Volume I:
- Charles Bingley, a wealthy bachelor, has been heard to be circulating around Netherfield Park → Mrs. Bennet is specially excited of the news as she has five daughters in need of husband with great wealth
- Mrs. Bennet → a gossip that looks over wealth in place of happiness; she believes that Mr. Bingley will wed one of her daughters
- Unlike Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bennet has a sarcastic and witty humour; he invites Mr. Bingley for a talk which excites Mrs. Bennet
- A ball is being held in Meryton; Jane Bennet (the eldest daughter; looks beyond the cruel ways of the world in order to only see joy and happiness) is seen dancing with Mr. Bingley twice which promptly
- Darcy is introduced during the ball; he is indirectly characterized as having too much pride; he believes himself to be above everyone else in the ball (with the exception of his friend Mr. Bingley) as he is upper class
- FOIL → Bingley and Darcy; Bingley is similar in character to Jane (believes only in the good of others; compassionate beyond believe); Darcy is arrogant, prideful, and looks down to others
- Charlotte Lucas, a good friend of the Bennet family, discusses the ball with Elizabeth; they talk about the arrogant and prideful Darcy
- The Bingley sisters visit Jane Bennet in order to determine her worth; the sisters are vain, they, like Darcy, believe themselves to be superior
- Jane’s feelings with Bingley grows, she is perceived to be “in love” with him
- Darcy’s feelings for Elizabeth morph into something more; he finds her to be interesting and believes her to be different than the rest → admires her beauty and personality
- Mr. Bennet’s property is required to be inherited by a son. Since he only has daughters, the property is in need to be passed to a male
- Jane rides a horse to Netherfield instead of a carriage; due to rain, she is soaked and falls ill → unable to leave Netherfield she stays until she recovers
- Miss Bingley is jealous of Elizabeth; she senses Darcy’s infatuation with Elizabeth → in retaliation, she makes fun of the Bennet family and tries hard to attract Darcy
- Mr. Collins, a haughty man, is to be the one to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property; he gushes over Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s life and her generosity
- The readers are introduced to Mr. Wickham → he is a part of the militia and seems to abhor Darcy; Wickham tells Elizabeth his life story over dinner (he tells of the horrid Darcy and Lady Catherine’s insolence which Elizabeth believes without question)
- Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth believing that she will say yes; in truth, Elizabeth denies the proposal as gently as possible; days after the proposal they receive a letter that mentions Bingley’s engagement to Georgiana, Darcy’s sister which breaks Jane’s heart
- News is also heard that Mr. Collins is now engaged to Charlotte, Elizabeth’s good friend
Volume II:
- Mr. Gardiner, like his wife, is very caring and supporting; he is the brother of Mrs. Bennet who stays with the family. He invites Jane to stay with the Gardiners at London and she accepts in hopes of seeing Mr. Bingley
- Mrs. Gardiner cautions Elizabeth of Wickham; the Gardiners find him unsuitable due to his lack of money
- Elizabeth travels with Sir Lucas, Charlotte’s father, to visit Charlotte and Mr. Collins; they get invited to dine with Lady de Bourgh and her daughter (a sickly, young gal) at the Rosings
- Charlotte’s father leaves after a week, satisfied with what he saw; Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy’s cousin, and Darcy visit their aunts → Colonel Fitzwilliam is intrigued by Elizabeth and pays a close attention to her
- Darcy visits a day after informing Elizabeth of Mr. Bingley’s future lack of visits; Charlotte informs Elizabeth that Darcy, with all his fumbling and clumsiness, must be in-love with her
- Darcy proposes his love to Elizabeth and asks her for her hand in marriage, only a couple minutes after Elizabeth and Colonel Fitzwilliam were having a conversation about Darcy; she declines the proposal and asks Darcy if he was at fault with the falling out with Bingley-Jane romance which he promptly admits to be true
- Elizabeth runs into Darcy → he gives her a letter and walks away; the letter explains the reason behind his interruption to the Mr. Bingley and Jane romance and the true history between Wickham and Darcy
Volume III:
- Elizabeth tours the Pemberley estate along with her aunt and uncle → she thinks about her life if she was to wed Darcy; Darcy appears and quickly joins them on their walk
- Georgiana and Darcy visit them at Elizabeth’s inn → they dine at Pemberley where the Bingley sisters are also present; Miss Bingley makes spiteful comments about the militia in order to rile up Elizabeth
- Elizabeth receives two letters from Jane → the first letter tell of Lydia’s (the youngest Bennet sister) elopement to Wickham; the second letter informs Elizabeth that the couple have yet to make contact and might not be married yet
- Mr. Gardiner wants to reassure Elizabeth by telling her that Wickham wouldn’t want to ruin his standing and reputation by marrying Lydia; Mrs. Bennet is frantic and blames Colonel Forster for the abrupt elopement
- Mr. Gardiner goes to London to help with Mr. Bennet’s search for Lydia (which is unsuccessful)
- After Mr. Bennet returns home the family receive a letter from Mr. Gardiner telling them that Lydia and Wickham has been found → Wickham is to marry Lydia for a sizable amount of money
- Darcy paid Wickham the money for the wedding as told by Mrs. Gardiner which confuses Elizabeth; Mr. Bingley arrives at Netherfield and visits the Bennet household with an accompanying Darcy → Mrs.Bennet is attentive of Mr. Bingley but cares very little for Darcy
- Mr. Bingley, after already missing an opportunity to ask Jane for her hand in marriage, tells her that he will ask Mr. Bennet for permission (which he gladly agrees to)
- Elizabeth and Darcy end up together
Themes:
- Love → Love will overcome all obstacles
- Social Upbringing → Social status defines a person’s upbringing and future; one cannot intermingle with a person in a different class
- Female Identity → The novel questions femininity and the traditional way women were written during the 18th century; having a “modern woman” as the protagonist of the story (Elizabeth Bennet: witty, bold character) outright questions the role of women
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