Would a modern audience know he had any reservations until Hunsford, however, if we saw him smiling and showing interest earlier? The class-based issues aren't something that are immediately evident to a modern audience. Same with his concerns about her family's lack of propriety (something that was obvious in the 1995 film, but much less so in the 2005 film)--people today don't usually let someone's family's behavior affect their decisions about whether to pursue a relationship, unless it's something truly egregious like criminal behavior.
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