Characters:
- Elizabeth Bennet: She is the second daughter in the Bennet family. She is most intelligent, lovely and clever. She also has a very sharp tongue, which sometimes gets her in trouble with people who believe in society’s views (women have to behave a certain way). But her honesty and cleverness enables her to rise above the class-bound society. Nevertheless, her tendency to make hasty judgments is what leads her astray in this story. She realizes her prejudices are wrong and finally sees the nobility of Darcy’s character.
- Fitzwilliam Darcy: He is the son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley. He is intelligent and very frank. He, just as Elizabeth, judges people too hastily. All in all Darcy is Elizabeth’s male counterpart. In the beginning he seems overly proud but as the story advances you see him show humility.
- Jane Bennet: She is the eldest daughter of the Bennet family. She is very cheerful, friendly and good-natured. She is always ready to think the best of others. Jane’s gentle spirit is in complete contrasts with Elizabeth’s fiery spirit.
- Charles Bingley: He is Darcy’s considerable wealthy best friend. He is just like Jane. He is friendly and good-natured. He doesn’t care about class differences but is persuaded by Darcy to consider them. Thus you see another aspect of his countenance, he aims to please his friends by listening to their advice and/or criticism.
- Mr. Bennet: He is the head of the Bennet family. He is driven to isolation because of his ridiculous wife and difficult children. He reacts by withdrawing himself from his family: his library becomes his sanctuary. He is a weak father and, at critical moments, fails his family. Ultimately, Mr. Bennet would rather withdraw from the world than cope with it.
- Mrs. Bennet: She is a foolish, noisy woman. The only thing she cares about is seeing her daughters married. But because of her low breeding and her unbecoming behavior, she often repels the very men she tries to attract for her daughters.
- George Wickham: He is a handsome, fortune-hunting military officer. Wickham’s good looks and charm attract Elizabeth, but after what Darcy tells her about his past, she discovers Wickham’s true nature.
- Lydia Bennet: She is the youngest daughter of the Bennet family. She is gossipy, immature and self-involved. Lydia flings herself into romance, in other words men.
- Mr. Collins: He is a snobby clergyman who stands to inherit Mr.Bennet’s property. Mr. Collins own social status is nothing to brag about but he makes sure that everyone knows that Lady Catherine de Bourgh is his patroness.
- Charlotte Lucas: She is Elizabeth’s dear friend. She does not view love as the most important aspect of a relationship. The most important thing for her is to be well taken care of and to have a comfortable home.
4. Who tells the story?
The story is being told from Elizabeth’s point of view mostly. The story is told in the third person.
5. Structure: The story is divided in 61 chapters. The story is in chronological order and doesn’t have any flashbacks or flash forwards. The time sometimes skips ahead to more important periods and at other times, it seems because that part of the story is explained so detailed, as if time is standing still.
6. Motifs:
- Courtships: In Pride and Prejudice everyone believes in the notion that women must marry, one of society’s norms in those times. Therefore there would be courtships between men and women before marrying, with marriage as the ultimate goal of this courtship. In this story you see so many different courtships. But the story evolves around 2 main courtships, that of Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane.
- Journeys: Every time someone goes on a journey, it means that a big change is fore coming or that some kind of action/drama is going to take place. E.g. Elizabeth’s first journey: she visits Charlotte and Mr. Collins. On this journey Darcy first proposes to her and she learns the truth about Wickham.
On Elizabeth’s second journey she is taken to Derby and Pemberley. This is when she finally starts to fall for Darcy.
The third journey is when various people are in pursuit of Wickham and Lydia. This journey ends with Darcy saving the Bennet family honor and so again showing his devotion for Elizabeth.
7. Genre: Romance novel
B.Interpretation
1. Central Theme:
- Love: This is the main theme of the story: The courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. In every love story ever written the two lovers go through obstacles to be together. And so in this story they must put aside their pride and realize that their prejudices were wrong, in order for them to realize the true character of the other person. They must separate themselves from society’s norms and notions and realize that their true love is right in front of them.
