Resumo de Pride And Prejudice

This classic
novel?s opening gambit is a delightful comment on the 18th Century
conception of love - 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a gentleman
in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'!

Next comes the
irascible Mrs Bennett, lambasting her long suffering husband for not visiting
their new neighbour Mr George Bingley, who, she has been reliably informed is
not only worth five thousand pounds a year but is also single.

When they meet
for the first time at the assembly rooms for a society gathering of dancing,
music, supper and cards, Mr Bingley appears friendly and affable, but his two
sisters, Miss Caroline Bingley and Mrs Hirst with her insipid husband are
insufferably proud, as is their family friend, Mr Fitwilliam Darcy.

Elizabeth Bennet,
decides that from the moment she hears him telling George Bingley that there is
no one at the gathering he would waste his time associating with, Mr Darcy is
proud, rude, standoffish and declares she openly despises him.

Her four sisters
are foils to her lively character, forgiving and naive Jane, studious Mary,
light hearted Kitty, and flamboyant, flirtatious Lydia who make every public
occasion both embarrassing and outrageous.

Jane and Mr
Bingley are immediately attracted, but under the influence of his proud friend,
and his sisters, Bingley is persuaded she has no real feelings for him, so he
leaves for London.

The Rev Mr
Collins, a cousin to the Bennets and the heir of the entailed estate, visits
Longbourn to assuage his guilt by planning to make one of the girls his
wife. On finding out Jane is likely to
become engaged, he turns his attentions to Elizabeth.

Horrified, Lizzie
refuses him, but not in the least put out, Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth?s
friend Charlotte Lucas, who explains to an aghast Lizzie that her ambitions lie
in a comfortable home and respectability, not love.

Jane goes to stay
in London with her uncle and aunt, and calls upon the Bingleys but is not made
welcome. Lizzie is convinced the
sisters have not told George Bingley she is in town and this proves to be true.

The two younger
Bennet girls, Mary and Lydia ostentatiously chase members of the militia
stationed locally, much to Elizabeth?s chagrin but Mr Bennet doesn?t take his
daughter?s misgivings seriously and ignores her warnings.

One of these
officers is Wickham, who informs the Bennets that the Darcy family owes him a
debt by means of a living, but Mr Darcy denied his right and cast him off for
no reason. Lizzie likes Wickham and
feels this only confirms her opinion of Darcy as a proud, uncaring individual.

When Lydia is
invited to Brighton when the regiment is relocated, her father gives his
permission to go and the scene is set for disaster.

Elizabeth goes to
stay with the Collins?s, and sees Charlotte is content with her lot, but her
ingratiating husband thrusts them all into the sphere of the ?condescending?
Lady Catherine de Bourg and her insipid daughter Anne. When Lizzie discovers Mr Darcy is the Lady?s
cousin and has been promised to Anne since childhood, she comments the pale and
cross Anne will make him a ?proper wife?.

While at the vicarage,
Darcy calls and proposes to Elizabeth, making it clear that he loves and
admires her against every natural inclination due to her low connections. Elizabeth is furious at his pompous manner
and refuses him, citing his attitude towards Wickham and his separation of her
sister Jane and George Bingley as examples of his spite.

Darcy writes
Elizabeth a letter explaining his true relationship with Wickham, showing he is
a womanizer and waster who attempted to elope with Miss Georgiana Darcy when
she was fifteen in an act of spite.

Confused by
having misunderstood him, Elizabeth goes to Derbyshire with her Aunt and Uncle
Gardiner and visits Pemberley, the Darcy estate. Unexpectedly, Darcy is there and when he sees Elizabeth, although
taken by surprise he entertains the Gardiners admirably and Lizzie comes away
with a different view of him.

Darcy introduces
his sister to Elizabeth and invites her to dinner at Pemberley, where Lizzie?s
feeling start to change. The holiday is
cut short when a letter from Jane arrives telling her Lydia has eloped with
Wickham. Mr Darcy finally earns
Lizzie?s good opinion when he secretly intervenes to rescue Lydia, who is
unaware that Wickham has no intention of marrying her.

Lady Catherine De
Bourgh arrives at Longbourn to insist Elizabeth promise not to become engaged
to her nephew, but Elizabeth announces she will do no such thing. Darcy and Bingley call at Longbourn and
George and Jane re-establish their relationship until he proposes.

Elizabeth thanks
Darcy for his intervention in Lydia?s elopement and when he tells her his
feelings are the same, she admits hers are very different. The book ends with a very satisfying double
wedding and Mrs Bennet declaring she is the happiest woman to have three
daughters married.

A true comedy of
manners and society with a protagonist you cannot help but love, partly because
her judgment is initially flawed. The
dialogue is acerbic and poignant, poking fun at nineteenth century society in general
and the vapid rich and their obsession with class and social connections in
particular.

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