This time we will give you a Summary of Pride and Prejudice, novel written by Jane Austen. British writer. That shows us what English society was like at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
Summary of Pride and Prejudice
Here we will give you a summary of what this novel by Jane Austen is, and what were the topics covered in the course of it.
About the writer Jane Austen
Jane Austen is a famous British novelist born in the year 1775. Author of the novel Pride and Prejudice, which was first published anonymously in 1813. This was her most famous work internationally.
history of the novel
This novel touches on the story of how the lower middle class Bennet Family, consisting of Mrs Bennet, Mr Bennet and their five daughters live in the countryside near London during the Reign of George III.
At that time, women had few privileges; among which was not having the inheritance of her parents. The inheritances were only passed to the men of the family and therefore, the young women only had the objective of finding a husband with a great patrimony so as not to fall into poverty. Women only offered in the case of marriage, beauty, some skills such as singing or playing an instrument and their social position.
With the arrival of Charles Bingley in town, Mrs. Bennet being so gossipy and living with the hope that one of her daughters can marry a wealthy man. So she insists that her husband go meet her new neighbor. The Bennets had five daughters named Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.
Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist of the novel, who is a beautiful, proud young woman with a strong personality and great aspirations that are considered from another era. In the novel she is called Lizzie by her loved ones. The mother, knowing how she is her daughter, believes that she is a case that has no solution, and that she will never be able to find a husband.
At that time, women did not have the same possibilities as men, she could only aspire to be mothers and wives. She without being able to have professional ambitions.
This novel begins when two wealthy single young men arrive at the place, who are Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, and the girls' mother sees the best opportunity to marry one of them.
Mr. Bingley, a very serious and distinguished man, falls in love with Jane Bennet, the eldest daughter of the Bennet family. And Caroline Bingley, the young man's sister, does not agree with the relationship due to the young woman's social class.
Mr. Bingley approaches Jane, contradicting his sister. However, he himself suddenly disappears from the city, leaving Jane without any explanation.
His friend, Mr. Darcy, falls in love with the charms of Jane's sister, Elizabeth, but he himself refuses to accept what he feels because the young woman is of low class. Elizabeth, for her part, sees Mr. Darcy as an arrogant man and comes to hate him. This relationship is dominated by prejudice, attraction, passion and anger.
Mr. Darcy, seeing himself in love with the young woman, takes courage and asks for her hand. But Elizabeth remains firm in her ideals and rejects the proposal, since she considers him to be an arrogant and unscrupulous man.
But things change after receiving a letter in which Mr. Darcy explains his attitudes. After having read the letter, Elizabeth manages to see in him a good man. Finally Mr. Darcy reiterates his marriage proposal and Elizabeth accepts. The couple moves to Pemberley.
For Jane there is also a happy ending. Mr. Bingley returns to town and explains the reasons he had for suddenly disappearing. The young man begs his beloved for forgiveness and asks for her hand in marriage, she accepts, and together they go to live in Netherfield.
Envelopes your characters
The characters in the novel Pride and Prejudice are the majority of the Bennet family: father and mother, Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters, such as Mr. Bingley and his sister Caroline, and Mr. Darcy.
Features of his characters:
These characters each have different characteristics that make the story have nuances that are pleasing to the readers.
Mr and Mrs Bennet:
Her goals are to marry off her five daughters, which makes the mother dedicate herself to an exhaustive search for possible suitors for her daughters. Mr. Bennet also has that concern but is more relaxed about it. Despite having a modest income. In some situations he fails as a father because he prefers to withdraw from the concerns of his wife and daughters.
Elizabeth Bennett:
The protagonist who is also called Lizzie in the novel, is a beautiful, cultured, intelligent and very sensitive girl, who is not satisfied with her role in society. And she is the one who has the characteristics of being a very independent young woman, and who considers that getting married is for love and not for convenience.
Jane Bennett:
She is the eldest daughter of the Bennet family, who is considered very sweet and dreamy. She is very close to her sister Elizabeth and her biggest confidant. She is described as demure, shy, and very beautiful.
Mary Bennett:
She is a young girl who likes books and likes to cultivate her intellect. She is considered a very educated girl with great wisdom, due to her wide curiosity about things.
Kitty and Lydia Bennet:
They are the younger sisters of the family, which are rarely mentioned during the novel. They are young people who like to solve problems. Young Lidia has a very extreme sense of humor and is very outgoing unlike the others. Kitty on her side is a young woman who finds her best friend in her sister Lidia. And both spend their time whispering quietly and sharing secrets.
Mr Bingley:
He is a very rich boy from a very good family who rents the Netherfield mansion and who falls in love with Jane. It is said that he is a very good and well-educated young man. But that the class difference between people is indifferent to him. But that he has a weakness, that he is very influenced by his mother and sister.
Mr Darcy:
He is a great friend of Mr. Bingley, who describes him as intelligent and honest but with an excess of pride. That he makes him consider the Bennet sisters to be of a lower class than them, so at first he had no interest in it. Over time, he gets to know the young Bennets and ends up in love with Elizabeth.
Caroline bingley
She is the sister of Mr. Bingley, who absolutely condemns the young man's relationship with Jane, since she considers her to belong to a lower social class. Caroline is somewhat arrogant, as she believes that her family name should not be mixed with that of lower families.
