Mr Bennet of the Longbourne estate has 5 daughters, but his property is entailed meaning that none of the girls can inherit it. Having married a woman who had no fortune, it is imperative that one of the girls marries well in order to support the others on his death. However, Jane Austen's opening line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife' is a sentence filled with irony and playfulness. The novel revolves around the necessity of marrying for love, not simply for mercenary reasons despite the social pressures to make a good (i.e) wealthy match.
Pride and Prejudice retains the fascination of modern readers, consistently appearing near the top of lists of "most-loved books" among both literary scholars and the general public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold, and paved the way for many archetypes that abound in modern literature. Continuing interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters or themes.
The Bennet Family consist of five daughters. The elder of the girls Jane and Elizabeth are intelligent, rational young women; The younger daughters Mary, Kitty and Lydia are thoughtless and silly. Mr Bennet himself is an aloof father watching rather than guiding his daughters, Mrs Bennet is as foolish as her younger children.
The novel opens with Mrs Bennet trying to persuade Mr Bennet to visit an eligible batchelor Mr Bingley who has arrived in the neighbourhood. After some verbal sparring with Mr Bennet baiting his wife it transpires that this visit has taken place. The visit is proceeded by an invitation to a ball at Netherfield (Mr Bingley's rented house).
At the ball Mr Bingley is open and cheerful, popular with all the guests and appears very attracted to the beautiful Miss Bennet. His friend, Mr Darcy, is reputed to be twice as wealthy, however is haughty and aloof. He declines to dance with Elizabeth suggesting that she is not pretty enough to tempt him. She finds this amusing and jokes about the statement with her friends. Miss Jane Bennet also attracts the attention of Mr Bingley's sister Caroline, who invites her to visit.
Jane visits Miss Bingley and is caught in a shower on the way catching a serious cold. Elizabeth, out of genuine concern for her sister's well being, visits her sister there. This is a chance to see the Bingley family circle and is the point at which Darcy begins to see the attraction of Elizabeth. The reader also becomes aware of Miss Bingley's jealousy of Elizabeth.
Mr Collins, a cousin of Mr Bennett and heir to the Longbourn estate visits the Bennett family. He is a pompous and obsequious clergyman though because of his position as heir expects each of the Bennett girls to wish to marry him. He does not propose to Jane because he is led to believe that she is otherwise engaged however he does intend to propose to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth and her family meet the dashing and charming Mr Wickham who singles out Elizabeth and tells her a story of the hardship that Mr Darcy has caused him by depriving him of the money promised to him by Mr Darcy's late father. Elizabeth's dislike of Mr Darcy is confirmed.
At a ball at which Mr Wickham is not present Elizabeth dances with Mr Darcy rather against her will. Other than Jane and Elizabeth all the members of The Bennet family show their lack of decorum. Mrs Bennet states loudly that she expects Jane and Bingley to become engaged and each member of the family exposes the whole to ridicule.
The following morning Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth: She in sparkling terms rejects him to the fury of her mother and the relief of her father. It is here that the reader sees that Elizabeth will not conform to societies expectations. The news is received that the Bingleys' are leaving for London, and that Mr Collin's has proposed to Charlotte Lucas a sensible lady and Elizabeth's friend. She is slightly older and is grateful to receive a proposal that will guarantee her a home. Elizabeth is aghast at such pragmatism in matters of love.
Jane goes to visit her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner at an unfashionable address in London. Miss Bingley clearly does not want to continue the friendship and Jane is upset though very composed.
In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her hosts are frequently invited to Rosings Park, the imposing home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Lady Catherine is Mr Darcy's aunt and extremely wealthy. She expects Mr Darcy to marry her daughter. Mr Darcy and his cousin Colonel FitzWilliam visit Lady Catherine. Colonel FitzWilliam tells Elizabeth how Mr Darcy managed to save a friend from a bad match by convincing the friend of the lady's indifference. Elizabeth is horrified at Darcy's involvement in an affair which has caused her sister so much pain. Mr Darcy, however has fallen in love with Elizabeth and proposes to her. She rejects him in a dazzling display of independence. She states that she could not love a man who has caused her sister such unhappiness, and also accuses him of treating Mr Wickham unjustly and almost ruining him. Mr Darcy accuses her family of wanting propriety and suggests he has been kinder to Bingley than himself. Both are furious and they part barely speaking.
The following morning Mr Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter that explains that his treatment of Mr Wickham was caused by the fact that Mr Wickham after wasting all the money that he inherited from Darcy's father, who was Wickham's godfather, tried to extort extra money with threats and then trying to elope with Darcy's 16 year old sister Georgiana. He also claimed that he believed that Miss Bennett did not love Mr Bingley. Elizabeth begins to rejudge Mr Darcy on a clearer basis.
Some months later, Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle Gardiner visit Mr Darcy's estate in Derbyshire, Pemberly. While there Elizabeth hears an account of him from the housekeeper as being kind and generous. She looks at his portrait and is struck with how kind he looks. When Mr Darcy returns unexpectedly he is overwhelmingly kind and civil and invites Elizabeth and the Gardiner's to meet his sister and go shooting. Elizabeth is surpised and delighted by the kindness to herself and her aunt. However she suddenly has very shocking and distressing news from Longbourne. Her sister Lydia has eloped with Mr Wickham. She tells Mr Darcy immediately and departs in haste believing she will never see him again as Lydia's disgrace would ruin the family's good name.
After an agonizing wait Mr Wickham is persuaded to marry Lydia with only the payment of debts required. With some degree of decency restored Lydia visits Elizabeth and tells her that Mr Darcy was at the wedding. Mrs Gardiner informs Elizabeth that it is Mr Darcy who has made the match and hints that he may have a motive for doing so.
Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth under the impression that she is going to marry Mr Darcy, Elizabeth refuses to deny this claim and Lady Catherine leaves outraged by her perceived insolence.
At this point Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy return to Netherfield. Bingley proposes to Jane and is accepted much to the delight of all. Darcy and Elizabeth go for a walk together and at this point Elizabeth thanks him for all he has done for her family. Darcy replies that he thought only of her. In the course of this walk they become engaged.
Elizabeth then has to convince her father that she is not marrying for money. He is very concerned and it is only after she speaks about Mr Darcy's true worth that he is happy about the wedding.
Link to the review by The Morning Call here
