Pride and Prejudice

Novel written by Jane Austen and published in 1813, said to be “the one most widely read and most often reread” (Bush 91) of Austen´s novels.

Content

In the centre of the story is Elizabeth Bennet, a (especially for that time) strong and independent-minded young woman and one of the five daughters of Mr and Mrs Bennet. She – like her sisters – is in the unfortunate position to find herself poor and homeless if her father dies without them being married. Her mother is therefore keen to find husbands for their daughters as soon as possible, unfortunately making it rather worse than easier for her elder daughters Elizabeth and Jane when constantly making a fool of herself in public and embarrassing them. When two rich gentlemen arrive in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet sees the chance to marry her eldest daughter Jane. Mr Bingley, one of the gentlemen, and Jane seem to like each other from the start, whereas Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, the other gentleman, who is rather snobbish and arrogant, are wary of each other, and although there´s some spark between them, they just think the worst of each other. Elizabeth soon receives a proposal by her cousin, Mr Collins, who spends a visit at her father´s house and whom she absolutely dislikes. She rejects it to the dismay of her mother, only to find out that one of her best friends, Charlotte Lucas, accepts his proposal some time later, being afraid of dying an old maid and being left penniless after her parents´ death. Elizabeth is horrified that Charlotte marries without affection and is even more shattered when Bingley and Darcy leave, leaving Jane back in tears. When visiting her friend Charlotte and her new husband, she and the couple are invited to meet Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a snobbish rich lady and Mr Darcy´s aunt. He is also there to visit his aunt and, having been impolite and cold to Elizabeth before, surprisingly proposes to her one afternoon. She turns it down angrily and accuses him of having separated her sister and Bingley, and also other things, which Darcy takes up to tell her the truth about in a letter later. This letter changes Elizabeth´s perspective on things and she must see that she not only accused Darcy of wrong things, but by doing it she destroyed the tiny chance there was to marry him. Some time later she travels with her aunt and uncle though the country and visits Darcy´s estate on their way. The two meet and seem to have come to an understanding, when a letter arrives saying Elizabeth´s youngest sister has eloped with a young man, Mr Wickham. Elizabeth is horrified, knowing that such a situation would bring shame on the whole family, ruin them and destroy the other daughter´s chances to marry. Mr Darcy, with the help of Elizabeth´s uncle, tracks them down and puts some effort and a lot of money in it to marry them secretly. Elizabeth is now absolutely sure that every chance to be with Darcy is destroyed concerning how humiliating the majority of her family acted, but one day she observes, much to her surprise, Mr Bingley proposing to her sister Jane. She also receives an unexpected proposal herself by Mr Darcy in the end. Both had to overcome their pride and also their prejudices to see the good in the other person and to admit their love to each other.

About the Novel

Jane Austen´s novel is a great portrait of how the situation was like for women in the 18th century. Being born in a certain class meant to be born with certain standards, in the upper classes privileges and, of course, restrictions concerning the marriage market. Elizabeth, is the “daughter of a gentleman, [but] a gentleman far below Darcy in station and income” (Bush 91), so there´s some class distinction between the two (as between Bingley and Jane) from the beginning. Behaviour and manners play also an important role. So some of Elizabeth´s family, that is the youngest sisters, her mother and sometimes even her father, behave in public in a way that doesn´t apply to certain rules, which Mr Darcy dislikes immediately, and extends it to the whole family although Elizabeth, Jane and also their aunt and uncle are well-educated people and fulfill these rules. Later Darcy has to see that people of his own class, like his aunt, for example, don´t apply these manners and rules either, whereas he has to realize that the family of a person doesn´t say much about the person´s individual being. Marriage above class restrictions and out of love is in the centre of this novel. But other things, typical for this time, can be seen as well, for example the shame an elopement could bring upon a family or that staying unmarried, like Charlotte Lucas, could mean a disaster at that time.

Sources

• Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Books, 1994.
• Bush, Douglas. Jane Austen. London: Macmillan, 1975.
• Liddell, Robert. The Novels of Jane Austen. London: Longmans, 1969.