INTRODUCTION:
Jane Austen began writing the novel which later became 'Pride and Prejudice' in October of 1796 and finished it by August of the following year; she was then twenty-one years old. Little is known of this early version of the story beyond its original title: 'First Impressions'. Three months after Miss Austen completed work on the book, her father offered it to a publisher in the hope that it would make it into print. The publisher refused without ever having seen the manuscript.
Fortunately for all of her admirers, whether Austen was discouraged or not by her first rejection, she continued to write; though, it was not until the winter of 1811, fully fourteen years after finishing 'First Impressions', that she again picked up that manuscript and began revising it into the version we know today as 'Pride and Prejudice'. This occurred in the wake of her first publishing success--the publication of 'Sense and Sensibility' on 30 October 1811. 'Pride and Prejudice' was far more fortunate than its earlier incarnation; it was accepted for publication and was presented to the world on 28 January 1813.
With the passage of time, the novel gained more and more popularity. 'Pride and Prejudice', like other novels of Austen, portrays the middle-class and country-squires' lives, especially the vicissitudes of the young lovers. Austen's characterization is a bit sentimental, yet it seldom becomes flat. Realism is a marked characteristic of Austen's novels. She never stepped outside her familiar realm, which is the chief reason of her being able to faithfully represent the said life. In the words of the author herself, 'Pride and Prejudice' is "rather too light and bright and sparkling". However, the readers never fail to find out the genial wit and humour present in each chapter of the novel. The prose style of Austen is remarkable for its studied effortlessness.
The immense popularity of 'Pride and Prejudice' led its being made into films and plays a number of times. In 'The Big Read', a BBC-survey of Britain's most loved books of all times in 2003, 'Pride and Prejudice' was voted as the second loved book of the nation, only after Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'.
LIST OF CHARACTERS:
Mrs. Bennet – The mother of the five Bennet daughters and an avid matchmaker, she is often described and acts vulgar, embarrassing her daughters and disinteresting suitors and their families. She is often very quick to push them towards potential husbands and acts with minimal intelligence on certain matters, relying instinct instead.
Mr. Bennet – Largely quiet and witty with his replies, Mr. Bennet is a country gentleman and father of five daughters. He occasionally makes rash and poor decisions but is considered in higher regard than his more crass wife.
Jane Bennet – The eldest of the Bennet daughters is considered very beautiful and shy and often acts without outward emotion, confusing those around her. She is good natured and only sees the good in others, at times rather naively.
Elizabeth Bennet - The protagonist of the novel and the second Bennet daughter, Elizabeth is considered witty and sarcastic with her own streak of pride. She is a little plain compared to her sisters, but has a much keener wit and eventually falls in love with Mr. Darcy despite her early dislike of him.
Mary Bennet - The only sister of the five who does not often participate in social events or leave the house, Mary starts the book in her room reading and ends it in her room reading, with her mother begging her attentions.
Kitty Bennet – As the fourth daughter, Kitty often goes with Lydia to meet with the soldiers. She plays a very small role in the course of the novel save to visit and discuss matters with her other sisters.
Lydia Bennet – The youngest Bennet daughter as well as the least thoughtful of the five. She makes rash decisions and though she is Mrs. Bennet’s favorite, she finds herself shunned by her father and the rest of her family when she runs off and nearly elopes with Wickham.
George Wickham – A childhood acquaintance of Darcy, Wickham is a military officer who pretends to be slighted by Darcy in order to gain favor with women. He begged money of him and almost eloped with his sister before Darcy cut him off and eventually he does the same with Lydia and the Bennet family.
Mr. Collins – The cousin and nearest male heir of Mr. Bennet, Mr. Collins will receive the property when Mr. Bennet dies. He is a clergyman for Lady de Bourgh’s estate and acts with a degree of self-importance that angers Mr. Bennet.
Charles Bingley – The first gentleman and suitor introduced in the book is Bingley, the young gentleman who moves to within 3 miles of the Bennets and excites their prospects of a strong match with Jane. He falls in love with Jane early but is talked out of the match by his sisters and Darcy due to the low standing of the Bennet family and Jane’s apparent disinterest.
Mr. Darcy – A wealthy gentleman from Derbyshire, Darcy is at first a rude and unpleasant fellow, full of pride and ill will who eventually comes to love Elizabeth and change his mannerisms for her. He shows his love for her by helping her sister in the marriage to Wickham and by being cordial and polite after her refusal of marriage. He eventually succeeds in winning her love in return.
Miss Bingley – Largely interested in Mr. Darcy as a match, Miss Bingley is shallow and petty, pretending to befriend Jane and Elizabeth while bad mouthing them both behind their backs. Her attitude is considered ill by many of the books other characters and she plays a central role in keeping Bingley away from Jane when they move back to London.
