Pride and Prejudice Synthesis and Analysis

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• Author: Jane Austen
• Setting:  England in the late 1700s to early 1800s
• Plot:
• The rumor reaches Mrs. Bennet at Longbourn that Mr. Bingley, a wealthy young man is renting the nearby Netherfield Park, causing excitement in the house for all the girls: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.
• There is a ball and Mr. Bingley attends with his friend Mr. Darcy who refuses to dance with Elizabeth and dislikes the ball entirely, gaining him the reputation of an arrogant wealthy man.
• As the weeks go by Darcy finds himself liking Elizabeth more and more, meanwhile Jane and Bingley are falling in love while Jane is stuck at Netherfield because she is gets sick on the ride over.
• After Jane and Lizzy return from Netherfield (Lizzy was helping her sister), Mr. Collins, to whom the estate will go after Mr. Bennet dies, visits the family.  Mrs. Bennet tries to set up Lizzy and Mr. Collins, but Lizzy won’t have it.
• Elizabeth and the other girls meet Wickham, and Lizzy is attracted to him quickly.  Soon she learns about the history between Wickham and Darcy from Wickham’s point of view.
• The Bennet family is disappointed not long after these events when the party at Netherfield leaves for London and Mr. Collins gets engaged to Charlotte instead of one of the Bennet girls.  During this Winter Jane goes to London to visit some of their relatives, but is disappointed when she does not see Bingley at all.
• In the following Spring Lizzy visits Charlotte and meets Darcy at the estate of the patroness Mr. Collins works for.  Over the course of her visit Lizzy sees Darcy often, and near the end of the visit Darcy proposes.  Lizzy immediately refuses him, he then writes a letter explaining about the accusations Lizzy made in her refusal and delivers it to her. 
• Lizzy reevaluates her feelings about Darcy as she goes home.  When she arrives she is no longer close friends with Wickham, but Lydia is still chasing the officers around.  Lizzy tries to warn her father that this could be dangerous, but he doesn’t listen.
• Lizzy goes on a vacation with her aunt and uncle on which she goes and sees Pemberley and hears of how kind Darcy actually is.  She actually meets Darcy and has a pleasant time visiting with him and his sister.
• On this vacation Lizzy receives news that Lydia has run off to marry Wickham, this causes a huge hunt for them to save the family from the disgrace that could come from the situation.
• Through the giant search eventually Lydia is found by Darcy, but Darcy makes the uncle seem like the one who found them and arranged for the couple to be married, saving the family.
• Darcy and Bingley arrive back at Netherfield and reevaluate the Jane/Bingley relationship, Bingley proposes to Jane soon after returning.  By this time Lizzy is in love with Darcy, but he does not propose to her.
• On a night following this Lady Catherine, Darcy’s aunt, comes and tries to get Lizzy to promise to never marry Darcy.  Lizzy won’t do it.  The next day Darcy arrives and Darcy and Lizzy take a walk and Darcy proposes, Lizzy accepts.
• The book ends with a quick overview of where all the Bennet daughters are: Lizzy and Jane are both happily married; Lydia is married, but not happily; and Mary and Kitty are at home still behaving better with Lydia gone.
• Main Characters:

o       Elizabeth – Elizabeth is a young woman who is living on the edge of acceptable societal behavior.  She continually is bouncing back and forth from being impertinent and rude to just being insightful.  Lizzy is a strong character, and somewhat stubborn, if she is opposed to something, like marrying Mr. Collins, she will not be forced into it.

o       Darcy – Darcy begins the novel as a stuck up, arrogant man who couldn’t be bothered by the people of the small town of Meryton. As he interacts with Lizzy and as Lizzy begins to understand him, Darcy softens until he is the loving character he is at the end of the novel.

o       Mr. Bennet – Mr. Bennet is a strange man, he keeps aloof from his family throughout most of the novel (but this is somewhat understandable from his wife’s actions).

o       Mrs. Bennet – Mrs. Bennet is an extremely annoying character, she is obsessed with marrying off her daughters, but really has their futures in mind as she does all these embarrassing things.

o       Jane – Jane is a quiet, shy, loving person.  She is so much of an optimist that it takes a man she loves leaving without speaking to her or giving her any explanation to start to make her outlook on the situations around her change.

o       Bingley – Bingley is a trusting man, who is also an optimist like Jane.  He is basically a little more outspoken version of Jane.

·        Narrative Voice:  The narrative voice in this novel is very strong and opinionated, sounding like a mix of the characters of Lizzy and Mr. Bennet.

• Author’s Style:

o       Point of View: Jane Austen’s point of view for this novel is one that is pushing the limits of what is socially acceptable in the time period.  This kind of view makes for a novel that even today readers love and relate to.

o       Tone:  The tone in Pride and Prejudice is one that is somewhat mocking of the times but not entirely happy, as seen in the tone of the narrator with the opening quote.  This tone makes the novel interesting through the way the narrator uses this tone and carries it through the novel.

o       Imagery:  Imagery in Pride and Prejudice is beautiful when describing scenes like Pemberley, but it also shows the direness of the situation when Lydia runs away, showing how the house is so distracted and cannot function normally at all.

o       Symbolism:  The symbolism in Austen’s novel is not very noticeable or significant in the story, but one example of it is Pemberley as a symbol for its master Darcy.

• Quotes:
• “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (1).
• This quote is one to use because it really shows the tone of the novel and the strength of the narrative voice that continues through the book.
• “With more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgment too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them” (13).
• Include this quote because it shows just how important first impressions are in this book.
• “Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure” (328).
• This is a part of Lizzy’s philosophy that is a good thing you could use to show that first impressions can be forgotten.
• Theme:  First impressions are not always the best criteria to make judgments on.