-Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel by Jane Austen, published anonymously in three volumes in

1813. It has inspired many stage and screen productions, one notable adaptation being a 1995 TV
miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

-Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice. She published three other novels during her
lifetime: Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Emma. Her novels Persuasion and Northanger
Abbey were published posthumously.

-Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a
country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. They must overcome the
titular sins of pride and prejudice in order to fall in love and marry.

-The famous first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Characters

Pride and Prejudice is set in rural England at the turn of the 19th century, and it follows the Bennet
family, which includes five very different sisters. The eldest, Jane, is sweet-tempered and modest.
She is her sister Elizabeth’s confidant and friend. Elizabeth, the heroine of the novel, is intelligent and
high-spirited. She shares her father’s distaste for the conventional views of society as to the
importance of wealth and rank. The third daughter, Mary, is plain, bookish, and pompous, while Lydia
and Kitty, the two youngest, are flighty and immature.

Mr. Bennet is the family patriarch. He is fond of his two eldest daughters—especially his favourite,
Elizabeth—but takes a passive interest in the younger ones, ultimately failing to curb their childish
instincts. An intelligent but eccentric and sarcastic man, he does not care for society’s conventions
and mocks his wife’s obsession with finding suitable husbands for their daughters. As several scholars
have noted, however, Mrs. Bennet is rightfully concerned. Because of an entail, the modest family
estate is to be inherited by William Collins, Mr. Bennet’s nephew, who is the next male in line.
Indeed, as Austen scholar Mary Evans noted, “If Mrs. Bennett is slightly crazy, then perhaps she is so
because she perceives more clearly than her husband the possible fate of her five daughters if they
do not marry.” Unfortunately, Mrs. Bennet’s fervour and indelicacy often work against her interests.
A woman of little sense and much self-pity, she indulges her lively youngest daughters.

Throughout the novel, the Bennet sisters encounter several eligible bachelors, including Charles
Bingley, Darcy, Lieutenant George Wickham, and Collins. Bingley has recently let Netherfield estate,
which neighbours the Bennets’ home, Longbourn. Austen describes him as “good-looking and
gentlemanlike; [having] a pleasant countenance and easy, unaffected manners.” He has come by his
fortune through his family’s interest in trade, which was seen as a less respectable means of
obtaining wealth than by inheriting it, as his friend Darcy has done. Darcy is clearly a product of this
hierarchical thinking: he believes in the natural superiority of the wealthy landed gentry. He is
arrogant but perceptive.

Darcy’s estates were once managed by Wickham’s father, but he and Wickham are no longer
friendly. Wickham is attractive and charming, making him immediately popular among the women in
the nearby town of Meryton, where he and other soldiers have been stationed. Collins, on the other
hand, is “not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or
society.” He is a clergyman whose patron, the controlling Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is Darcy’s aunt.
Other supporting characters in the novel include Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte Lucas, who is described
as sensible and nearing an age where marriage is unlikely; Charlotte’s parents, Sir William and Lady
Lucas; Mrs. Bennet’s brother, Edward Gardiner, who works in trade, and his wife, both of whom are
generous and well-grounded; Bingley’s sisters, the snobbish and scheming Caroline and Louisa Hurst;
and Darcy’s 16-year-old sister, Georgiana, who is painfully shy but good-humoured.

Summary

The novel opens with one of the most famous lines in English literature: “It is a truth universally
acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” The
statement is seemingly what Mrs. Bennet thinks as she sets her sights on the newly arrived Bingley,
who she is sure will make a suitable husband for one of her daughters. At a ball, Bingley takes an
immediate interest in the beautiful and shy Jane. The encounter between his friend Darcy and
Elizabeth is less cordial. Although Austen shows them intrigued by each other, she reverses the
convention of first impressions: the pride of rank and fortune and prejudice against the social
inferiority of Elizabeth’s family hold Darcy aloof, while the pride of self-respect and prejudice against
Darcy’s snobbery hold Elizabeth equally aloof.

The pompous Collins soon arrives, hoping to marry one of the Bennet sisters. Mrs. Bennet steers him
toward Elizabeth, but the latter refuses his offer of marriage. He instead becomes engaged to her
friend Charlotte. During this time, Elizabeth encounters the charming Wickham. There is a mutual
attraction between the two, and he informs her that Darcy has denied him his inheritance.

After Bingley abruptly departs for London, Elizabeth’s dislike of Darcy mounts as she becomes
convinced that he is discouraging Bingley’s relationship with Jane. Darcy, however, has grown
increasingly fond of Elizabeth, admiring her intelligence and vitality. While visiting the now-married
Charlotte, Elizabeth sees Darcy, who professes his love for her and proposes. A surprised Elizabeth
refuses his offer, and, when Darcy demands an explanation, she accuses him of breaking up Jane and
Bingley and of denying Wickham his inheritance. Darcy subsequently writes Elizabeth a letter in
which he explains that he separated the couple largely because he did not believe Jane returned
Bingley’s affection. He also discloses that Wickham, after squandering his inheritance, tried to marry
Darcy’s then 15-year-old sister in an attempt to gain possession of her fortune. With these
revelations, Elizabeth begins to see Darcy in a new light.

Shortly thereafter the youngest Bennet sister, Lydia, elopes with Wickham. The news is met with
great alarm by Elizabeth, since the scandalous affair—which is unlikely to end in marriage—could ruin
the reputation of the other Bennet sisters. When she tells Darcy, he persuades Wickham to marry
Lydia, offering him money. Despite Darcy’s attempt to keep his intervention a secret, Elizabeth learns
of his actions. At the encouragement of Darcy, Bingley subsequently returns, and he and Jane
become engaged. Finally, Darcy proposes again to Elizabeth, who this time accepts.

-Bennet family, fictional characters in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice (1813). Mr. Bennet is
an intelligent but eccentric and sarcastic man who is fond of his two oldest daughters—especially his
favourite, Elizabeth—but scorns the rest of the family. He does not care for society’s conventions and
mocks his wife’s obsession with finding suitable husbands for their daughters. Mrs. Bennet is a
woman of little sense and much self-pity. The oldest daughter, Jane, is sweet-tempered and modest
and is her sister Elizabeth’s confidant and friend. Elizabeth, the heroine of the novel, is intelligent and
high-spirited. She shares her father’s distaste for the conventional views of society as to the
importance of wealth and rank. She is therefore initially prejudiced against the aristocratic hero,
Fitzwilliam Darcy, because of what she sees as his excessive pride amounting to arrogance. She
revises her opinion of him but retains her disdain for those who use their position in society to
intimidate others. The third daughter, Mary, is plain, bookish, and pompous. Lydia and Kitty, the two
youngest, are flighty and immature girls.

-Fitzwilliam Darcy, fictional character, the suitor of Elizabeth Bennet in the novel Pride and Prejudice
(1813) by Jane Austen. At first Elizabeth spurns him because of his extreme pride, but when Darcy
and Elizabeth come to know one another, his true character is revealed.

-At the end of the novel, Elizabeth and Darcy get married and go to live at Pemberley, while Jane and
Bingley move to an estate nearby. The other assorted family members gradually reconcile themselves
to the relationship and in most cases, end up on friendly terms.