Lady Catherina de Bourgh – An aunt of Darcy and mother of his prospective match, she is very arrogant and domineering and goes so far as to travel to the Bennet home and threaten Elizabeth when she hears a rumor of her possible marriage to Darcy.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner – Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle, they are instrumental in assisting with the marriage of Lydia, and the reunion of Darcy and Elizabeth. They are both highly regarded by all members of the family and largely liked.
SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL:
Chapter 1
Here we are introduced to Mr and Mrs. Bennet, both of the Longbourn Estate. Mrs. Bennet arrives with some interesting news that a wealthy gentleman from the north has arrived in Netherfield, moved to a nearby estate. She has plans immediately to marry him to one of her daughters. She warns her husband that she will send him to see the new neighbor Bingley as soon as he arrives. She also reminds him of their daughters while he muses on how Elizabeth is his favorite daughter with “something more of quickness than her sisters”. Knowingly he questions why his visit to Bingley is so important.
Chapter 2
Elizabeth and three of her sisters are introduced, including Kitty, Mary, and Lydia. After Mr. Bennet’s early teasing over visiting Bingley, in chapter 2 it is revealed that he was first in line to meet Mr. Bingley, and subsequently the rest of the chapter is spent considering when Bingley will visit the Bennets in response.
Chapter 3
Bingley returns Mr. Bennet’s visit and the Bennets invite him to have dinner with them but he declines as he has business in town. When he returns for a nearby ball thrown by Sir William and Lady Lucas, he brings his own sisters and Mr. Darcy. The first introduction of Darcy is not favorable as the ladies observe that he is rich and attractive but too proud. He makes his own comments on Elizabeth, that she is not quite “handsome enough” for his tastes, turning down someone’s comment for him to ask her to dance. Jane, meanwhile dances with Bingley and excites Mrs. Bennet.
Chapter 4
In each other’s confidence, Jane tells Elizabeth that she admires Bingley and that she enjoys his sisters’ company as well. Elizabeth is not so easily charmed and finds her sister too easy to impress, “blind to the follies and nonsense of others”. She finds his sisters proud all by themselves and too eager for Bingley to make his own estate (he inherited his money from his father). Miss Bingley, the unmarried of his sisters will live with him in Netherfield and the friendship between Darcy and Bingley is revealed to be rather deep with Bingley having a high regard for Darcy’s intelligence.
Chapter 5
Chapter five introduces more of Sir William and Lady Lucas and their family, which is quite large with many children. Their oldest daughter Charlotte is one of Elizabeth’s best friends and the chapter shows the conversations between the Lucas and Bennet daughters as they discuss Mr. Darcy and his pride, including his unwillingness to talk to a woman he sat beside for as much as half an hour and how rude he was to Elizabeth. They agree however that much of her being upset is because he was rude to her.
Chapter 6
In chapter six, the Bennet sisters spend more time with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, although Bingley’s sisters are largely disinterested in spending time with anyone but Jane and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Charlotte discuss Jane’s budding relationship with Bingley and the two disagree over how she should show her feelings, with Elizabeth agreeing with Jane’s coy approach and Charlotte thinking she should be more straightforward, lest nothing come of it.
Also in this chapter, Darcy begins to show a bit more interest in Elizabeth. Beyond his early observations that she was just tolerable, he begins to find her much more interesting and when he willingly takes her hand to dance at another party at Sir William’s, she turns him down. It is here though that Bingley’s sisters discover that Darcy has an interest in Elizabeth.
Chapter 7
The two youngest Bennet sisters, Kitty and Lydia, visit their Aunt (via their mother) Mrs. Phillips in Meryton. There is a military base of sorts in Meryton and in due time the two become acquainted with the officers in the regiment, learning more on each visit.
Jane is invited to Netherfield to have supper with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst (not to mention Bingley himself) and is advised by her mother to go on horseback so that if there is rain, she will be invited to stay the night. In the course of the three mile ride, Jane is soaked by the rain and does in fact stay there, but gets a cold in the process. Elizabeth therefore visits her to check on her health and ends up staying herself at the request of her sister.
Chapter 8
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst however do not fully appreciate Elizabeth and take the opportunity to jab at her pride and lack of manners whenever she is not around. They voice their empathy for Jane as well because of her family and lack of connections. They worry for her chances at making a good match.
That evening, the Bingleys, Hursts, and Darcy have a card game in which more details regarding Pemberley – Darcy’s own estate – and his sisters are revealed.
