Jane Austen:- Pride and Prejudice
Introduction to Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Today we'll be discussing a very famous novel by Jane Austen called Pride and Prejudice. In the literature world this is one of the finest written books and in this content, I have made it super easy for you all to understand and grasp the contents of the book. Let me introduce the novelty, the story set in the fictional villages of Longbourn, Netherfield and Pemberley in 19th century England. The novel is narrated by third person perspective. It clearly shows the influence of Samuel Richardson.
Section 1: Main Characters
The main characters of the novel. Let's see the Bennets family first. They live in a village called Longbourn. The head of the family is Mr. Bennett, a well educated, practical man, and his wife. Mrs. Bennett is a noisy and nervous woman, and the couple has five daughters. Who are they? Jane, the first one, the most beautiful of their daughters, Elizabeth or Lizzie, the smart, attractive protagonist of the novel, then we have Mary. Catherine of Kitty and last is Lydia. She's the youngest one now. Lydia is the most loved and spoiled by her mother. The only thing Mrs. Bennett dreams of marrying all her daughters to wealthy men. In fact, one of the very famous quotes and the opening line of the novel is it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. In fact the family announces that we can afford a servant and her daughters have nothing to do with the kitchen. Then comes the Bingleys family. They have just come from London to live in the neighbouring village of Netherfield. Mr. Charles Bingleys is a smart, wealthy and friendly young man, and Mrs. Bennett wants Mr. Bingley to marry one of her daughters. Now Mr. Bingley has two sisters, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst or Mrs. Hurst, and she is married to Mr. Hurst. Now, friends, let us meet the hero of the novel Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. He is the best friend of Charles Bingley and is very wealthy, unfriendly, aloof and arrogant. He has a younger sister, Georgiana and Darcy is the master of the huge estate in Pemberley. He has come to stay with Mr. Bingley in Netherfield. Other characters include Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth's best friend, who is a spinster, Mr. Collins, a clergyman and a prospective legal heir of Bennet family, George Wickham, a militia officer and godson of late Mr. Darcy, that is Darcy's father. We also meet Lady Catherine de Barrault, an overbearing and domineering woman and ultimately Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, uncle and aunt to the Bennet sisters.
Section 2: Budding Romance
Now friends, the novel begins in the village where Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live. They come to know that Mr. Bennet has organized a party and Mrs. Bennet is very keen on attending the party. Finally, and it is in this party where the Bennets and the Bingleys meet. Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet are immediately attracted to each other and dance together. Charles spokes Mr. Darcy to dance with Elizabeth. Now to this, Mr. Darcy replies that she isn't very pretty to look at and he is not interested in her at all. Meanwhile, Elizabeth overhears this conversation and dislikes Mr. Darcy for this rude behaviour. Now, Charles Bingley's sisters are in awe of Jane. So after the party, they invite her to dinner at their home the next day. Now Elizabeth, she accompanies Jane to Bingley's house in Netherfield Park. However, Jane falls sick because of being out in heavy rainfall. As a result, both the sisters have to spend a week in Netherfield Park. During this one week, Jane and Charles come close to each other. Contrary to this, initially Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth refuse to even see each other eye to eye. However, after some time, when Mr. Darcy observes how smart and witty Elizabeth is, he starts getting attracted to her. At this point, we come across a twist in the story. Now Charles' unmarried sister Caroline is envious of Elizabeth because she too likes Darcy. Now every time Darcy talks to Elizabeth, he is unable to swallow his pride. His pride and arrogance about his high social status is basically stronger than his attraction towards Elizabeth. The weekends and the two sisters return to Longbourn.
Section 3: Misconceptions
Now friends, at this point, another character enters the story, that is Mr. Collins, and he is the prospective legal heir of the Bennet family and has come to their estate to get married to one of the Bennet daughters. He proposes to Elizabeth, but she refuses to get married to him. He tries to convince her by telling her that her patron, Lady Catherine de Borough, has made him the Dean and he earns good money. Elizabeth is stubborn and rejects Mr. Collins' proposal. Mr. Collins is very disheartened. However, soon Elizabeth gets to know that he has proposed to her best friend, Charlotte Lucas, and she has accepted his proposal. Then we also meet another character, George Wickham. He is a militia officer and the godson of Darcy's late father. He provokes Elizabeth against Mr. Darcy and tells her that he lost his job because of him. Now, Elizabeth develops feelings for Wickham. Now, a few days pass and a ball is hosted by Bingley in Netherfield. Everyone has a good time and it is expected that Jane might soon be engaged to Mr. Bingley. However, the next morning, Jane receives a letter from Bingley's younger sister, Caroline. In the letter, she has specified that they are moving back to London forever. And the letter further states that Charles will get married to Mr. Darcy's younger sister, Georgiana. Now, Elizabeth assumes that Mr. Darcy must have provoked the Bingley family to take such a step. She starts hating him even more.
