Overcoming the Titular Sins of Pride and Prejudice (Book Report)
“Pride and Prejudice”, a classic romantic novel of English literature written by Jane Austen between 1796–1797 and initially titled First Impressions. Thomas Egerton published it anonymously in three volumes on 28 January 1813. Jane Austen wrote it with perspicacious brilliance and superb character delineation. Its story revolves around the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. To fall in love and marry, they must overcome the titular sins of pride and prejudice. The plot is set in rural England in the early 19th century. The novel is narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator. The narrator has access to the thoughts and feelings of the characters and describes these to the reader. The narrator of the novel also frequently adds commentary about characters and their actions, which shapes the reader’s perception. The overall style of “Pride and Prejudice” is ironic and witty. The narrator frequently makes remarks that may seem to mean one thing but mean another. It is one of the earliest and most influential examples of a novel of manners and can also be classified as belonging to the genre of realism because it focuses on the everyday life of ordinary people and does not include any sensational or supernatural events. It is at the same belongs to the genre of both “Romantic Fiction” and “Satire”.
The news that an affluent young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the manor of Netherfield Park causes great excitement in the nearby village of Longbourn, especially in the Bennet household. The Bennets have five unmarried daughters — from oldest to youngest, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia — and Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see them all married. After Mr. Bennet pays a social visit to Mr. Bingley, the Bennets attend a party at which Mr. Bingley is present. He is taken with Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with her. His close friend, Mr. Darcy, is less pleased with the evening and refuses to dance with Elizabeth, which makes everyone view him as arrogant and offensive. At social functions over the following weeks, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself increasingly attracted to Elizabeth’s grace and perspicacity. Jane’s friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to burgeon, and Jane pays a visit to the Bingley property. On her journey to the house, she is caught in a downpour and catches ill, forcing her to stay at Netherfield for several days. To tend to Jane, Elizabeth explores through muddy fields and arrives with a stained dress, much to the disdain of the snobbish Miss Bingley, Charles Bingley’s sister. Miss Bingley’s spite only intensifies when she notices that Darcy, whom she is pursuing, pays quite a bit of concentration to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth and Jane return home, they find Mr. Collins visiting their house. Mr. Collins is a young clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property, which has been “entailed,” meaning that it can only be passed down to male heirs. Mr. Collins is a conceited fool, though he is quite spellbound by the Bennet girls. Shortly after his arrival, he proposes marriage to Elizabeth. She turns him down, upsetting his pride. Meanwhile, the Bennet girls have become friendly with militia officers commissioned in a nearby town. Among them is Wickham, a good-looking young soldier who is friendly toward Elizabeth and tells her how Darcy viciously cheated him out of an inheritance. At the beginning of winter, the Bingleys, and Darcy leave Netherfield and return to London, much to Jane’s dismay. A further shock arrives with the news that Mr. Collins has become engaged to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend and the poor daughter of a local knight. Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons. Charlotte and Mr. Collins get married and Elizabeth promises to visit them at their current home. As winter advances, Jane visits the city to see friends (hoping also that she might see Mr. Bingley). However, Miss Bingley visits her and behaves rudely, while Mr. Bingley fails to visit her at all. The marriage prospects for the Bennet girls arrive bleak. That spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte, who now lives near the home of Mr. Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make several visits to Collins’s home, where she is staying. One day, he makes a shocking proposal of marriage, which Elizabeth quickly refuses. She tells Darcy that she considers him arrogant and unpleasant, then scolds him for steering Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting Wickham. Darcy leaves her but shortly thereafter delivers a letter to her. In this letter, he admits that he urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane, but claims he did so only because he imagined their romance was not serious. As for Wickham, he informs Elizabeth that the young officer is a liar and that the real cause of their disagreement was Wickham’s attempt to elope with his young sister, Georgiana Darcy. This letter causes Elizabeth to reevaluate her feelings about Darcy. She returns home and acts coldly toward