Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

Synopsis

“Pride and Prejudice” is set in the early nineteenth century and fixates on the Bennet family, living in Longbourn, constituting of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters.

Jane is the eldest, most beautiful, and the shyest. Elizabeth the second and the sanest Miss Bennet is quick-witted, opinionated, and a keen observer. While Lydia and Kitty are amateur and foolish. Whereas Marry the last is intelligent but terrible at playing the piano.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are two completely different people in terms of their personalities, with Mr. Bennet being a cynic trying to live up to his wife's never-ending ambition of seeing her daughters marry well-bred men. Mrs. Bennet, on the other hand, justifies her desperate and irrational behavior with the legitimate reason that they will be on the road after her husband dies because of the law of entailment. The law states that the patriarch's property will be acquired by the closest male heir in the family and not a female.

The novel begins with Mrs. Bennet's excitement at learning that Netherfield Park, near Longbourne village, has been purchased by a young wealthy man, Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Bennet asks Mr. Bennet to hurry and introduce his daughters to Mr. Bingley before their neighbor, Mr. Lucas, who also has two nieces, makes a move.

The two parties finally meet at a village ball in Netherfield, where Mr.Bingley truly develops feelings for Jane. He describes her as the most gorgeous lady he has ever seen and dances with her almost the entire night. While his mate, Mr. Darcy declines to dance with Elizabeth because he is too proud to mix with individuals of a lower social class. Though Elizabeth views Darcy as a vulnerable individual who lacks social skills, Elizabeth is unaffected by his insistence on dancing with her despite her vanity.

A snooty young woman who is Mr. Bingley's sister, Caroline, sends Jane a dinner invitation the following morning, which she graciously accepts. Mrs. Bennet prefers Jane to ride a horse instead of a carriage when it is obvious that it will rain while she is commuting. Poor Jane arrived at Mr. Bingley's house soaked to the skin and sneezing profusely. The next day, a letter describing Jane's condition arrives at Mr. Bennet's home. Elizabeth feels awful for Jane, but Mrs. Bennet's mission was accomplished because Jane would now stay at Netherfield for a longer period.

Elizabeth walks to Netherfield to visit Jane, where she runs into Darcy once more. Caroline, who is also present, is astonished at how she appears because her outfit is lathered in the dirt. During a conversation between Darcy, Elizabeth, and Caroline, Mr. Darcy unknowingly finds himself drawn to Elizabeth's confidence, while Caroline's attempts to coo over Darcy are unsuccessful.

When Jane and Elizabeth return home, they are surprised to learn that Mr. Collin, a moronic clergyman, will soon be making a trip to Longbourne, which is Mr. Bennet's bizarre and condescending cousin. He's also entailed to Mr. Bennet's small fortune. Mr. Collins is embarrassingly obsequious, and he never misses an opportunity to brag about his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Mr. Collins pays a visit, intending to marry one of the Bennet sisters. He initially liked Jane, but when Mrs. Bennet reveals that a gentleman is already interested in her, he shifts his attention to Elizabeth, whom she flatly refuses. Elizabeth learns of Mr. Collins' marriage to Charlotte Lucas soon after, much to her surprise because Charlotte is Elizabeth's confidante. Charlotte confronts Elizabeth not to judge her because her perspective on marriage is more of a future investment for shelter and protection than an emotion of love.

In the meantime, Bingleys departs Netherfield for London. Mrs. Bennet is devastated by the news, but poor Jane is undeterred as she travels to London to see Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, their maternal uncle, in the hopes of seeing Bingley. She eventually ran into Caroline, who treated her poorly and made it clear that she didn't want to accept Jane as her sister-in-law.

Later, Elizabeth meets Wickham, a deceptively charming army officer. Elizabeth finds him agreeable on their first meeting and notices that he knows Darcy. Wickham told her that Darcy's father adopted him as his son, but Darcy disinherited him and now he works as a soldier. Elizabeth's feelings toward Darcy were deteriorating. 

Later, she travels to Kent to meet Charlotte, who had requested that she pay her a visit. Elizabeth also meets Lady Catherine in Rosings Park, where she meets Mr. Darcy again. Elizabeth then discovers that Lady Catherine was in fact Darcy's aunt, but she also learns from Darcy's uncle Fritzwilliam how Darcy spared his friend Bingley from the most disastrous marriage. Elizabeth blames Darcy for turning Bingley away from Jane.

During Elizabeth's stay, Darcy was acting strangely and paying frequent visits to Mr. Collins' house. One day, out of nowhere, he confesses his feelings to Elizabeth, stating how this entire situation has been bothering him. Despite Elizabeth's lower social standing, he is still eager to marry her due to his uncontrollable emotions. However, Elizabeth flatly declines another marriage proposal, this time from a wealthy man. She responds to him about how disrespectful his proposal was and confronts him about causing Jane pain by staring Mr. Bingley away. She also recounts him denying Wickham the inheritance from his father's wealth.

Before leaving Rosings, Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth explaining his actions and dispelling her preconceived notions about him. He had a good justification for separating Jane and Bingley, and the information he provided about Wickham was startlingly upsetting.

