Pride and Prejuice :: Jane Austen

SUMMARY OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Pride and Prejudice is a story of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters---Jane, Elizabeth, Marry, Kitty, and Lydia. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are desperate to see them all married. News is that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the estate of Netherfield Park near the Bennet estate. Mr. Bennet decides to make a special visit to Mr. Bingley to talk about his eldest daughter Jane. The Bennets attend a ball where Mr. Bingley is present and is taken by Jane and spends the whole night dancing with her. Mr. Bingley brought with him his friend, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is arrogant and not very pleased with the evening and out of arrogance, refuses to dance with Elizabeth. At many social events over an amount of weeks, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself more and more attracted to Elizabeth. Jane?s friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to grow, and Jane finds herself going to visit Mr. Bingley at his mansion. On her way to the estate she gets caught in the rain and gets very ill forcing her to stay for many days. In order for Elizabeth to go get Jane she has to hike through the fields getting her clothes dirty. When she arrives to the estate, Miss Bingley notices that Darcy, whom she likes, pays quite a bit of attention to Elizabeth. When Jane and Elizabeth return home, Mr. Collins, a young clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet?s property, is there visiting their household. During his stay with the Bennet?s, he makes a marriage proposal to Elizabeth. She turns his offer down and injures his pride. Meanwhile, the Bennet girls have made friends with the military officers stationed nearby. One of those military officers is Wickham, a handsome young soldier who likes Elizabeth and tells her how Darcy cheated him out of an inheritance. Disappointing Jane, the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy left their estate and returned to London at the beginning of winter. Furthermore, Elizabeth receives appalling news that her best friend Charlotte Lucas is engaged to Mr. Collins. Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she needs the match for financial reasons and marries Mr. Collins. As winter continues, Jane visits the city in hope to see Mr. Bingley instead Miss Bingley visits her first. While Miss Bingley?s visit was very abrupt, Mr. Bingley never shows up. The marriage search for the Bennet girls appears hopeless.