It’s the second day of our Pride and Prejudice contest — welcome! As mentioned above, we’ll be giving away two copies of the new 10th Anniversary release of the BBC/A&E Pride and Prejudice, which stars Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. This limited edition includes both the DVDs of the award-winning miniseries and the illustrated companion book.

To enter, all you have to do is put a comment on any of our Risky Regencies posts from this week, answering whatever the question of the day is. (And please, do answer the question!) You get one chance for every day this week (Mon – Sat) on which you comment on that day’s post. On Sunday, October 8, we’ll select the two winners at random from all eligible comments.

To learn more about this fabulous prize, take a look at the A&E online store!

Now… On with the day’s question!

One of my earliest posts on Risky Regencies — about a year ago — was entitled “Who’s Your Favorite Austen Heartthrob?” I asked readers to vote for their favorite cinematic Jane Austen men in three categories — and if I recall correctly, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy won in all three! (Though Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley and Ciaran Hinds as Wentworth made strong showings.)

So . . . let’s see if a year (and increased familiarity with a certain Matthew McFadyen) will change the result!

By the way, feel free to vote for your favorites even if you aren’t eligible for this week’s grand prize. (To be eligible, you must reside in the US or Canada… And, of course, the Risky Regencies bloggers and their families and employees are not eligible. But they are all welcome to vote nonetheless!)

Now… On with the Very Important Vote.

1) Which Jane Austen gentleman, as played by a specific actor, do you think has the most of what Janet once called “essential hotness”? (Be sure to name both the role and the actor!)

2) Which character (played by which actor) would you find it easiest to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with?

3) Which would you most like to marry? (This of course takes into account your answers to questions 1 and 2, but also practical matters — like who your in-laws will be, and just how disgustingly wealthy he is.) 🙂

To help jog your memory, I am displaying here pictures of various of Jane Austen’s gentlemen from different film and TV adaptations of her novels. (In fact, all six of her novels are represented here! Though only the most devoted fan of Jane Austen adapations is likely to be able to identify every gentleman here!)

Of course, if you’ve only ever seen one or two Jane Austen adaptations, please go ahead and comment anyway, and tell us what you thought of the actors in it! Or, if you’ve seen absolutely no Jane Austen adaptations ever, then tell us what you think of any of the men pictured here!

By the way — the gentlemen are welcome to participate too! Just say which of these Jane Austen men you would most like to be… And yes, you may take into account whether you’d rather be married to Jennifer Ehle or Gwyneth Paltrow or Keira Knightley or Amanda Root or whoever! 🙂

Have fun!

Cara
Cara King — author of MY LADY GAMESTER, winner of the Booksellers’ Best Award for Best Regency of 2005