Review of Pride and Prejudice
--Rassendyll Yan
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is regarded as one of the most famous English
literature ever since it was first published in 1813. The book telling a story of the
Bennets with five daughters but no sons has a micro but deep insight of society and
human nature. The title covers two main psychological features of general people
which are shown in the characters of the novel of which, more specifically, „pride‟
indicates Mr. Darcy, the hero, while „prejudice‟ indicates Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the
heroin.
Summary
The novel begins with the entrance of a rich bachelor, Mr. Bingley with his two sisters,
Caroline Bingley and Luisa Hurst and his friend, Mr. Darcy to Longbourn and Mr.s
Bennet‟s requiring her husband call upon the newcomers to see if one of theirs five
daughters can marry the gentleman. Mr. Bingley is attracted by Jane Bennet, the
eldest of the five at their first meeting, they fall in love with each other after several
balls and at the mean time, Elizabeth Bennet the second eldest of the five seizes the
attention of Mr. Darcy. However, because of family dignity from the man and the
prejudice caused by imprudent judgment of the lady, the Darcy-Lizzy relationship
hasn‟t the same development as that of Mr. Bingley and Jane, the prejudice of which
has deepened even further with the appearance of Mr. Wickham, the son of Mr.
Darcy‟s late father‟s steward, and his intended wrong saying of Mr. Darcy. And
Elizabeth is even fond of Wickham herself.
When the Bennets and the neighborhood observe the development of Mr. Bingley and
Jane, Mr. Collins pays a visit to Longbourn who is the cousin of the girls and the heir
of the property of the Bennets after Mr.. Bennet die. Mr. Collins is a clergyman and
crazily admires his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh who happens to be sister of
Darcy‟s mother. Mr.. Collins offers his proposal to Elizabeth Bennet during his stay in
Longbourn, but rejected. The he turns to Charlotte Lucas and marries her to fulfill his
purpose to visit Longbourn—getting married.
As the consequence of the conspiracy of Caroline Bingley and Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley
believes the indifference of the Jane, thus, they separate. Even when Jane pays a visit
to Caroline when she is in London with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mr.s Gardiner,
they keep this as a secret to Bingley
After the marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte, Elizabeth is invited to visit them in
Hunsford, where they pay several visits to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. During
Elizabeth‟s stay in Hunsford, she meets Mr. Darcy and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam,
the former of which offers a proposal in an arrogant manner to Elizabeth but refused.
The next day Elizabeth receives a letter from Mr. Darcy which tells the truth about his
interfering of Bingley-Jane relationship as well as the evil of Mr. Wickham
particularly the intended elopement with Georgiana Darcy, younger sister of Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth returns to Longbourn with mixed emotion and her feeling to Mr.
Darcy begins to change. Lydia receives an invitation to Brighton with Colonel
Forster‟s wife. Though trying to persuade her father, Elizabeth doesn‟t make it to
prevent Lydia from the trip to Brighton.
After a long misery time in her home, Elizabeth is asked to go north with her uncle
and aunt. They pay a visit to Pemberley, Mr. Darcy‟s estate. The earlier return of the
master surprises both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And the change in Mr. Darcy‟s attitude
confuses Elizabeth and he ever wants to make his sister Georgiana acquaintance with
Miss Elizabeth. There she also meets Mr. Bingley and his sisters. When Elizabeth
enjoying her journey, two letters from Jane ends the trip earlier than plan—their
youngest sister Lydia has run away with Wickham. Elizabeth and her uncle and aunt
hurries to Longbourn and Mr. Gardiner set out to assist Mr. Bennet in finding Lydia
while Mr.s Gardiner remains at Longbourn to look after the Mr.s Bennet and rest of
the family. Lydia is found at last and marries Wickham in town. When the new couple
returns to Longbourn, Lydia gives out that Mr. Darcy was in the wedding of Wickham
and Lydia. Elizabeth discovers that it was Mr. Darcy who help find Wickham and
Lydia and persuade Wickham to marry Lydia.
Bingley and Darcy suddenly return to Meryton and visit the Bennets again. Bingley
soon get engaged with Jane. At the mean time, Lady Catherine de Bourgh suddenly
drops by Longbourn to make Elizabeth promise not to marry Darcy. Elizabeth
rejected firmly and Darcy comes propose again, accepted by Elizabeth. At last, they
get married and live happily together.
Characters
Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet is the second of the five daughters of the Bennets who is the heroin
of the novel. She is a smart independent woman, deeply loved by her father, Mr.
Bennet. She has her own unique opinion of whatever she meets, and always likes to
make judgments at the first sight, which naturally leads to some mis-judgment and
prejudice—her misunderstanding of Mr. Darcy. She is a brave woman who is true to
herself. She always follows her own feeling when dealing with different kinds of
things happen in her life. Her dislike of Mr. Darcy, her travel to look after Jane, her
initial fancy of Mr. Wickham, her rejection of Mr. Collins proposal, her temped
prevention from Lydia going to Bridgton, etc, all of these show her loyalty to her own
feelings. And because of her direct personality and braveness, she catches the
attention of Mr. Darcy and makes his propose twice and, finally, get her happiness.
She also shows her courage to court equality, (though not the main theme of the novel
nor the author‟ tendency to court equality) when Lady Catherine de Bourgh rudely
requests her not to accept any of Darcy‟s proposal. „In marrying your nephew, I
should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a
gentleman‟s daughter; so far we are equal.‟ This what she says to Lady Catherine de
Bourgh and her rejection to de Bourgh expresses her being true to herself which may
has been lost and should be learnt by people or everyone who always thinks about
