (let’s say Mr.Collins), he’s eyes are like they stare into the soul of that person and even if he glares at them there is still some sweetness in them! How does he do that??

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    • Colin Firth himself is purported to be an INTJ, which helped him play the character of Mr. Darcy like no other. He perfectly portrayed the seemingly contradictory aspects of the character: reserved, yet confident; rational, yet capable of intense feeling; distant, yet perspicacious.
      Any comments I have heard him make about the character are spot on and he really understands what makes him tick. When you compare him to Matthew McFadden playing the same character (as much as I like that actor), he was clearly playing at being moody and sullen and there was nothing behind it.

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