Red eye

Bingley's sisters, who look down upon the Bennets and their society. Louisa Hurst and Caroline Bingley — Mr. Charles Bingley — a wealthy young man who leases property near to the Bennets' estate. Charlotte Lucas — close friend of Elizabeth and daughter of a neighbouring landowner.

Bennet. William Collins — a clergyman and cousin to Mr. She is extremely flirtatious, naive and reckless. Lydia Bennet — the youngest of the five sisters, 15 years old.

Catherine "Kitty" Bennet — The fourth sister, 17 years old, generally follows the lead of her younger sister, Lydia. She disdains the frivolous interests of her sisters and seeks to impress others with her scholarly yet ill-timed aphorisms and musical abilities. Mary Bennet — The third sister, bookish and shy. Elizabeth Bennet — the second sister, 20 years old, and the protagonist of the story.

The "pride" of the book's title refers not only to Mr. Because Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters need to marry, and need to marry well, it is vital that they be able to "read" the men in their social circle—or they might end up married to unprincipled, immoral men like Wickham. An important theme of all of Jane Austen's novels is how one correctly assess the characters of the people one meets. Darcy, and snobbery is one of the characteristics of a villain in Jane Austen's novels.

Lizzie Bennet insists that she is of the same class as Mr. Jane Austen ridicules almost all of her upper-class characters, and her heroes tend to be upper-middle or middle-class. It is also seen as bad for people of higher classes to mingle with lower classes, but Bingley puts this idea away and proves to be a very social character. Also, the Bingley sisters often talk together about the way people of lower classes act and look bitterly upon them.

A pure example is Darcy when we first meet him. People of higher class are very proud of themselves and do not like to socialise with those of lower class. Social classes are also taken into account and play a major role as a theme in Pride and Prejudice. The idea of marriage is very important throughout the novel, primarily because it was often the only way for a woman of the period to secure her freedom, social status, and living standard.

Some characters marry for security, some marry for wealth and some marry for love. Marriage plays a large role in Pride and Prejudice. Finally when his aunt Lady Catherine threatens her because she has heard about Darcy's inclination for a girl lesser than he, she comes to realize that despite her rejection at his first proposal he still loves her and when he brings back Bingley to the country and in her sister Jane's life (and they soon become engaged), she opens up her heart to him and both his pride and her prejudices are forgotten, ensuring their happiness. This final action completes a reversal in Elizabeth's sentiments.

Gardiner's confession. Elizabeth finds out about Darcy's help from Lydia's callousness and finally by Mrs. Darcy finds Wickham and forces him into marriage with Lydia, but guards this a secret from Elizabeth and her family. In Elizabeth's absence sixteen-year-old Lydia became Wickham's dupe when he fled his regiment to evade gambling debts.

Darcy, Elizabeth finds out that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. Just at the point of improving her relationship with Mr. His behaviour, distinctly warmer since her rejection, begins to persuade her that his pride hides a true and generous nature. While on a tour around the grounds, she bumps into him unexpectedly.

Darcy. Later, while on vacation in with the Gardiners, her aunt and uncle, she finds herself persuaded to visit Pemberley, the estate of Mr. This throws all of Darcy's past actions in a new light for Elizabeth and gradually her prejudices against Darcy are broken down. (Elizabeth herself admits that Jane's reserved character makes it difficult for others to ascertain her true feelings.) Darcy also reveals Wickham's true character as a womanizing cad and opportunist.

He notes that, apart from her embarrassing relations, Darcy did not believe Jane a suitable match for Bingley because of her own seeming indifference to Bingley. In the letter, Darcy attempts to defend his actions to Elizabeth. Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter before coldly leaving. The morning after her rejection of Darcy, Elizabeth runs into him on a walk.

Elizabeth is appalled (especially since she had recently learned that Darcy dissuaded Bingley from proposing to Jane) and informs Darcy "he is the last man on earth [she] would ever desire to marry.". Darcy to eventually declare his love for Elizabeth "against his own will" and his desire to marry her. Elizabeth and Darcy end up spending a lot of time together, leading Mr. While Elizabeth is visiting the Collinses, Darcy is visiting his aunt, the same Lady Catherine de Bourgh, at her estate Rosings.

Collins and Charlotte, in their parish. Elizabeth is invited to visit the newlyweds, Mr. Bennet's disparaging remarks about Bingley only heighten Jane's sorrow. Jane is also heartbroken and Mrs.

Bennet is further discouraged by the sudden departure of Bingley from the neighbourhood. Soon after this disappointment, Mrs. Bennet's profound disappointment. Collins turns to Elizabeth's best friend Charlotte Lucas, and they are soon married—to Mrs.

Having been rejected by Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy. Wickham, a man who claims to have been robbed of his rightful inheritance by none other than Mr. Meanwhile, Elizabeth also begins falling for a recently arrived military officer, Mr.