Wickham duped Georgiana, Darcy's teenage sister, into marrying him and then abandoned her when he discovered he would not receive a share of her inheritance. Darcy also revealed how he was given his share of his father's estate, which he squandered as a clergyman, and how when he asked for more, he refused. 

Later, Jane and Elizabeth returned home from their upsetting visits. Lydia was asked to accompany Mrs. Forstor to Brighton, where the Wickhems regiment would be stationed. Elizabeth begged his father to intervene to prevent this from happening, but he couldn't. Elizabeth decided to travel across Europe with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner while Lydia departs with Mrs. Forster.

Elizabeth and Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner pass through Darcy's home country and end up visiting him. Unlike Lady Catherine's house, Elizabeth was captivated by his sense of style. After ascertaining that the owner of the house is not in the estate, Elizabeth continued her trip with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner in Pemberley. However, a servant informs them about the arrival of the master and a party of a few men with him, which makes Elizabeth uneasy. Darcy showed up regardless of how hard she tried.

When dealing with Elizabeth, her uncle, and her aunt, Darcy exhibited prudence. He even introduced Elizabeth to her younger sister and extended an invitation to dinner. Elizabeth soon after receives two letters from Jane mentioning Lydia. Elizabeth's concerns about Lydia's departure had come true; Lydia had fled with Wickham. Jane went on to say that their father had gone to chase her and that this information had made their mother fall ill. The prestige of the Bennet family would suffer greatly if their young daughter lived with another man outside of marriage, endangering the future of the other Bennet sisters.

After receiving the news, Darcy expresses his consolation and leaves right away, followed by Elizabeth and the Gardiners. Even before it started to stare, Elizabeth imagined how his developing feelings for Darcy may turn out. When she gets home, a letter from their uncle, who had also assisted in Lydia and Wickham's quest, tells them that they have traced the couple and that Wickham has agreed to wed Lydia in return for money, and they got wedded.

In contrast to Mrs. Bennet's tremendous happiness, Mr. Bennet barely permitted them to visit Longbourne when the newlyweds paid a visit. However, Elizabeth discovers from Lydia how Mr. Darcy found them first and how he paid Wickham, the money to marry her but instructed them not to reveal this to anyone.

Mrs. Bennet's happiness was boosted further by the news of Mr. Bingley's return. In this scenario, Mrs. Bennet was not the only one who was pleased with the news. When Darcy and Bingley visited Mr. Bennet's home, Mr. Bingley proposed to Jane, and soon after, the two became engaged. Later, Elizabeth receives another proposal from Darcy, who this time accepts it.

 

Reflections

The fact that the entire novel sounds like a critique of Austen's era society is fascinating to read. She openly expresses the norms of British culture from centuries ago, which as a reader of the 21st century is quite amusing. However, I can still relate to a lot of things in this day and age. The following are a few positive aspects of the novel that had an impact on me:

• As I read, I realized that manners were a major concern for British families in the 19th century. Jane emphasizes and criticizes men's and women's mannerisms in their society throughout the novel. From fine furnishings to elegant gowns and dining etiquette to travel. It is nice to observe how society respected polite, articulate, and graceful individuals. When it comes to women, this can sometimes be taken to an extreme. Caroline's walk, for example, must have been the result of hours of practice walking with a straight back, shoulders high, and a book on her head.

• I like Elizabeth's relationship with his father; it was friendly and understanding, but not particularly helpful in Lydia's case. I also liked his sarcasm and sense of humor toward his wife, who was completely unaware of her destructive behavior. However, it was pitiful.

• The entire time, Elizabeth is shown traveling while I can't imagine my mother sending me to visit my relatives by myself, but good for her. She had numerous encounters with Darcy as a result. However, in my opinion, frequent travel broadens the intellect and expands your horizons.

• Being well-read was a highly valued skill at the time. This quality, in my opinion, needs to be revived in this age of social media. 

The following are some of the negative aspects of the story of the Bennet sisters that left me speechless at times:

• It astounded me to learn that a female child could not inherit their father's fortune. It was quite disturbing to learn that the leaders of the women's rights movement had such a terrible past. However, this largely clarifies the causes of and origins of the feminist movement.

• Incompatible weddings -  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's lack of mutual understanding, was the primary reason for Lydia and Kitty's behavior. Either Mr. Bennet was unable to understand Mrs. Bennet's perspectives or Mrs. Bennet lacked faith in her husband to give her daughters better future possibilities.

• The Bennet family may be said to have received Elizabeth and Jane as a gift from God. Seeing Marry lost in her books, gives me hope that she, too, will join the league of her elder sisters, which was pleasant to read. 

• On a lighter note, what I've learned about men's preferences for women from this novel is that a wealthy man will either fall for a shy and beautiful woman or a confident, daring, and content one;

1. Mr.Bingley clearly admires beauty, whereas Darcy seeks an educated or "achieved woman" in his own words: "a woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address, and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.

2. In the present era, this might be equal to having a medical degree, keeping the house neat and tidy, making gol roti, and speaking sweetly. Ah! Society and its expectations of women.

In any case, Austen's eccentricity in expressing these societal difficulties is what makes the plot of Pride and Prejudice compelling to read.