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Jane Austen · 1813
Pride and Prejudice
The story of Jane Austen’s novel in a few minutes: what happens, who is who, what it means, and its most famous lines.
- Author
- Jane Austen
- Published
- 1813
- Setting
- Rural England, around 1800
- Genre
- Romance, comedy of manners
Summary
Mr and Mrs Bennet have five daughters and no son, so their house will pass to a cousin, and Mrs Bennet is desperate to see the girls married. When the rich young Mr Bingley rents the nearby estate of Netherfield, he falls for Jane, the gentle eldest daughter. His friend Mr Darcy, richer still, offends everyone at a ball with his pride, above all the clever second daughter, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s dislike grows when the charming officer Wickham tells her that Darcy cheated him, and when she learns that Darcy parted Bingley from Jane. So when Darcy, against his own will, proposes to her, she refuses him angrily. His letter the next day tells the truth about Wickham, and Elizabeth realises how her prejudice misled her. When her youngest sister Lydia runs off with Wickham, threatening the whole family’s name, Darcy quietly saves them. Elizabeth and Darcy, each having overcome pride and prejudice, marry, and so do Jane and Bingley.
Main characters
| Elizabeth Bennet | quick-witted second daughter, the heroine |
| Fitzwilliam Darcy | proud, wealthy, and better than he first seems |
| Jane Bennet | the gentle eldest sister |
| Charles Bingley | Darcy’s good-natured friend |
| George Wickham | a charming officer with a hidden past |
| Mr and Mrs Bennet | the girls’ ironic father and anxious mother |
Themes
- First impressions and how they mislead
- Pride and prejudice in both hero and heroine
- Marriage, money and the position of women
- Family and reputation
Read it free
Pride and Prejudice is out of copyright. The whole novel can be read or downloaded free from Project Gutenberg.
Quotes
Famous quotes from Pride and Prejudice
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
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.
I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!
Questions
About the novel
What is Pride and Prejudice about?
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, who dislike each other at first and learn to overcome his pride and her prejudice before they fall in love.
Who wrote Pride and Prejudice?
Jane Austen, published in 1813.
How does Pride and Prejudice end?
Elizabeth marries Darcy, and Jane marries Bingley.