Section 4: Revelations
Now, as the story progresses, Elizabeth visits her friend Charlotte in Rosing's, Kent. She is now married to Mr. Collins. There, Elizabeth gets to know that Lady Catherine is actually Mr. Darcy's aunt. Lady Catherine organizes a party where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy meet again. A few days pass and Mr. Darcy confesses his love for Elizabeth by proposing to her. However, she rejects his proposal. And not only Darcy proposes in a way that makes it seem like he is doing a favour by marrying her, but she also blames him for Jane and Bingley's breakup and for making George Wickham lose his job. Hearing all such allegations, Mr. Darcy feels sad and he leaves. However, he hands a letter to Elizabeth the next morning before leaving the place. The letter states that he did not cause the breakup of Jane and Charles Bingley. And further, he took away George Wickham's job because he ran away with Mr. Darcy's 15-year-old sister and was going to manipulate her into marrying him for a big dowry. So, reading Mr. Darcy's letter, Elizabeth realizes her mistake of falsely judging Mr. Darcy's character and being prejudiced towards him. She goes back to home and Mr. Darcy returns to London. Upon returning home, she tells Jane how George Wickham has been fooling everyone. She also learns that Wickham has disappeared, leaving behind heavy debts and lies that he has told everyone.
Section 5: Change of Heart
Now, some days pass. Elizabeth's uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, visit Longbourn. The couple decides to take Elizabeth with them for a trip to Pemberley. Thinking that Darcy must be in London, Elizabeth agrees to visit the estate. However, it turns out that Darcy is there as well. Elizabeth, Darcy and Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner spend a very good time together. The respect with which Darcy treats Elizabeth and her relatives make Elizabeth see him in a new light. Now, her feelings for him are completely transformed. She has fallen in love with him. However, their good time in peace is ruined when a shocking piece of news comes in. Lydia, the youngest sister, she has run away with George Wickham. Now, friends, please remember that both of them eloped to Gretna Green. You have to remember the place. Elizabeth goes back to her home to comfort her parents while everyone is trying to find Lydia.
Section 6: Lydia is found
A couple of days pass by, but Lydia has still not been found. And then comes a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner informing the Bennet family that they have found Lydia. However, Wickham has refused to marry her. And this worries everyone as the reputation of Lydia and the whole family is in danger. Wickham demands money from the family to marry Lydia. He gets his desired amount of money, making everyone think that it must have been the Gardiners who paid him. However, in reality, the money has been paid by none other than Mr. Darcy. He secretly finds them and gets them married and asks Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner to keep it a secret from everyone. Elizabeth learns this fact and when Lydia returns home and accidentally tells her, her love for Mr. Darcy becomes even stronger.
Section 7: The End
In the end, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is suspicious of Elizabeth's feelings for Darcy and orders Elizabeth to stay away from him. She refuses to do so, which makes Darcy confident that she too likes him. Meanwhile, Darcy convinces Bingley of Jane's true love and proposes to her. Then Darcy too proposes to Elizabeth. The story ends on a happy note as both the couples tie the knot. In case you are interested to watch the story, the movie Bride and Prejudice was released in 2004. It's a Bollywood film and the lead was played by none other than Aishwarya Rai. So if you have the time after exams or even during exams you want to take a break, you can just watch it. Although it's an adaptation, all things might not be similar to the novel. There might be some changes according to Indian culture. But yes, overall the story is pretty much the same and you can get a fair idea of, you know, just for entertainment purposes, not from the literature purposes, like how the story goes.
Section 8: Facts and Quotes
Famous Quotes: -
(i) “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book1 – When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not excellent library.”
(ii) A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
(iii) “In vain have I struggled? It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.
You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
(iv) “Angry people are not always wise.”
(v) “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”