Chapter 9
The rest of the Bennet women arrive to visit Jane – Mrs. Bennet, Kitty, and Lydia – and it is generally decided that she should not yet return home as she is not quite perfectly healthy. Lydia plays her part well and mentions to Bingley that he had made mention of a ball being held at his own estate, to which he agrees when Jane is feeling better. Mrs. Bennet discusses the differences between country and city living with the Bingley sisters, after which they once again take to jabs at the Bennet family. Darcy, however will not take the opportunity himself to join in mocking Elizabeth.
Chapter 10
As Jane continues recovering, with the women reading, writing, and playing music, Darcy asks Elizabeth to dance. She once again turns him down, unwilling to allow him “the pleasure of despising” her and her taste. Miss Bingley grows increasingly jealous of Darcy’s attentions for Elizabeth, a girl she finds beneath her.
Chapter 11
With Jane finally feeling better, she arrives in the drawing room and spends a few hours of the evening talking with Bingley in the drawing room. Meanwhile, Miss Bingley engages him in discussion of the ball, to which he replies that he was serious about having one. She also notices that Darcy does not pay her any attentions but that when she asks Elizabeth to walk with her, he takes note.
Darcy and Elizabeth have a conversation of their own on the nature of pride in each of them. She comments that his problem is a “propensity to hate everybody” and he responds by saying that she tries to “willfully misunderstand” those same people.
Chapter 12
With Jane’s recovery complete, she and Elizabeth decide to return to the Bennet household. However, their mother makes excuses as to why they cannot use the carriage to return. Jane is finally coerced into borrowing Bingley’s carriage, but it means they will need to wait for one more day to leave.
Meanwhile, Darcy notes that he has been paying too much attention to Elizabeth and decides to speak with her less. The next day the Bennet sisters return home to a mother who is not entirely happy that Jane has returned, having wanted her to stay with Bingley as long as possible. Kitty and Lydia do their part by spilling the details of the military officers in Meryton.
Chapter 13
Mr. Bennet announces, after some playfulness in withholding the name, that his cousin Mr. Collins has written him a letter and will be staying with them for a few days. He is the heir of Mr. Bennet’s estate because he has no sons. For his part, Mr. Collins is guilty over being the next in line for property that should not rightfully be his. He is a man of the church as well and has been given an important patronage. Mr. Bennet does not appreciate the letter however and decides that his cousin is too self important. When Mr. Collins arrives, he is the picture of perfect manners and compliments and it is soon realized that he intends to marry one of the Bennet girls.
Chapter 14
Mr. Collins goes on at length during dinner about his patronage, the Lady Catherin de Bourgh and her residence in Rosings Park. He continues on and relays how he is exceptionally well suited at flattering Lady de Bourgh and her daughter Miss de Bourgh. Mr. Bennet is not impressed and finds his cousin rather silly.
Chapter 15
Very quickly, Mr. Collins decides that due to his obligation in the inheritance he will ask for Jane’s hand in marriage, but is dissuaded when Mrs. Bennet tells him that there is another to whom she will likely soon be engaged. Quickly, Mr. Collins changes his choice to Elizabeth. The Bennet sisters, accompanied by Collins take a walk to Meryton where they run across Mr. Denny, one of Lydia and Kitty’s officer friends. He has with him a Mr. Wickham, a recently commissioned corps member of Mr. Denny, whom Elizabeth finds rather appealing. As the group meets and discusses matters, Bingley and Darcy arrive, to which Elizabeth takes note of both Darcy and Wickham’s change in color at meeting each other, with Darcy appearing angry at the officer.
The sisters quickly move on with Mr. Collins to visit Mrs. Phillips, who invites them to dinner the next day. At the dinner there will bee numerous other guests including some of the officers and Mr. Wickham.
Chapter 16
The Bennet sisters and Mr. Collins arrive at Mrs. Phillips’ for dinner the next day where Mr. Wickham is as well. Wickham and Elizabeth engage in a long evening of conversation in which the topic of Mr. Darcy is brought up and her disgust with his pride. Wickham speaks highly of Darcy’s father as “one of the best men that ever breathed”, who bestowed upon his son a decent sum that would have kept him well off for as long as he lived. He also reveals that he grew up with Darcy as his father was steward for Darcy’s father and that in the will Wickham was to receive a post as a Clergy of one the Rectory that Darcy’s family oversees. However, Darcy did not honor the will, which angers Elizabeth to no end. Wickham expands by adding that Darcy’s sister is equally full of pride and that he is Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s nephew and is intended to marry Miss de Bourgh. Elizabeth is left for the evening to dwell on Wickham’s words.
Chapter 17
Elizabeth and Jane discuss Wickham’s revelations from the night before. Jane, as one who always looks for the good, entreats Elizabeth to consider that there might be a misunderstanding somehow as no man would disrespect his father’s wishes in such a manner. Elizabeth believes Wickham however. The Bingley sisters arrive in the meantime to invite everyone to the Netherfield ball, though they leave quickly to avoid speaking with the younger Bennet sisters or their mother. The Bennets are duly excited and all of them agree to attend, even Mary, who never participates in these events. Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth for the first two dances, which she is disappointed by as she had hoped to save those for Mr. Wickham.
Chapter 18
Upon arriving at the ball, Elizabeth realizes that Wickham would likely not attend because of Darcy. Mr. Denny relays that he had to go to town on business instead. Elizabeth is mortified in the first two dances by Mr. Collins being “awkward and solemn, apologizing instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it.” Darcy once again asks for her hand to dance and she relents this time, offering him the next two dances.
To throw him off, she breaches conversation during the dance and quickly turns to the topic of Wickham, hoping to disrupt him. He only states that Wickham is very good at socializing and making friends, but has problems with keeping those friends. Sir William drops nearby and hints at future congratulations for Bingley and Jane.
The night continues and Elizabeth is duly embarrassed by her family as her mother uncouthly reminds everyone of Jane and Bingley’s budding relationship and her sister Mary does a poor job of singing. The last to leave, the Bennets are not missed by Bingley’s sisters.
Chapter 19
Mr. Collins arrives to the drawing room and asks Mrs. Bennet and Kitty for some alone time with Elizabeth. She tries to keep her family with her but realizes that she might as well deal with the inevitable. Collins lays out why he is proposing, including Lady de Bourgh’s advice to do so and proposes to her. Elizabeth however, rejects him as she says they would not make each other happy. Collins finds her rejection to be an attempt at modesty and decides to wait and ask again. Despite her avid declaration that she will continue rejecting him, Collins believes that eventually he can woo her by asking again.
Chapter 20
Mrs. Bennet however is upset by Elizabeth’s refusal, regardless of how Collins feels. She decides she must convince her daughter to marry him and calls on her husband to help. She states that if Elizabeth refuses she will never talk to her again. For his part, Mr. Bennet says the opposite, not wanting Collins to marry into his family. Elizabeth continues to refuse and Charlotte soon arrives and learns of what has happened, taking the opportunity to get to know Collins.
Chapter 21
After he withdraws his suit to, Collins quickly begins to ignore Elizabeth in favor of Charlotte. The girls visit Meryton again where they run across Wickham. He relays that his absence at the ball was due to his desire to avoid Darcy. He walks her back home where she introduces him to her parents. Jane receives a letter shortly from Miss Bingley stating that the Bingleys have returned to London indefinitely and that Bingley will hopefully be marrying Georgiana, Darcy’s sister. Elizabeth does her part by relaying that it is likely the doing of Miss Bingley and not Bingley himself and that he will return shortly. However, Jane is incapable of believing that Bingley’s sisters could be so deceiving and so thinks that they must be looking out for what is best for him.
Chapter 22
The Bennets visit the Lucas’s the next day for dinner and Elizabeth relays her gratitude to Charlotte for spending time with Collins. However, it is revealed that much of that attention is in hopes of garnering his desire to her. They are soon engaged to be married and Elizabeth is shocked that her friend would agree to marry someone when there is no love and almost certain unhappiness. Collins leaves soon thereafter to his parish.
Chapter 23
When Sir William arrives to announce to the Bennets that Charlotte and Collins are engaged, Mrs. Bennet is angry all on her own. Charlotte and Elizabeth quickly change in each other’s company and Elizabeth believes they can no longer be truly close in light of what has happened. Mrs. Bennet, along with her anger over Collins, wonders if the Bingleys will return, upsetting Jane further. Elizabeth begins to fear herself that the Bingley sisters might be successful in their attempt to keep Bingley away from Jane.
Chapter 24
Miss Bingley sends yet another letter to Jane, informing her that they will be staying in London for the duration of the winter. Elizabeth finally tells Mrs. Bennet that her constantly talking of Bingley is bringing Jane pain. Caught up on her own problems, Elizabeth continues to talk against the marriage of Charlotte and Collins with Jane. She also tries to comfort her though, stating that Bingley’s sisters and Darcy are keeping him away from her. Wickham spends more time with the Bennets and soon the stories of Darcy’s ill treatment of him become public knowledge.
Chapter 25
Mr. Collins leaves again for his parish and Mrs. Bennet’s brother Mr. Gardiner and his wife arrive for Christmas. Mrs. Gardiner is very close to both Jane and Elizabeth and when she learns what has happened with Jane and Bingley and invites Jane to stay with her in London for a while.
[to be continued]
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