synopsis PandP

Pride and Prejudice

Author:  Jane Austin

Setting: Neitherfield, England

Plot: The Bennetts who have five unmarried daughters hear that Mr. Bingley is moving into Nietherfield park Mansion.  This is a great cause of excitement as the Bennett property has been enwalled. Also Mrs. Bennett is desperate to see her daughters married. Then there is a dance. At this dance Mr. Bingley brings his friend Mr. Darcy. While Bingley falls for the oldest daughter Jane, Darcy sees Lizzy, the second daughter.  At first he rejects her because she is a lower class citizen. However he soon begins to fall for her.  After a brief illness Mr. Collins comes to court the girls. He eventually purposes to Elizabeth but she refuses him.  We later find out that Mr. Collins marries Lizzy’s best friend Charlotte. Soon a regiment comes to a nearby village. Lydia gets permission to go and stay at an old colonial’s house where she meets Mr. Wickham. She eventually runs away with him.  Mr. Darcy finds out and pays him to marry Lydia.  When Elizabeth sees this she realizes how wonderful he is. In the end Jane marries Bingley and Elizabeth marries Darcy. 

Significant Characters

Elizabeth: Strong , independent , eventually marries Darcy

Darcy: Confident sometimes a little to confident. At first seen as arrogant

Jane: Quiet, “proper” women. Eventually marries Bingley

Mr. Bingley: proper, is easily influenced by Darcy, Marries Jane

Lydia: Slut. Runs away and marries Wickham. She is easily influenced by her overbearing mother.

Point of View:  This is told in third person.  The narrator is omniscient. The narrator is reliable.

Imagery: Once Jane gets sick. Austin does a very good job of describing how Elizabeth gets there and describing what she looks like when she got there. She also does a good showing the Bingley sisters disgust. You can really feel for Elizabeth.

tone: the voice is hopeful

Symbolism: This book is relatively free of symbolism. Perhaps this is because of the amount of dialogue.  One very clear one though is Darcy’s house. Everything about it is a symbol. The river is a direct symbol of Darcy it is not adorned unnecessarily. The house itself is a symbol of Lizzy’s love. Her love for the  house grows as her love for him grows.

Memorable quotes

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This is the opening line of the novel. This is part of the reason why Mrs. Darcy is so marriage happy.

“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.” This is how Darcy first views Elizabeth. Perhaps this would be a good quote to use if you wanted to show that people often change because he ends up marring Elizabeth.

Theme

The message is You should be independent but still follow the rules of society. In this case women should get married.

How I know: Elizabeth has lots of opportunities to marry but she refuses. She thinks for herself and ends up marring Darcy and being much better off than her sisters or her friends. However the feminist in me wonders if she really ends up independent because she still gets married and does not really end “independent”.