Resumo de Pride And Prejudice

The importance of making a good marriage takes precedence as the theme of Austen's text. Against the background of early nineteenth century England, the parents of the Bennet family of Meryton have a task ahead. Mr Bennet is the victim of the quirky laws of inheritance and, having only five daughters and no son, has his estate entailed to (inherited by) his nearest male relative - the sycophantic Mr Collins. Faced with the prospect of marrying off five daughters (three of whom are remarkably foolish) Mrs Bennet (from whom they certainly inherit their foolishness) must scheme to find husbands for her daughters. English custom dictates that the eldest must marry first and so Jane, beautiful but rather passive, is virtually "thrown" at Mr Bingley, a wealthy tenant of nearby Netherfield Park, despite the disapproval of Mr Darcy - his proud and disdainful friend.
Mr Darcy can find nothing praiseworthy in the provincial society of Meryton and says so, much to the disgust of the clever and outspoken Elizabeth Bennet. After realising that Darcy has encouraged Bingley to remove himself from the community and abandon any courtship of her sister, Jane, Elizabeth forms a strong prejudice against Darcy and is therefore ready to listen to false criticisms of him from all and sundry - notably from the opportunistic Mr Wickham, who plays upon her good opinion and her family's obvious eagerness to have eligible young officers pay attention to the marriage-hungry daughters.
Elizabeth has firmly set her mind against Darcy. He, in turn, is entranced by her, and even though he has major reservations about her family and background, he declares his love. Elizabeth rejects him - aware of his doubts, appalled by his honesty in declaring them and outraged by his role in discouraging Bingley from courting Jane. Almost immediately afterwards, she suspects that she loves him too, and is aware that this high-minded action could be a serious mistake.
Wickham, meanwhile, seduces and decamps with Lydia, the youngest and the silliest of Elizabeth's sisters and then waits to be plied with sufficient monetary inducement to marry her and save her from moral and social disgrace.
Although Elizabeth does not realise it at the time, Darcy is the eventual saviour of her sister, paying Wickham enough to persuade him to marry the girl. When Elizabeth discovers this, she realises that her prejudice might have caused her to lose the man who is, in fact, her love, her equal in wit and her ideal husband.
All is resolved, however. Elizabeth is given the opportunity to admit and regret her prejudice; Darcy puts aside his pride and they freely confess their love at last.
Austen's theme concludes the novel. Marriage is the goal and the outcome. As Darcy is ready to acknowledge his love for Elizabeth, Bingley returns to marry Jane. The celebration of their nuptials has erased Wickham's caddish behaviour towards Lydia. All is well.

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