Synopsis
Pride and Prejudice is rightly acclaimed as one of English literature’s brightest and wittiest romantic novels, filled with unforgettable characters and wryly brilliant observations on Regency society and human fallibilities.
Mr and Mrs Bennet are blessed with five daughters of marriageable age yet very little in the way of dowries. When Mr Bingham rents nearby Netherfield Hall, Mrs Bennet does everything in her power to see her eldest daughter, Jane, comfortably wed. And when Jane catches Mr Bingham’s eye, it looks as though Mrs Bennet’s dream will come true. The same cannot be said for the relationship between Jane’s witty younger sister, Elizabeth, and Mr Bingham’s proud and somewhat stuffy friend, Mr Darcy, who looks down on anything and anyone.
But just as Jane looks to have caught her man, events conspire against the Bennets: the advent of a company of soldiers brings the charming Mr Wickham into the sisters’ lives and Mr Bennet’s heir, the Reverend Mr Collins, descends on the household to introduce himself and to select a wife. As the Bennet girls revel in the soldiers’ attentions, Elizabeth’s life begins to look decidedly complicated. Irritating her mother by refusing Mr Collins’ proposal of marriage, Elizabeth sees her best friend Charlotte Lucas accept him instead. And then both Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy leave the county, taking Jane’s chance of happiness with them.
But on a visit to Charlotte and Mr Collins’ home, Elizabeth is brought face to face with Mr Darcy again and this time there is something very different in the air. Can it be that Mr Darcy has succumbed to Elizabeth’s charms? What will Darcy’s aunt Lady Catherine de Burgh say to an alliance between her favourite nephew, whom she believes should marry her own daughter, and what will Elizabeth make of Mr Darcy’s changed attitude towards her? Believing that Mr Darcy is responsible for Bingley’s departure and thus Jane’s unhappiness, Elizabeth rebuffs his attentions.
Thinking never to see him again, Elizabeth sets out on a trip to Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle, only to run into Mr Darcy on a visit to his country estate. As relationships are renewed and misapprehensions corrected, astounding news arrives from the Bennet household to the effect that Mr Wickham and the youngest Bennet daughter, Lydia, have eloped, meaning sure and certain social disaster for the Bennet family. As Elizabeth returns home, praying that all will be well, can help be nearer at hand than she thought?
Deftly paced, full of thoughtful insight and great humour, Pride and Prejudice remains as fresh and as relevant to relationships today as when it first appeared in 1813.
About the Author
One of England s most beloved authors, Jane Austen wrote such classic novels as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. Published anonymously during her life, Austen s work was renowned for its realism, humor, and commentary on English social rites and society at the time. Austen s writing was supported by her family, particularly by her brother, Henry, and sister, Cassandra, who is believed to have destroyed, at Austen's request, her personal correspondence after Austen's death in 1817. Austen s authorship was revealed by her nephew in A Memoir of Jane Austen, published in 1869, and the literary value of her work has since been recognized by scholars around the world.
