Jane Austen Novel and Book - Pride and Prejudice Overview

The Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice is one of Jane Austen's most dearly loved books.

Pride and Prejudice is the story of how the Bennet sisters Elizabeth and Jane come to marry their soul mates, Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley. The characters in the novel are captured in a unique way and the hero's are very likable. The topics we cover about the Jane Austen novel - Pride and Prejudice in our overview are:

History of Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice Setting
Pride and Prejudice Characters
Pride and Prejudice Storyline - no spoilers
Pride and Prejudice Quotes
Pride and Prejudice Review
Pride and Prejudice the Movie and Pride and Prejudice on DVD

History of Pride and Prejudice

The Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice was originally entitled “First Impressions” and was completed in August 1797. In November 1797 “First Impressions” was offered to the publisher Cadell, who rejected it without ever having looked at it. It was not until November 1812, and after some changes by Jane including the name “Pride and Prejudice”, that the novel was accepted by Egerton publishing house. The novel was printed three times before Jane died.

Pride and Prejudice – Setting

Pride and Prejudice begins in the autumn. The story is centred on the Bennet family, who live in the town of Longbourn, Hertfordshire, 24 miles from London. The Bennet family consists of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters. The daughters are all around 15 – 21 years old and are now seeking a husband in ensure a provision for their future, as although Mr. Bennet has an estate earning two thousand a year, he can leave very little to the girls as the estate is entailed to his nephew, Mr. Collins.

The story takes members of the Bennet family from Hertfordshire, to Rosings in Kent, Derbyshire, London and Brighton.

Pride and Prejudice –Characters

The most notable characters in Pride and Prejudice are:

· Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzie)

Elizabeth has such a vivacious personality that she makes you long to know her personally. She is attractive, (with 'fine eyes' according to Mr. Darcy) witty and clever, and her father's favourite. She is very fond of her elder sister, Jane.

· Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr Darcy)

Mr Darcy is first introduced to the Bennet family when he stays with his friend Mr Bingley at his new house in Netherfield. Mr Darcy is very wealthy and is at first considered by the Bennet family as rude and arrogant, a perception which was not helped by him slighting Elizabeth when he refused to dance with her.

Mr Darcy considers the Bennet family to be socially beneath him, and that a match with any of the girls would be a degradation for himself, or for his friend Mr Bingley. As a consequence he sabotages the relationship between Mr Bingley and Jane and deeply offends Elizabeth.

· Mr Bennet

Mr Bennet is Elizabeth's father. He has five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine (Kitty) and Lydia. He derives great amusement from knowing that his three youngest are "the silliest girls in the country", and foolishly does nothing to change their behaviour until it is too late. He has a very satirical wit, and some of the best lines in the novel are said by him. He holds Elizabeth in high regard and values her company.

· Mrs Bennet

Mrs Bennet is Elizabeth's mother. She has five daughters and is obsessed with them marrying well though her ill breed behaviour puts their relationships in jeopardy and causes Jane and Elizabeth extreme embarrassment, to the point that Elizabeth thinks;

"At that instant she felt that years of happiness could not make Jane or herself amends for moments of such painful confusion."

· Mr Bingley

"He is just what a young man ought to be," said she (Jane) "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners! - so much at ease, with such perfect good-breeding!"

"He is also handsome," which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."

Mr. Bingley is also wealthy, which satisfies Mrs. Bennet. He is a very sociable, popular young man, though perhaps a little indecisive and inclined to give his friends' opinions too much weight.

· Jane Bennet

Jane is the eldest of the Bennet daughters, and is considered the prettiest of them all, but is very modest about this. Her nature is similar to Mr Bingley in that she is kind and sweet-natured and is determined to think well of everyone.

· Mr Collins

Mr Collins stands to inherit the estate at Longbourn when Mr Bennet dies. He is Mr Bennet’s cousin and hopes to marry one of the Bennet daughters.

Mr Collins is a strange mixture of pride and humility. He worships his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, yet considers himself to be the equal of anyone he might come into contact with. His image is portrayed very well by David Bamber from the 1995 BBC mini series and in the Bollywood version named Bride and Prejudice.

· Lydia

The youngest of the Bennet girls, Lydia is 15 years old, and is a terrible flirt. All that interests her are parties and officers.

Her older sisters are afraid that her impulsive, unguarded manner will dishonour the whole family, but her mother is blind to Lydia's folly, and only encourages her. Lydia’s father laughs at her foolishness, but will not exert himself to pull her into line.

· Mr Wickham

Mr Wickham is charming, good-looking, and wins the hearts of all the ladies around him. He was a childhood friend of Mr Darcy, but the two no longer speak. He teaches Elizabeth a hard lesson about 'first impressions'.

· Miss Caroline Bingley (sister of Mr Bingley)

Miss Bingley is wealthy and good looking, but unfortunately rather spoilt, insincere and snobbish. She resents Elizabeth as a rival, as soon as Mr. Darcy confesses that he considers her to have "fine eyes".

Other Pride and Prejudice characters are:

· Mary Bennet and Catherine (Kitty) Bennet (sisters of Lizzy).

· Mrs Louisa Hurst, Mr Hurst.

· Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Aunt of Mr Darcy). The noble patroness of Mr. Collins. His servility suits her arrogant nature perfectly.

· Miss Anne de Bourgh (niece of Lady Catherine de Bourgh). It is Lady Catherine's fondest wish that her daughter and Mr. Darcy unite their two large estates through marriage.

· Sir William Lucas (Bennet family friend) and his wife Lady Lucas, and their daughter Charlotte Lucas. Sir William was previously "in trade", but after being Knighted considered working to be beneath him and so he moved his family to Lucas Lodge, nearby. He has a large family, like the Bennets, and will not be able to provide much for his daughters future, so it is imperative that they marry well.

· Georgiana Darcy, sister of Mr Darcy.

· Mr and Mrs Gardiner, the aunt and uncle from London of Lizzy.
Colonel Forster (in charge of the militia) and his wife Mrs Forster who is a friend of Lydia Bennet.

The relationships of the individuals are graphically shown in the diagrams below.

Pride and Prejudice – Storyline (no spoilers)

The story begins with Mr Bingley having purchased an estate at Netherfield, a few miles from Longbourn in the county of Hertfordshire. The whole countryside is abuzz with his arrival with many mothers hoping for him as a possible suitor for their unwed daughters. The Bennet family of Longbourn are no exception.

At the first meeting, Mr Bingley is attracted to Jane and an attachment begins to form over the next few months, before he leaves Netherfield. Mr Darcy, an even richer friend of Mr Bingley also comes to know the Bennet family. Mr Darcy generally looks down on the Bennet family, but becomes intrigued by Elizabeth.

During the summer a militia unit is stated in Meryton, with an attraction forming between Mr Wickham (an officer) and Elizabeth.

Over the next year relationships alter and a scandal hits the community. However, as Oscar Wilde puts it "The good end happily and the bad unhappily, that is what fiction means." And we can always trust Jane Austen to give us a good satisfying end to a good satisfying read!

Quotes from Pride and Prejudice

There are hundreds of quotes! Check out the Pride and Prejudice quotes under each chapter section below:

Chapters 1 - 24

Chapters 25 - 36

Chapters 37 - 61

Pride and Prejudice Merchandise and Gift Shop. Movie, Books and DVDs

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