In the spirit of the day, and for all you lurking and not-so-lurking Darcy fans (yes, Jessica Irene, we’re looking at you), we present a young gentleman who longs to be a Darcylike hero of romance–but Darcy’s epistolary skills are giving him a complex.

As I looked down at the illegible ugliness, I had a horrifying realization: My poor penmanship leaves me handicapped in the world of romance.

At first glance, the correlation between penmanship and romance may seem weak, but any reader of “Pride and Prejudice” knows how well-written letters translate into love. However frosty her initial feelings toward Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet begins to change her mind after he writes her a letter. Darcy’s letter, handwritten and personally delivered, made possible his future engagement to Elizabeth.

Certainly Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth is very important to the plot of Pride and Prejudice; but the reader will recall that it was written “in a dreadful bitterness of spirit” (at least at the beginning), which is hardly conducive to romance. We recommend that the young gentleman peruse Captain Wentworth’s letter for something much more in the spirit of St. Valentine’s Day.

Jane Austen describes Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth as being “written quite through in a very close hand.” I have no idea what that description means; but I suspect that Darcy’s “very close hand” is quite different from my own handwriting.

It means only that he wrote very small. Since it covered several sheets, Jane was preparing the reader for a long letter.

Finally, I could communicate in a more modern fashion and send Elizabeth a text message. But there is a profound difference between a “What RU up 2?” text and a handwritten letter. Again, this approach would almost certainly fail.

We live in a degenerate age.

Alert Janeite Heather L. uncovered links to the missing two Jane Austen season DVDs at Amazon.co.uk. Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey Region 2 DVDs are both available for preorder, as is a set of MP, NA and the Kate Beckinsale Emma. Release date is April 2 for MP07 and NA07 as well as the set.

As previously announced, the Region 2 DVD for Persuasion 2007 (which, it appears, will be distributed separately from the other two new films) will be released on March 26 and also is available for preorder.

Please note: These are Region 2 DVDs in PAL format. Unless you have the proper equipment, you won’t be able to play these. ETA: Check out Tony A.’s excellent explanation in the comments to learn how to adapt your setup to view different regions/formats–it’s easier than you think.

More clues as to the broadcast dates, perhaps? But since MP and NA are coming out on the same date, it probably is not a good idea to place too much construction upon the dates, except that it looks more and more like the films will be broadcast in the UK in March.