Wickham. The militia is leaving town, which makes the younger, rather man-crazy Bennet girls distraught. Lydia manages to obtain permission from her father to spend the summertime with an old colonel in Brighton, where Wickham’s regiment will be stationed. With the arrival of June, Elizabeth goes on another journey, this time with the Gardiners, who are relatives of the Bennets. The voyage takes her to the North and eventually to the community of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate. She visits Pemberley, after making sure that Darcy is away, and delights in the building and grounds while hearing from Darcy’s servants that he is a wonderful, generous master. Suddenly, Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his proposal, he entertains the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister. Shortly thereafter, however, a letter arrives from home, telling Elizabeth that Lydia has eloped with Wickham and that the couple is nowhere to be found, which suggests that they may be living together out of wedlock. Fearful of the disgrace such a situation would bring on her entire family, Elizabeth hastens home. Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet go off to search for Lydia, but Mr. Bennet eventually returns home empty-handed. Just when all hope seems lost, a letter comes from Mr. Gardiner saying that the couple has been found and that Wickham has agreed to marry Lydia in exchange for an annual salary. The Bennets are convinced that Mr. Gardiner has paid off Wickham, but Elizabeth learns that the source of the money, and her family’s salvation, was none other than Darcy. Now married, Wickham and Lydia return to Longbourn briefly, where Mr. Bennet treats them coldly. They then depart for Wickham’s new assignment in the North of England. Shortly thereafter, Bingley returns to Netherfield and resumes his courtship of Jane. Darcy goes to stay with him and pays visits to the Bennets but makes no mention of his excitement to marry Elizabeth. Bingley, on the other hand, presses his suit and proposes to Jane, to the delight of everyone but Bingley’s haughty sister. While the family celebrates, Lady Catherine de Bourgh pays a visit to Longbourn. She corners Elizabeth and says that she has heard that Darcy, her nephew, is planning to marry her. Since she admits Bennet an unsuitable match for a Darcy, Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth promise to refuse him. Elizabeth spiritedly refuses, saying she is not engaged to Darcy, but she will not promise anything against her happiness. A little later, Elizabeth and Darcy go out walking together and he tells her that his sentiments have not altered since the spring. She tenderly accepts his proposal, and both Jane and Elizabeth are married.
In “Pride and Prejudice”, Austen portrays the family as primarily responsible for the rational and ethical education of the children. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s failure to impart proper education among their daughters leads to the utter shamelessness, frivolity, and immorality of Lydia. In the 19th-century English society injustices based on gender were very common. The novel depicts how money plays a role in developing a conjugal relationship. Austen believes that women are as intelligent and capable as man, and considers their inferior status in society to be unjust The novel depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is considered to be of the utmost importance. The novel portrays one of the most cherished love stories in English literature — the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. Thus we see that the appropriateness of the title of Pride and Prejudice is indeed unquestionable and it bears immense significance to the plot, thematic concerns, and characterization in the novel. But the novel has been criticized for its lack of historical context, the existence of its characters in a social bubble that is rarely penetrated by events beyond it is an accurate portrayal of the enclosed social world in which Austen lived. She depicted that world, in all its narrow pride and prejudice, with unswerving accuracy and satire. At the same time, she placed at its center, as both its prime actor and most perceptive critic, a character so well-conceived and rendered that the reader cannot but be gripped by her story and wish for its happy dénouement. In the end, Austen’s novel has remained popular largely because of Elizabeth — who was reportedly Austen’s favorite among all her heroines — and because of the enduring appeal to men and women alike of a well-told and potentially happily ending love story.
“Pride and Prejudice”, like its title, offers deceptively simple antitheses that yield up the complexity of life itself. This book truly has the best of all worlds — a wonderful romance, lovable characters, humor, and beautiful writing. The characters in the story each have their unique roles in the story, and if you didn’t take the time to read it carefully the first time chances are you miss a lot of information about them. I would recommend this book to anyone — fans of romance, family-oriented stories, comedies, fans of classics, and even reluctant readers of classics who would like an easy gateway into the world of classic novels.