In this novel, the author also shows the contrast between true love and love made because of society’s rules. True love, is that of Darcy and Elizabeth when they overcome all obstacles to be together. Love made because of society’s rules, is that of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, they don’t marry for love but because it suits them. The mind, influenced by society and what society believes people need in life, decides that a marriage between those two (Mr. Collins and Miss Lucas) is suitable and therefore right.
- Reputation: In the setting in which the novel was written a person’s reputation was of great importance. For instance a woman could get a bad reputation for not adhering to the rules society set for her. See in the novel a woman was expected to behave in certain ways. Elizabeth strays away from this idea that a woman should be pleasing and always agree with everyone and such things. Her character is so spirited in comparison with all other women in the novel, she is a very opinionated woman who is very frank with her thoughts.
- Class: In Pride and Prejudice the lines of class are strictly drawn. The Bennets are seen as the middle class with the Darcy’s and Bingley’s as the higher class. This is why the Bennets are treated as inferiors. You can see this class-bound society clearly in the way Mr. Collins acts to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mr. Collins spends most of his time worshipping the ground she walks on. And so he submits to the fact that she is superior to him of lower standing.
The author shows through the marriage between Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane that love and happiness can overcome class boundaries and prejudices.
2. The Connection between Title and Theme:
The title signifies how both Darcy and Elizabeth’s pride as well as their prejudices hold them back from love. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a first impression; she then forms a prejudiceabout Darcy. And so also Darcy does so: he is too proud to get to know a woman of such low standing and forms a prejudice in his mind about women of poor social standing.
Through these prejudices you see that society has influenced them. Class and reputation seem more important to them but they overcome these obstacles and so fall in love.
3. Atmosphere and language:
The story was well formulated but no hard used of language. It was realistic, but not pessimistic. It was a very ‘bright and light’, as the author calls it, story.
C. Personal Evaluation
- I thought the book was well written and it made you understand the ideas of those days better. But I think because we live in a different time now I didn’t like or understand most of the characters. The only two characters I liked were Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s. Their characters were understandable but they still lacked true feeling. And that was what the whole story missed true emotion.
- Realistic because all the events could’ve happened. The chances seem slim though to find two rich guys for the two sisters and also what makes the chances slimmer is that they are two guys who are very devoted to their women.
- The general theme of the book: to put aside pride and to realize that it’s wrong to form a prejudice without knowing the facts. It’s a message I believe the author did a good job in bringing this forward. But again the main thing the author forgot were the feelings behind true love.
D. Summary
The news that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the manor of Netherfield Park causes a great stir in the nearby village of Longbourn, especially in the Bennet household. The Bennets have five unmarried daughters—from oldest to youngest, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia—and Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see them all married. After Mr. Bennet pays a social visit to Mr. Bingley, the Bennets attend a ball at which Mr. Bingley is present. He is taken with Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with her. His close friend, Mr. Darcy, is less pleased with the evening and haughtily refuses to dance with Elizabeth, which makes everyone, view him as arrogant and obnoxious.
At social functions over subsequent weeks, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself increasingly attracted to Elizabeth's charm and intelligence. Jane's friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to burgeon, and Jane pays a visit to the Bingley mansion. On her journey to the house she is caught in a downpour and catches ill, forcing her to stay at Netherfield for several days. In order to tend to Jane, Elizabeth hikes through muddy fields and arrives with a spattered dress, much to the disdain of the snobbish Miss Bingley, Charles Bingley's sister. Miss Bingley's spite only increases when she notices that Darcy, whom she is pursuing, pays quite a bit of attention to Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth and Jane return home, they find Mr. Collins visiting their household. Mr. Collins is a young clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet's property, which has been "entailed," meaning that it can only be passed down to male heirs. Mr. Collins is a pompous fool, though he is quite enthralled b