Pride and Prejudice Summary
The novel is set in rural England during the years 1797 – 1815 around the same time as the Napoleonic wars. It centres on the Bennett family who reside in a small village known as Longbourn. The majority of the novel is told from the point of view of the second eldest of 5 daughters Elizabeth Bennett. The other daughters are Jane, Mary Kitty and Lydia. Since there was no males born to the family and none of the 5 daughters were married the family were to lose their house when the father died due to the conditions stated in the will. The consequences of this will ensured that only males in the family could inherit the estate. This meant that the Bennett estate would be entailed to their cousin Mr Collins on the death of Mr Bennet. News soon arrives that an eligible bachelor was to take the Netherfield estate which causes great excitement within the household. Mr Bingley moves in to the estate and attends a ball where the Bennett sisters finally meet him.
The party that accompanied him consisted of his 2 sisters, brother in-law and friend Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy was said to be an arrogant man due to the fact he refused to dance with anyone and also slighted Elizabeth while Mr Bingley was delightful and very pleasing and danced with many. Throughout the evening Mr Bingley becomes very taken by Jane’s beauty. This encounter leads to Jane being invited to dine with Bingley’s sisters, Louisa and Caroline Bingley at Netherfield house, also noted in the invitation was the Bingley would not be in attendance as he was to dine with the regionals. This news was quite discouraging for Mrs Bennet as she viewed the news as a missed opportunity. It was then concluded by her that Jane would travel by horse to Netherfield while being hopeful it would rain so Jane would inevitable have to stay until Bingley returned. Mrs Bennet’s plan worked a bit too perfectly. Jane grew sick as she travelled in the rain to Netherfield. On receiving news on her sisters ill health Elizabeth travelled by foot to the house to be by her side. It was then decided that she would stay while Jane recuperated, much to the distain of the Bingley sisters. During her stay it became apparent that Mr Darcy had grown increasingly fond of Elizabeth while her feelings for him were the complete opposite.
Eventually Jane and Elizabeth returned home. Life returns to normal for a while until the arrival of the militia to Longbourn. Their arrival causes great happiness among the Bennet sisters, particularly Lydia and Kitty.
Mr Collins, their cousin, also arrives at Longbourn with the certainty that he would marry one of the girls. He proposes to Elizabeth but she turns him down. He did not take this to well and left to stay with the Lucas family where he eventually proposed to Charlotte Lucas. Jane received word from Miss Bingley that the whole party were going to London as Mr Bingley had business to attend; she then went on to say that she was certain that they would not be returning anytime soon, this news left Jane heartbroken. Jane goes to London for three months to visit her aunt and uncle the Gardiners. She hopes she will see Mr. Bingley, but Miss Bingley makes it clear that she no longer wishes to keep up the friendship. That spring, Elizabeth visits the now married Charlotte, who lives near the home of Mr Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. On the last day of Mr Darcy’s stay, Elizabeth finds out that Darcy encouraged Mr Bingley to stay away from Jane, and when he proposes to Elizabeth she turns him down.
To explain his actions Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth. After reading the letter, Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy changes. On returning home they receive news that the militia is leaving town. During the course of their stay in the area Lydia became very close to the generals wife and she is invited to stay with them in the next town they are stationed in. With the arrival of June, Elizabeth and the Gardiners her relatives, go on a holiday. The trip takes her to the North and eventually to the neighbourhood of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate. After making sure that Darcy was away, she visits the estate. Suddenly, Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his proposal, he entertains the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister. The following day Elizabeth is introduced to his sister and Mr Bingley also greets her. Elizabeth’s trip was struck short on receiving a letter from Jane stating that Lydia had run off with Mr Wickham and they were nowhere to be found. On hearing the contents of the letter, Darcy leaves Elizabeth in search of Wickham but Elizabeth didn’t know this at the time. Elizabeth returned home and they waited anxiously for news on Lydia, they eventually heard that Lydia was married to Wickham and it was all arranged by their uncle Mr Gardiner. Life returned to normal in the Bennett household for a short while. Lydia and Wickham visited the house before travelling to Scotland. Shortly after this Mr Bingley and his party returned to Netherfield much to the delight of the Bennett sisters.
Bingley proposes to Jane and she accepts. While out on a walk with Elizabeth Darcy professes his love for Elizabeth and she acts favourable toward him. The two couples then marry.
