Summary
Summary of Pride and Prejudice
Who it’s for
This book suits readers who enjoy clever dialogue, social comedy and love stories built on character rather than melodrama. It also rewards anyone curious about money and marriage in Regency England. If you want fast action or dark plots, the quiet pace may feel slow.
What this book is
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1813. She first drafted it in the 1790s under another title, First Impressions, and revised it years later, when she was a working writer with a few books behind her. It is set in the English countryside around the year 1800. It follows a family of five sisters whose home will pass to a distant male cousin when their father dies.
The heart of the book is Elizabeth Bennet, a quick and witty young woman, and Mr Darcy, a rich and proud man she meets at a country dance. They begin by judging each other badly. Around them stand a hopeful mother, a mocking father, a kind older sister, a charming soldier and a pompous clergyman. Austen watches all of them with a cool, amused eye.
What does the book give you? A sharp comedy of manners, in which money, rank and marriage shape every choice. It also gives you a lesson in how easily we trust a first impression and how hard it is to see people clearly. Let us begin where the story begins, in a house that is buzzing with news about a rich new neighbour.
In this summary
- 1A mother with five daughters to marryFree
- 2A slight at the ball starts the trouble
- 3Netherfield draws Elizabeth and Darcy together
- 4Mr Collins and Mr Wickham arrive
- 5Marriage for money and a visit to Kent
- 6A proposal that insults and a letter that stings
- 7Pemberley changes what Elizabeth sees
- 8Pride and prejudice are two different faults
- 9Irony, dialogue and a famous first sentence
Key point 1 of 9
A mother with five daughters to marry
The story opens in Hertfordshire, in the English countryside. The Bennets live at Longbourn, a comfortable but modest estate. Mr Bennet is a dry, bookish man who prefers his library to his family. Mrs Bennet is anxious, talkative and has one great aim in life, which is to see her daughters married. The five girls are Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia.
Why is she so anxious? Because Longbourn is entailed. An entail is a legal rule that sends an estate to the nearest male heir. Mr Bennet has no son, so when he dies the house will pass to a cousin, and his wife and daughters will be left with very little money. For these girls, marriage is not first of all a romance. It is the only secure road open to them.
News arrives that a rich young man, Mr Bingley, has rented the nearby house of Netherfield Park. Mrs Bennet wants her husband to call on him at once. Mr Bennet teases her by saying he will not go, and then it is clear he has gone all along. This small scene shows the whole marriage. She is eager and blunt, and he is amused and detached. Austen gets her laughs from both of them and lets neither off lightly.
The two eldest daughters stand out. Jane is beautiful, gentle and always ready to think well of people. Elizabeth, the second, is quick, teasing and her father's favourite. She is proud of her skill at reading character, and the book will put that pride to the test. The younger girls are lively and silly, and Lydia in particular loves officers and parties.
Bingley arrives with his two sisters and his close friend Mr Darcy. Bingley is cheerful and easy to like. Darcy owns a great estate in Derbyshire called Pemberley and has an income of ten thousand pounds a year. The whole neighbourhood is ready to judge them both, and the judging is about to begin at the first public dance.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Elizabeth Bennet
- The witty second Bennet daughter values independent judgment and finds herself at odds with Darcy.
- Fitzwilliam Darcy
- A wealthy, reserved landowner, Darcy is Bingley's friend and makes an unfavourable first impression on Elizabeth.
- Jane Bennet
- Elizabeth's gentle eldest sister readily sees goodness in others and attracts Bingley's attention.
- Charles Bingley
- Darcy's wealthy, sociable friend rents Netherfield and takes an immediate interest in Jane.
- Mrs Bennet
- The anxious mother of five daughters hopes advantageous marriages will secure their futures.
- Mr Bennet
- Elizabeth's bookish father retreats from domestic worries and treats his wife's anxieties with dry humour.
- George Wickham
- A charming militia officer, Wickham befriends Elizabeth and describes his troubled relationship with Darcy.
- Mr Collins
- The Bennets' pompous clergyman cousin expects to inherit Longbourn and reveres his patron, Lady Catherine.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 129,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 8 h 35 min
- Listening time14 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages