Have u ever read this book ?
Well, if you haven't .. you can read my writing about this book ..
Synopsis
Pride
and Prejudice
“Everyone knows that a single man with a large fortune needs
a wife." The opening line in Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, shows us that the author has wit and
exquisite sense of humor
, the novel opens with The Bennet family in Longbourn and
their five unmarried daughters. They have no son, therefore, based on the law of
entail the property must go to his nearest male relative, who was a clergyman
named Mr. Collins. Because of it Mrs. Bennet is anxious to find wealthy
husbands for her daughters. Mrs. Bennet is in good fortune when Mr. Bingley,a
wealthy young man from the north England, is going to stay at Netherfield. She
is so excited by the prospect of introducing her daughters to him, therefore,
she immediately asks her husband to visit Mr. Bingley.
Soon afterwards an invitation to dinner was sent to Mr.
Bingley, he came to the Meryton Ball with his two sisters, Mr. Hurst, the husband
of the elder sister, and his friend, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley has agreeable
manners that made him popular. He is handsome, well-educated and friendly. Mr.
Darcy, unlike him, has disagreeable manner, nothing pleased him, although everyone
agree that he was handsome man with a noble appearance and an income of ten
thousand pounds a year. Mr. Bingley is immediately attracted to Jane Bennet. Jane
was very lucky because Mr. Bingley asked her to dance twice. Jane was so pleased
about it though in a quiet way. On the contrary Mr. Darcy wasn’t interested
with Elizabeth, the second Bennet, although she is pretty but not enough to
tempt him. Later, Mr. Darcy shows an attraction to Elizabeth, but she refuses
him after what he did upon her before. Elizabeth decides she wants nothing more to do
with him, despite his wealth.
One morning the four Bennets decided to walk to the Meryton
to visit their aunt. The town was full of officers. But the attention of every
lady was soon caught by a young man whom they had never seen before, Mr.
Wickham. He had just come from London to become an officer in their regiment. Seems
there was something between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy.
On Mr. Collins visit to The Bennet, he determined to marry one
of the girls. But when he proposed to Elizabeth, she refuses; he turns instead
to her good friend Charlotte, who accepts him.
A letter came from Caroline Bingley that day announcing that
the whole family had left Netherfield with no intention of returning. For in
the same letter Miss Bingley told there was every hope of an early marriage
between Miss Darcy and her brother. Meanwhile, Mr. Wickham meets Elizabeth who
she immediately is drawn towards. He tells her falsehoods about his
relationship with Mr. Darcy that he was being cheated out of a piece of
inheritance from Darcy’s father.
Day after day has passed without any news from Mr. Bingley. Mr.
and Mrs. Gardiner, Mrs. Benett’s brother, came to the Loungbourn, and invited
Jane to go to London with them. Soon, Jane was found out that her friendship
with Miss Bingley was over, and all her hope to Mr. Bingley was absolutely
over.
Elizabeth had the unexpected happiness of an invitation to go
with her uncle and aunt on a tour to England during the summer. In London, Jane
finally found out that her friendship with Miss Bingley was over. She also had
a time to visit Mr. and Mrs. Collins who live next to Mr. Darcy's aunt, Lady
Catherine de Burgh, she knows that Mr. Darcy and one of his cousins are to
arrive soon. From that cousin, Elizabeth discovers with no doubted that Mr.
Darcy was behind the separation of Bingley and her sister. Another surprise
came when Darcy proposed her. She is dumbfounded and angry at the same time,
and she refuses him in vehement terms. It’s related with all he did to Mr.
Wickham and the relationship between her sister and Bingley. He responds by
writing her a letter, revealing the true story about Mr. Wickham's shocking
behavior towards Miss Darcy and also the reason for her other offences
about Bingley with her sister. Elizabeth is forced to change her opinion of
'proud' Mr. Darcy.
Back at home, she learns with relief that Mr. Wickham is to
leave with the regiment. But when Lydia is invited by the wife of the Colonel
to accompany the regiment to Brighton, Elizabeth fears the worst, and she
applies unsuccessfully to her father to forbid it. Lydia gets her way, and
goes to Brighton.
Soon afterwards Elizabeth joins her uncle and aunt, Mr. and
Mrs. Gardiner, on a trip to the Peak District, where they visit Mr. Darcy's
country estate, Pemberley. He arrives unexpectedly, but is strangely altered
and is disarmingly kind to them.
Elizabeth receives a letter from Jane announcing that Lydia
has run off with Wickham. A marriage between Wickham and Lydia has taken place.
Elizabeth looks so miserable and she sure that she would see Darcy again after
what happened before. Colonel Forster heard from another officer that Wickham
never intended marry Lydia at all. Lydia lets slip Mr. Darcy's presence at her wedding
and Elizabeth soon persuades Mrs. Gardiner to reveal the details. She realizes
that her family is in great debt to Mr Darcy.
Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley return to Netherfield. Mr Bingley
soon proposes to Jane. Mr Darcy proposes a second time and Elizabeth happily
accepts, makes everyone's surprise and despite an attempted intervention by
Lady Catherine de Burgh. After the weddings, both sisters live a happy married
life.
The (happy) end.
CHARACTERS
Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the Bennet, has plenty of sense,
quite blind to other people’s faults but with a tendency to judge on first impressions. She is intelligent,
lively, and attractive. She is so close
with her father and her sister, Jane, and her best friend is Charlotte Lucas.
Soon, she became Mrs. Darcy
Mr Darcy is the main
male character. He is a tall, handsome man with a noble appearance,
intelligent, twenty-eight years old and unmarried. He is also the wealthy owner
of the famous family estate of Pemberley in Derbyshire and an income at least ten thousand
pounds a year. He is proud and has a disagreeable manner that make him got a poor impression on strangers.
Mr Bennet is an intelligent gentleman with a wife and five daughters. He has strange mixture of intelligence,
sarcasm, humour and unsociable reserve. He relates very well with his
two eldest daughters, particularly Elizabeth, showing them much more respect
than his wife and younger daughters.
Mrs Bennet is a woman of
little intelligence and less knowledge. She had bad temper and, when she was
discontented, she blamed her nerves. Her business in life was to get her
daugthers married. Her pleasure was visiting and gossiping with friends.
Jane Bennet, the eldest Bennet sister, is always so pleasant to
everyone. She is considered the most beautiful young lady in the neighborhood. She
is contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer, and equally sensible, but not
as clever; her most notable trait is a desire to see only the good in others.
Mary Bennet is the only plain Bennet sister, and rather than join in
some of the family activities, she reads, although she is often impatient for
display. She works hard for knowledge and accomplishment, but has neither
genius nor taste. She is as silly as her two younger sisters, Kitty and Lydia,
though she thinks she is very wise. She is included very little in the book by
the author.
Catherine "Kitty" Bennet is the fourth
Bennet sister, aged 17. She is portrayed as a less headstrong but equally silly
shadow of Lydia.
Lydia Bennet is the youngest Bennet sister, aged 15
when the novel begins. She is frivolous and headstrong. Her main activity in
life is socializing, especially flirting with the officers of the militia. She
dominates her older sister Kitty and is supported in the family by her mother.
Lydia shows no regard for the moral code of her society and is remorseless for
the disgrace she causes her family.
Charles Bingley is a handsome, well-mannered, and
wealthy young gentleman. He has an agreeable manner, although not being quite
so clever. He lacks resolve and is easily influenced by others. He was in love
so deep with Jane Bennet.
Caroline Bingley is handsome women, with a fashionable
appereance. She is the snobbish sister of Charles Bingley with a dowry of
twenty thousand pounds. Miss Bingley has romantic intentions on Mr. Darcy, is
jealous of his growing attachment to Elizabeth, and rude to her.
George Wickham has been acquainted with Mr. Darcy
since childhood, having been under the guardianship of Mr. Darcy's father. An
officer in the militia, he has handsome face, a good figure and a very
agreeable manner. He is rapidly forms an attachment with Elizabeth Bennet. He
spreads tales about the wrongs Mr Darcy has done him. He runs off with Lydia, and is paid to marry
her.
William Collins is a tall, heavy man of twenty-five.
His manners were serous and very formal. He is "not a sensible man, and
the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or
society." Elizabeth's rejection of Collins' marriage proposal is welcomed
by her father, regardless of the financial benefit to the family of such a
match. Mr. Collins then marries Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte Lucas.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a tall, large woman with a face
that might once had been handsome, who possesses wealth and social standing, is haughty, domineering and condescending.
She doesn’t really like Elizabeth and later, courts her disapproval by marrying
her nephew, Mr. Darcy, in spite of her objections.
Aunt and Uncle Gardiner: Mr. Gardiner, Mrs Bennet's brother, is
a sensible, gentlemanly man, very superior to his sister in both character and
education. Aunt Gardiner is a pleasant, intelligent, well-dressed woman and the
favorite of all her.
Miss Darcy is Mr Darcy's quiet, amiable and shy younger sister,
aged 16 when the story begins. When 15, Miss Darcy almost elopes with Mr
Wickham, who seeks her thirty thousand pound dowry. Miss Darcy is introduced to
Elizabeth at Pemberley and is later delighted at the prospect of becoming her
sister-in-law.
Charlotte Lucas is Elizabeth's
friend who, at 27 years old, fears becoming a burden to her family and
therefore agrees to marry Mr. Collins in order to gain financial security.
THEMES
There
are several themes in Jane Austin’s novel that are Love, Marriage, Wealth,
Society and Class, Women and Femininity.
SETTINGS
Set
in the English countryside in a county roughly thirty miles from London , at
the turn of the 18th century.
CONFLICTS
There are
several conflicts in Pride and Prejudice that are the conflict between Mrs.
Bennet and Mr. Collins, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham, Miss
Bingley and Jane, Lady Catherine de Burgh.