The party that accompanied him consisted of his 2 sisters, brother in-law and friend Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy was said to be an arrogant man due to the fact he refused to dance with anyone and also slighted Elizabeth while Mr Bingley was delightful and very pleasing and danced with many. Throughout the evening Mr Bingley becomes very taken by Jane’s beauty. This encounter leads to Jane being invited to dine with Bingley’s sisters, Louisa and Caroline Bingley at Netherfield house, also noted in the invitation was the Bingley would not be in attendance as he was to dine with the regionals. This news was quite discouraging for Mrs Bennet as she viewed the news as a missed opportunity. It was then concluded by her that Jane would travel by horse to Netherfield while being hopeful it would rain so Jane would inevitable have to stay until Bingley returned. Mrs Bennet’s plan worked a bit too perfectly. Jane grew sick as she travelled in the rain to Netherfield. On receiving news on her sisters ill health Elizabeth travelled by foot to the house to be by her side. It was then decided that she would stay while Jane recuperated, much to the distain of the Bingley sisters. During her stay it became apparent that Mr Darcy had grown increasingly fond of Elizabeth while her feelings for him were the complete opposite.
Eventually Jane and Elizabeth returned home. Life returns to normal for a while until the arrival of the militia to Longbourn. Their arrival causes great happiness among the Bennet sisters, particularly Lydia and Kitty.
Mr Collins, their cousin, also arrives at Longbourn with the certainty that he would marry one of the girls. He proposes to Elizabeth but she turns him down. He did not take this to well and left to stay with the Lucas family where he eventually proposed to Charlotte Lucas. Jane received word from Miss Bingley that the whole party were going to London as Mr Bingley had business to attend; she then went on to say that she was certain that they would not be returning anytime soon, this news left Jane heartbroken. Jane goes to London for three months to visit her aunt and uncle the Gardiners. She hopes she will see Mr. Bingley, but Miss Bingley makes it clear that she no longer wishes to keep up the friendship. That spring, Elizabeth visits the now married Charlotte, who lives near the home of Mr Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. On the last day of Mr Darcy’s stay, Elizabeth finds out that Darcy encouraged Mr Bingley to stay away from Jane, and when he proposes to Elizabeth she turns him down.
To explain his actions Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth. After reading the letter, Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy changes. On returning home they receive news that the militia is leaving town. During the course of their stay in the area Lydia became very close to the generals wife and she is invited to stay with them in the next town they are stationed in. With the arrival of June, Elizabeth and the Gardiners her relatives, go on a holiday. The trip takes her to the North and eventually to the neighbourhood of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate. After making sure that Darcy was away, she visits the estate. Suddenly, Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his proposal, he entertains the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister. The following day Elizabeth is introduced to his sister and Mr Bingley also greets her. Elizabeth’s trip was struck short on receiving a letter from Jane stating that Lydia had run off with Mr Wickham and they were nowhere to be found. On hearing the contents of the letter, Darcy leaves Elizabeth in search of Wickham but Elizabeth didn’t know this at the time. Elizabeth returned home and they waited anxiously for news on Lydia, they eventually heard that Lydia was married to Wickham and it was all arranged by their uncle Mr Gardiner. Life returned to normal in the Bennett household for a short while. Lydia and Wickham visited the house before travelling to Scotland. Shortly after this Mr Bingley and his party returned to Netherfield much to the delight of the Bennett sisters.
Bingley proposes to Jane and she accepts. While out on a walk with Elizabeth Darcy professes his love for Elizabeth and she acts favourable toward him. The two couples then marry.
Themes
As seen in many of Jane Austen’s novels, major themes seen in her books are love, society, class, wealth and marriage. Other themes running through this book are the notion of pride and prejudice in human behaviour. Pride can be seen in many of the characters in the novel. Regarding Mr Darcy, he has a very high view of himself and is quite arrogant. On the other hand Elizabeth’s temperament is not naturally full of pride but by Darcy ridiculing her family and also by refusing to dance with her Elizabeth’s pride was damaged and this leads her to become prejudiced towards him. Also when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth her pride will not allow her to accept even if it was the best thing to do as her future was uncertain. This can also be seen in the case of Charlotte marrying Mr Collins. In the novel she states that she did not marry for love but for security, as many women did in them times. One of the major themes seen in this book focuses on relationships, mostly the importance of marriage; particularly for woman in Regency society, due to the fact that a woman’s economic and social status depends on men. Examples of this being the fact that none of the Bennet women could inherit the Bennet estate and also as mentioned earlier Charlotte’s statement about marrying for money and not love. Austen gave a voice to the women who were in her position in society.
Pride is a strong theme throughout the novel and could be seen as an attribute of upper social standing in society. The effect of damaged pride could be perceived as being prejudice as seen when Darcy ridicules Elizabeth’s family. Humour is used by Austen to highlight and criticise the position of women and the conditions of the times.
Pride is a strong theme throughout the novel and could be seen as an attribute of upper social standing in society. The effect of damaged pride could be perceived as being prejudice as seen when Darcy ridicules Elizabeth’s family. Humour is used by Austen to highlight and criticise the position of women and the conditions of the times.