George Wickham
He is an attractive military agent but he is a fortune hunter.
Mr Collins
He is a vain person, who would be left with the Bennet family inheritance.
Pride and Prejudice Summary Analysis
In this Summary of Pride and Prejudice The role of English society at that time will be analyzed, as parents had the power to find husbands for their daughters, among other things.
In this novel Pride and Prejudice we can observe that at that time where the story takes place, which is the English society of the XNUMXth century, they had the custom or the culture that young women, the only role they could play within a family was the wife. And that it was very bad seen that they did the opposite.
Furthermore, it can be seen that in case some of their parents die, they do not have the slightest possibility of inheriting the goods and wealth left by their parents. The only ones who could inherit are the men, since there is a culture that they are the ones in charge of the family assets. And in the event that there was no man in the family lineage, the inheritance was assigned to a man in the family.
That is why we can say in this Summary of Pride and Prejudice, is that money is also an important part of nineteenth-century English society. Since there was a culture that people had to marry people of the same social class. Since otherwise it looked frowned upon.
This story told in Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, has been adapted for film, theater and television because it was a novel that was a resounding success. In it, a strong criticism is made of the English society of that time, since it reflects that the economic ambitions at that time were strictly motivated by interest.
And that marriage is seen as a commercial agreement between the parties, where each one benefits from it.
It is there when Elizabeth Bennet goes out of the norm since she does not consider that a marriage should be arranged, she thinks that a marriage should be based on love, not on economic interests that can benefit the other party. Just as she also believes that women at that time should have the opportunity to train professionally and not depend on anyone. This way of thinking of Elizabeth Bennet somehow caught the attention of her father, since he considered her a very special young woman.
Elizabeth's pride plays a trick on her by letting a first impression of Mr. Darsy be enough for her to cast an opinion on him without getting to know him well. On the other hand, Mr. Darsy is in the position of prejudice for thinking that this young woman from a modest family is not tall enough to be with him.
To achieve love between Elizabeth and Mr. Darsy they have to overcome different tests, to understand that money is not everything in life and that the conception that a person who is not wealthy is not good enough for someone.
And that in some cases the heart does not influence marriage, but there are cases that social norms make people do it just for money.
This is a novel where it shows that a woman's reputation is of paramount importance. And that if she somehow ignores that, it would cause her a lot of trouble, even leading to her banishment.
This topic of the classes in those times was a very delicate topic since it is related to the reputation and honorability of the person. Thing that today is somewhat uncertain because that does not make you better or worse than anyone else. And that in both segments there are good and bad people and therefore one should not discriminate based on their economic status.
About your publication
This novel by Jane Austen did not always have that name, at first it came to have the name of First Impressions, which was later changed to Pride and Prejudice. This was written between 1796 and 1797 by the writer and finally printed in January 1813. This story is still valid today, occupying the first places of the most read books in the world. Since it deals with issues that in one way or another, are part of what society is.
The movie
In 2005, a film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel called Pride and Prejudice was made. Which was not the first, since in the years of 1940 and 2003 respectively it had sequels of the same. This film was nominated for the Motion Picture Academy Awards (Oscar), in the nominations for Best Actress (Keira Knightley), Best Costume, Best Soundtrack and Best Art Direction. This film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Awards in the categories of Best Film and Best Actress.
But in the end it won the Bafta award for best revelation film.
Pride and Prejudice Novel Phrases
- My affections and wishes have not changed, but a word from him will silence me forever.
- I would have given the world for having had the courage to tell the truth, to live the truth.
- You have enchanted me body and soul.
- Giving in without conviction is not a compliment to another's understanding, Mr Darcy.
- Only think about the past to the extent that remembering it brings you enjoyment. Elizabeth Bennet.
- Do everything, but do not marry without affection Jane Benett.
- Angry People Aren't Always Wise Jane Austen (Narrator).
- A person who can write a long letter with ease cannot write Caroline Bingley sick.
Curiosities
This Pride and Prejudice novel, its author Jane Austen, began writing when she was barely 20 years old, the same age as Elizabeth Bennet, and did not finish it until she was 37 years old.
In 1937, Jane Austen's father wrote to publisher Thomas Cadell to ask if he could revise his daughter's manuscript. But in the end, everything went backwards. And it was in the year 1811 when the author returned to encourage herself in writing it and she came to make a series of revisions to the novel that would end with its publication on January 28, 1813.
Before Jane Austen wrote this novel, the subjects she previously worked on were cases of murder, rape, and drunkenness.
Jane Austen's family begged her to keep her literary leanings a secret. When it was published, the English wanted to know who had written this novel. Until members of her own family decided to say that whoever had written this wonderful novel was for her family.
Of the six novels that Austen wrote, this was the one that frontally addressed a criticism of a society, which lived creating separation between the existing classes at that time.
When the writer was very young, she had to live the experience of giving up a love for economic reasons, something that somehow I touch on in this novel.
Jane Austen was never able to marry like her sister. In the 41th century, marriage was the solution to have a more decent life. At that time, having a comfortable house was the ideal of a wealthy person. This famous writer died at the age of 18, in Winchester England on July 1817, XNUMX.
To conclude this wonderful Summary of this novel by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. We invite you to learn about other equally interesting novels through this link From my heaven