Resumo de Pride And Prejudice

The opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice is perhaps among the most quoted lines in English literature. In those few words, Jane Austen sets out the book's basic premise and gives the reader an idea of what to expect in the pages that follow. The opening words also set the tone for the novel. As Austen herself wrote in one of her letters, the overwhelming impression is of a light, bright and sparkling piece of work.

In brief, the plot of Pride & Prejudice centers around the Bennets. Mr Benet is a country gentleman of limited means whose estate in the village of Longbourn is entailed upon a distant cousin. Mrs Bennet is his loud and undignified wife, and her only concern is to get her five daughters satisfactorily married off. Of the daughters, Jane, the eldest, is also the most beautiful and good-natured. Elizabeth (Lizzy), the second, is in many ways the heroine of Pride and Prejudice and though not as beautiful as her elder sister, is intelligent, sensitive, quick-witted and her father's favorite.

Catherine (Kitty), the next in line, is a bit of a non-entity who follows her youngest sister Lydia in all things. Mary, the fourth child, is a plain girl of limited talents, who nevertheless loses no opportunity to flaunt her musical and academic accomplishments. Finally, Lydia, the fifth, is a vulgar and incorrigibly flirtatious young woman who throws herself at the soldiers stationed at nearby Meryton, with her mother's active encouragement.

Into this situation enter Charles Bingley, a rich aristocrat who comes to live at Netherfield Park near Longbourn, and his even richer friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, master of a splendid estate at Pemberley. When the novel opens, the Bennet household is abuzz with talk of Bingley's arrival and his reputed income of 'five thousand a year'. It is evident that Mrs Bennet is planning for one of her daughters to 'catch' the eminently eligible bachelor. Soon, there is a ball at Meryton, where Bingley makes his admiration for Jane quite obvious. However, his friend Darcy draws criticism for his snobbish behavior and snubs Elizabeth by refusing to dance with her.

As the novel progresses, however, Darcy finds himself drawn strongly to the lively Elizabeth while at the same time growing increasingly disgusted with her bad-mannered family. Elizabeth, on the other hand, contradicts him at every opportunity to pay him back for his initial rudeness and his general arrogance, and she resents him all the more when she meets George Wickham, a charming soldier who claims Darcy did him a grave injustice in the past.

To top it all, Bingley, who had shown every sign of wishing to take his relationship with Jane further, suddenly leaves Netherfield without a word of explanation to her. Elizabeth, already fuming at Jane's plight, goes on a visit to Darcy's part of the country and soon learns that it was he who convinced Bingley about the unsuitability of Jane as a wife. Her turbulent emotions are thrown into further confusion when, out of the blue, Darcy proposes to her. It is in every sense a graceless and offensive proposal, and Elizabeth's refusal is equally vehement as she accuses him of ruining Jane's happiness and ill-treating Wickham.

In explanation, Darcy writes her a long letter, and though he makes no attempt to deny his part in Bingley's removal from Netherfield, he lays down the facts of his relationship with Wickham, who, it turns out, is a dissolute rake who once eloped with Darcy's teenage sister Georgiana. Elizabeth realises that she may have been too 'prejudiced' regarding Darcy, but before she can sort the matter out, he leaves his estate. The two next meet when Elizabeth is once again touring the neighborhood with her uncle and aunt, and the meeting seems to herald their renewed romance, but before matters can progress further, news arrives of another elopement -- that of Wickham and Lydia. Elizabeth promptly goes home, acutely conscious that Darcy was perhaps right in her family.

The mess is eventually resolved when Wickham marries Lydia, but Elizabeth is further mortified to learn that Darcy played a large part in forcing Wickham's cooperation. Then, to everyone's surprise, Bingley and Darcy return to Netherfield, though Elizabeth is convinced that neither will pay any attention to Jane or herself. That misconception is soon cleared up when Bingley reaffirms his affection and this time actually proposes to Jane. Soon after, Darcy follows suit with Elizabeth and Mrs Bennet is reduced to tears of joy at the prospect of three married daughters!

A vicar's daughter who always led a sheltered life, Austen shows remarkable humor and perspicacity in handling her characters and effortlessly creates situations that show the acute class differences in 18th century England. She also paints a detailed portrait of a woman's place in contemporary English society and shows how important marriage was in women's scheme of things, because marriage was a sure way of improving a woman's financial situation. Interwoven into this main theme are the finely drawn secondary characters, who remain with the reader long after the book is back on its shelf.

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