Pride and Prejudice Notes

Pride and Prejudice

Characters:

Elizabeth Bennet: Second oldest daughter of the Bennet family. She is an intelligent and quick-witted female, and draws the attention of many potential suitors in the story.

Fitzwilliam Darcy: A prideful man, whose arrogance gets the best of him throughout the novel. Nephew of the prestigious Lady Catherine de Bourgh 

Jane Bennet: Oldest of the Bennet sisters, and presumed to be in abundance of natural beauty.

Charles Bingley: Purchased the Netherfield estate, which sets the events of the novel into motion.  Bingley is directly characterized as being a gentleman, and doesn’t care about class differences between him and Jane Bennet.

Mr. Bennet: Father of the Bennet girls. Mr. Bennet is shown to have poor parenting skills, as they both rarely help their daughters in finding suitable suitors.

Mrs. Bennet: Wife of Mr. Bennet, whose foolish nature has ruined the love lives of her daughters. Mrs. Bennet can be seen as the middle class representation of Lady Catherine.

George Wickham: A charming but devious militia man. Elizabeth is initially drawn to Wickham by his charm, but she is quickly turned away as she realizes the deceitful truth about him.

Lydia Wickham:  The youngest Bennet sister, who embraces her young age and in turn, acts like a child. She isn’t level-headed, and ends up with Wickham.

Mr. Collins: A man who foolishly thought that he was next to inheriting the Bennet estate after Mr. Bennett’s passing

Miss Bingley: Mr. Bingley’s sister. She has an absolute disgust towards Elizabeth and her middle-class social standing. This causes Mr. Darcy to ignore her and pursue Elizabeth.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh: A noblewoman and the aunt of Mr. Darcy. She dislikes lower class citizens, and tries to steer her nephew away from Elizabeth at all costs.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner: Brother of Mrs. Bennet. This couple treats the Bennet girls as if they were their own daughters.

Charlotte Lucas: A friend of Elizabeth Bennet, who sees luxury and riches in a man where Elizabeth sees love and kindness. Charlotte later marries Mr. Collins.

Georgiana Darcy:  Mr. Darcy sister.

Mary Bennet:  The middle Bennet sister who loves reading books.

Catherine Bennet: The fourth of Bennet sisters who is not level-headed in terms of love and marriage.

Plot: This novel begins with the arrival of Mr. Charles Bingley. Many characters in the neighboring town of Longbourn see this as just a way for him to obtain wife as he is of good fortune. Mr. Bennet’s family attended the Meryton Ball where he meets Mr. Bingley. He sees Jane and starts to fall in love with her so he dances with her twice at night. His friend Mr. Darcy is shown to be a shrewd character since he refuses to dance with Jane’s sister Elizabeth. Although Mr. Darcy soon begins to fall in love with Elizabeth as well. Mr. Bingley and Jane spend more time together and later Jane falls ill at the manor. Elizabeth goes and tries to tend to her sister but is not welcomed by Miss. Bingley, Mr. Bingley’s sister.  When Jane and Elizabeth get home, they see a man by the name of Mr. Collins. He is declaring that he is the next in line to inherit the Bennet estate, but is wrongly mistaken. He then proposes marriage to Elizabeth, which she quickly refuses and so the Bingley’s move back to London shortly after his arrival. A dear friend of Elizabeth, Charlotte Lucas, accepts the proposal of marriage from Mr. Collins. Jane wants to desperately see Mr. Bennet so she goes to London to try and find him but isn’t able to. Mr. Darcy returns and encounters Elizabeth and still has a love for her as well. Darcy frequently visits Elizabeth at the manor she is staying at, and eventually proposes marriage to her. She declines his proposal, and in embarrassment, Darcy leaves. Sometime later, Elizabeth receives a letter from Darcy, explaining that he indeed did tell Mr. Bingley to stop talking to Jane because he didn’t think the love between the two was sincere and this news comes as a shock to Elizabeth. Meanwhile, the local militia is getting deployed, and the Bennet girls are most worried. Elizabeth passes the time by taking a trip to Pemberley, the neighborhood of Mr. Darcy. Although Mr. Darcy’s servants speak very highly of him, she is unwilling to meet him. Darcy does eventually arrive, and embraces Elizabeth, and the two spend the day together. Back at home, they receive another letter, this time explaining the situation about the Bennett’s youngest daughter, Lydia basically explain that she has ran off with a local militia member by the name of Wickham, and their current location are unknown. Fearing that the reputation of the family name was at stake, Mr. Bennet goes off in search of his daughter. Later, it is revealed that Mr. Darcy had paid Wickham handsomely and bribed him to be silent, and in turn, saved the whole Bennet family name. The couple is later announced to be married but not without complications as the family acts emotionlessly towards them. Jane and Mr. Bingley continue their dating after the absence of Bingley. He then proposes marriage to Jane and she accepts and Mr. Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, tries to convince Elizabeth not to marry her nephew. Mr. Darcy eventually does meet with Elizabeth, and then he proposes to her and she accepts which basically ends the novel.

Themes:

Love: Love plays a major role in Pride and Prejudice, as the novel is based around the love lives of the main characters. The love that is described in the novel doesn’t come without its fair share of obstacles. The two main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, don’t have the pleasure of a normal relationship. With Darcy being from a high- ranking noble family, and Elizabeth hailing from a middle-class family, the social boundaries surrounding their love are ever evident. The theme that is shown here is that love is universal, and can surpass even the most difficult situations.