Pride And Prejudice

This Pride and Prejudice book summary illustrates all the valuable lessons learned by the Bennet sisters.

Pride and Prejudice is a story about five sisters and the love affairs of three of them. The author, Jane Austen, does a perfect job of setting up her characters, making the reader feel like they can actually crack into the characters' minds and think the way they think and feel the way they feel.

Jane Austen also does a great job in showing the reader that people are not always the way they appear when you first meet them.

Elizabeth Bennet

The two main characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Along the way the reader also meets Elizabeth’s mother, father, and four sisters: Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia, Elizabeth’s silly cousin: Mr. Collins, Mr. Darcy’s best friend: Mr. Bingley, and Mr. Darcy’s arch enemy: Mr. Wickham. The story is ultimately about the conflict of feeling between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. 

Although her father is a gentleman, her mother’s family is “in trade”, meaning they must work for their living, and the Bennet girls are considered as bad matches for men of fortune. Unfortunately they have no brother and their father’s estate will go to their second cousin, Mr. Collins, a silly young clergyman who intends to “heal the breach” between the families by marrying one of the Bennet girls, and he has fixed his eye on Elizabeth for his future wife. 

Elizabeth is a clever, energetic, young woman of twenty who relies greatly upon her first impressions and allows predetermined ideas to rule her opinion of everyone. Some detestable stories from Mr. Wickham lay down the foundation of Elizabeth’s opinion of the proud but handsome Mr. Darcy who is new to her part of the country.

She is determined to hate him forever. Her feeling of dislike for him continues to grow the more and more acquainted she is with him. Mr. Darcy’s every action afterward proves in her eyes the truth of Wichham’s lies. 

Later when Mr. Darcy proposes to her, she not only turns him down but also tells him the reasons for her refusal. Not long after, her eyes are opened to Darcy’s reasoning behind his mask of indifference.

She then regrets what she has said and, the next time he proposes, accepts him. Elizabeth learns that although certain people do a good job of appearing to be wholesome, it is possible that people may seem unpleasant, but are really those doing what is right. As she says herself:

“One has got all the goodness and the other all the appearance of it.”

Jane Bennet

Elizabeth's older sister Jane is her closest friend and the two confide in each other although they do not always have the same opinion as Jane is a very sweet girl who cannot hear of anyone having a single defect. Elizabeth is very playful and enjoys a good joke.

Jane is the sweetheart of Mr. Bingley. When Bingley leaves town, Jane is vexed and goes to London hoping to see Mr. Bingley. She does not see him and she returns home.

But then Bingley returns and proposes. Jane announces that she only wishes that there is a man made perfectly for Elizabeth. Elizabeth then tells Jane,

“If you were to give me forty such men, I never could be as happy as you. Till I have your disposition, your goodness, I never can have your happiness.”

Jane ends up marrying the man she loves and digging Lydia, the youngest as well as silliest sister who ends up as the wife of an indebted man, out of all their debts.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy also prides himself in being true to his first impressions of people and even says that his “good opinion once lost is lost forever.” He finds the failings of those around him most readily and has no problem with snubbing those who he thinks below his dignity, the Bennet family being no exception.

In fact, he thinks that the Bennets’ situation is “decidedly below his own”. He is very wealthy and hopes that everyone values his worth. Unfortunately for him, his overbearing aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourg, is hard-set on his marrying her daughter and joining the two’s estates. He does not love his cousin and detests his aunt.

Although Lady Catherine claims they have been betrothed from birth, Mr. Darcy does not plan on letting anyone tell him what to do with his future especially as regards where he will bestow his love and fortune of ten thousand pounds a year. Besides he finds himself in ever more danger of falling very deeply in love with what he calls the “fine-eyed”, clever, and playful Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Pride And Prejudice Book Summary Bottom Line:

The climax of the story comes when Mr. Darcy’s feeling of attraction and Elizabeth’s feeling of revulsion reach their apex, and Mr. Darcy decides it is time to propose. Elizabeth promptly refuses his proposal, and Mr. Darcy finds he must now prove his worth instead of expecting the person of his highest aims to take it for granted.

He immediately sets out to do so and still hopes to one day call Elizabeth Mrs. Darcy. The sudden and unfortunate disappearance of Elizabeth’s youngest sister with Mr. Wickham proves to be Mr. Darcy’s big chance. Elizabeth’s family is powerless to provide for Mr. and Mrs. Wickham if they can be found and do get married and Mr. Darcy now has the opportunity to be a hero in Elizabeth’s eyes by providing for them himself.

The style of writing engages each reader with its friendliness and amusing characters. What is more, the story is not only interesting, but also brings forth many useful lessons. Pride and Prejudice is a must read for every woman who enjoys a good clean, and yet fun romance novel!