Pride and Prejudice
Pride and prejudice was written by Jane Austen in 1813. It is a romantic novel, one of the first of its kind. Jane Austen was born in 1775 in the United Kingdom. Her novels are about the importance of social status and women’s economic dependence on their husbands. Jane Austen wrote about rich people who had money and property, they were members of the upper class. Some people were richer than others. They did not work, they visited each other, and they met at balls and dances. In those days men were given money and property by their fathers, daughters stayed at home, women did not have any way of making money. They learned to read and write, to draw and sew. It was very important for a woman to marry a rich man if she wanted to have a comfortable life. Pride and prejudice deals with this issue, Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with finding suitable partners for her five daughters. This novel is one of the most famous novels of its genre and era. Jane Austen died in 1817 at the age of 41.
Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet have five daughters, Elisabeth she is twenty years old, she’s intelligent, clever, funny and a little bit proud, Jane she is the oldest sister, she is twenty-three years old, is reserved and sweet, Lydia she is the youngest of the sisters, she is fifteen years old, is vain, obstinate and imprudent, Marry and Kitty. All the sisters are single, and their mother tries to marry them off to rich men. Bingley is a new man in town who is rich and friendly, the perfect husband for any lucky girl. Mrs. Bennet wants Elisabeth to marry Bingley but the girl doesn’t like this guy. Bingley is polite, extroverted and very rich. Another option for Elisabeth is Darcy, an intelligent, arrogant, proud and rich man. During a ball Darcy says to Bingley that Elisabeth is not much pretty for his friend. This word affects to Elisabeth, and she promises to herself that she will not fall in love with Darcy. In the meantime Jane and Bingley fall in love. When Mrs.Bennet realizes that her daughter and Bingley are in love she presses this relationship. Elisabeth and Darcy keep seeing eacheother and finally they fall in love too. Some days late arrives in the town Collins, the cousin of the Bennet sisters, who is twenty-five years old, he is a clergyman who is funny and a little bit dumb. This clergyman is rejected by his cousin Elisabeth, because she loves Darcy. Then Collins gets marryed to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend. At the same time Elisabeth rejects Darcy and this feels so sad. Next George Wickham, a handsome officer in the military, fall in love with Elisabeth and she rejects him too. Some days later Bingley goes to London, and he leaves Jane alone. Darcy declares again his love to Elisabeth, but he explains it very bad. One more time Elisabeth rejects him but this time she is very rude, because Darcy convinces Bingley to leave Jane. Some weeks later Darcy gives a letter to Elisabeth, and she laments her decision. Elisabeth goes with her uncles to a trip, one day the girl goes to Darcy’s house, and they fall in love again. At the same time in town Lydia Bennet and Wickham escape and Darcy feels responsible. This event divides Darcy and Elisabeth. In secret Darcy pays some money to Wickham to get married to Lydia. They accept and all the town celebrate a wedding. At the same time Bingley returns, and he and Jane get married too. Darcy goes to London but at the end of the novel he and Elisabeth get married too.
In this novel we can find a lot of interesting things, we can find the importance of the marriage in that era, the noticeable discrimination of women and the different social classes.
I like this book because I learned something of this era like the social context. I learned new word like fault, steward or disgrace. Some vocabulary is difficult and the book has a lot of different names. In conclusion this is a classic book that all people have to read some time.
Characters:
Elisabeth: she is the protagonist of the book, she is 20 years old. She’s intelligent, clever, funny and a little bit proud. She has a lot of prejudices at the start of the book but finally she learns to be more tolerant.
Darcy: he is the masculine protagonist of the novel. He’s intelligent, rich, shy, arrogant and very proud. Actually Darcy is honest and a very good person. Over the book he falls in love with Elisabeth.
Mr.Bennet: he is a family man, he is funny, but he avoids his daughters and his wife.
Mrs. Bennet: she is the mother of the Bennet’s family. She is gossipy and rude. She only wants her daughters to get married.
Jane Bennet: she is the oldest sister, she is 23 years old. She is reserved and sweet. In the end she and Bingley get married.
Lydia Bennet: she is the youngest of the sisters, she is 15 years old. She is vain, obstinate and imprudent. At the end of the novel she marries Wickham.
Bingley: he is new to the city. He is polite, extroverted and very rich. He marries one of the Bennet daughters, Jane.
Collins: he is the cousin of the Bennet sisters, he is 25 years old. He is a clergyman who is funny and a little bit dumb. He is rejected by his cousin Elisabeth.
Wickham: he is an enemy of Darcy. He is a handsome officer in the military. In the end he married Lydia Bennet.