Bennet will never speak to her again. Bennet saves Elizabeth by mentioning that if she does not marry Collins, Elizabeth's mother will never speak to her again, but if she does then Mr. However, Mr. Bennet highly encourages the match and tries to force Elizabeth into the marriage.

Mrs. Bingley, begins to eye the lovely Elizabeth Bennet. Collins, upon being informed that Jane (Elizabeth's elder sister and the only other "sensible" Bennet girl) was "practically engaged" to Mr. Following Lady Catherine's suggestions that he get a wife, Collins immediately looks to his "poor cousins" to find a wife and make up for his involvement in the oft mentioned ruination of the Bennet girls (the fact that he is even concerned with his role suggests an ignorance of the law concerning entails and Collins's overall ineptitude).

Collins is forever searching for opportunities to drop the name of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whom he fawns over like a puppy dog. Collins is a clergyman who tends to be wordy and snobbish, and whose idea of a pleasant evening activity is to instruct his female cousins by reading to them from Fordyce's Sermons. Collins. Bennet and the girls amuse themselves with guesses as to who the man is, but are disappointed to find out it is only their cousin, Mr.

Mrs. Bennet announces to the family that a visitor will be arriving shortly. Shortly after the ball, Mr. Bingley also is noted for his admiration of Elizabeth's dearest sister, Jane.

Mr. Bingley, on the other hand, proves himself to the neighbourhood to be a fine, most agreeable gentleman. Bingley suggests that Darcy dance with Elizabeth and he notes that "she is not handsome enough to tempt me." Mr. Darcy slights Elizabeth—Mr.

This is perpetuated within the Bennet family afterwards because Mr. However, halfway through the party, the neighbourhood comes to perceive him as a most disagreeable sort, one who believes himself above the country folk of Elizabeth's town. Darcy is widely regarded as a most agreeable gentleman due to his fine figure and £10,000 a year. At the beginning of the ball, Mr.

Bingley and his guests attend a public ball in the village of Meryton. Shortly after their arrival Mr. Darcy. Bingley goes on a short trip to London and returns with his friend, Mr.

After a short period, Mr. Hurst, whose husband has more fashion than wealth. Bingley, has recently leased the estate of Netherfield to live in with his single sister Miss Bingley and his married sister, Mrs. The man, Mr.

Bennet's excitement over the arrival of a single man "of considerable fortune" in their neighbourhood. The beginning of the novel describes Mrs. Bennet and any unmarried daughters homeless and trying to live on a very small income. This will leave Mrs.

Bennet's death, due to the lack of sons in the Bennet family. Collins, will inherit the estate on Mr. The Bennet family's modest estate is entailed in default of heirs male—which means a cousin, Mr. Bennet (whose manners and conduct are decidedly "of the people") is determined to see each of her five daughters successfully married to gentlemen of sufficient fortune to support a wife.

Mrs. Bennet, spends much of his time hiding in his study, a refuge from Elizabeth's mother. Elizabeth's father, Mr. The main character is Elizabeth Bennet, a 20-year-old girl possessed of a quick mind, sharp wit, and keen sense of justice.

The story deals with issues surrounding marriage among the landed gentry in the late 18th century and early 19th century. . Like both its predecessor and Northanger Abbey, it was written at Steventon Rectory. Egerton of the Military Library, Whitehall, who had brought out Sense and Sensibility.

In 1811 and following it was revised, it was published on 28 January 1813 by the same Mr. Pride and Prejudice is the most famous of Jane Austen's novels, and its opening is one of the most famous lines in English literature—"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Its manuscript was first written between 1796 and 1797, and was initially called First Impressions, but was never published under that title. Author Philip Jose Farmer has placed Elizabeth and Darcy (and their descendants) in his Wold Newton family. In 2003 the BBC conducted the largest ever poll for the "UK's Best-Loved Book" in which Pride and Prejudice came second, behind The Lord of the Rings.

The 1995 BBC version used Lyme Hall, Cheshire as the location for "Pemberley". 2005: Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. 2004: Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood version, directed by Gurinder Chadha and starring Anupam Kher, Aishwarya Rai, and Naveen Andrews. 2003: Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-day Comedy.

2001: Bridget Jones's Diary shares some themes with Pride and Prejudice, and the character of Mark Darcy (again played by Colin Firth in the film version) is named in deliberate homage to the original character. This version is widely regarded as one of the best and most popular adaptations, and was instrumental in bringing Colin Firth to popular attention. 1995: Pride and Prejudice, television series starring Colin Firth as Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth, adapted by Andrew Davies. 1980: Pride and Prejudice, television series starring Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth and David Rintoul as Darcy, adapted by Fay Weldon.

Darcy. This starred Ann Baskett and Peter Cushing as Mr. The BBC broadcast a five-episode mini-series live. 1952: Feb 2nd to March 8th.

1940: Pride and Prejudice starring Laurence Olivier in the role of Darcy, and Greer Garson as Elizabeth.