Pride and Prejudice (Novel Notes) by Prof.

Atif Ali

Summary and Characters of Pride and Prejudice

The news that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the manor of
Netherfield Park causes a great excitement 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 wants 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 meets with Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with her. His close friend, Mr.
Darcy, is less pleased with the evening and refuses to dance with Elizabeth, which makes
everyone view him as a proud man.

At social functions later on, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself increasingly attracted to Elizabeth’s
charm and intelligence. Jane’s friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to develop, and Jane
pays a visit to the Bingley mansion. On her journey to the house she is caught in a storm and
becomes ill, forcing her to stay at Netherfield for several days. In order to look after Jane, Elizabeth
goes to the mansion, she passes through muddy fields and arrives with a dirty dress, much to the
dislike of Miss Bingley, who is Charles Bingley’s sister. Miss Bingley’s dislikes 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 fool. Shortly after his
arrival, he makes a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. She turns him down, wounding his pride.
Meanwhile, the Bennet girls have become friendly with militia officers stationed in a nearby town.
Among them is Wickham, a handsome young soldier who is friendly toward Elizabeth and tells
her how Darcy cruelly cheated him out of an inheritance.

At the beginning of winter, the Bingleys and Darcy leave Netherfield and return to London, much
to Jane’s sorrow. A further shock arrives with the news that Mr. Collins has become engaged to
Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend and the poor daughter of a local knight. Charlotte explains
to Elizabeth that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons. Charlotte and Mr.
Collins get married and Elizabeth promises to visit them at their new home. As winter progresses,
Jane visits the city to see friends (hoping also that she might see Mr. Bingley). However, Miss
Bingley visits her and behaves rudely, while Mr. Bingley fails to visit her at all. The marriage of
Jane and [Link] looks obscure.

That spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte, who now lives near the home of Mr. Collins’s patron, Lady
Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters
Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she
is staying. One day, he makes a shocking proposal of marriage, which Elizabeth quickly refuses.
She tells Darcy that she considers him arrogant and unpleasant, then scolds him for moving
Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting Wickham. Darcy leaves her but shortly thereafter
delivers a letter to her. In this letter, he admits that he urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane,
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but claims he did so only because he thought their romance was not serious. As for Wickham, he
informs Elizabeth that the young officer is a liar and that the real cause of their disagreement was
Wickham’s attempt to elope with his young sister, Georgiana Darcy.

This letter causes Elizabeth to rethink her feelings about Darcy. She returns home and acts coldly
toward Wickham. The militia is leaving town, which makes the younger, rather man-crazy Bennet
girls crazy. Lydia manages to obtain permission from her father to spend the summer with an old
colonel in Brighton, where Wickham’s regiment will be stationed. With the arrival of June,
Elizabeth goes on another journey, this time with the Gardiners, who are relatives of the Bennets.
The trip takes her to the North and eventually to the neighborhood of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate.
She visits Pemberley, after making sure that Darcy is away, and delights in the building and
grounds, while hearing from Darcy’s servants that he is a wonderful, generous master. Suddenly,
Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his proposal, he entertains
the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister.

Shortly thereafter, however, a letter arrives from home, telling Elizabeth that Lydia has eloped
with Wickham and that the couple is nowhere to be found, which suggests that they may be living
together without marriage. Fearful of the disgrace such a situation would bring on her entire
family, Elizabeth hastens home. Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet go off to search for Lydia, but Mr.
Bennet eventually returns home empty-handed. Just when all hope seems lost, a letter comes from
Mr. Gardiner saying that the couple has been found and that Wickham has agreed to marry Lydia
in exchange for an annual income. The Bennets are convinced that Mr. Gardiner has paid off
Wickham, but Elizabeth learns that the source of the money, and of her family’s salvation, was
none other than Darcy.

Now married, Wickham and Lydia return to Longbourn briefly, where Mr. Bennet treats them
coldly. They then depart for Wickham’s new assignment in the North of England. Shortly
thereafter, Bingley returns to Netherfield and resumes his courtship of Jane. Darcy goes to stay
with him and pays visits to the Bennets but makes no mention of his desire to marry Elizabeth.
Bingley, on the other hand, presses his suit and proposes to Jane, to the delight of everyone. While
the family celebrates, Lady Catherine de Bourgh pays a visit to Longbourn. She corners Elizabeth
and says that she has heard that Darcy, her nephew, is planning to marry her. Since she considers
a Bennet an unsuitable match for a Darcy, Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth promise to
refuse him. Elizabeth refuses, saying she is not engaged to Darcy, but she will not promise
anything against her own happiness. A little later, Elizabeth and Darcy go out walking together
and he tells her that his feelings have not altered since the spring. She tenderly accepts his
proposal, and both Jane and Elizabeth are married.

Characters

Elizabeth

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The novel's protagonist and the second oldest of her five sisters, Elizabeth Bennet is lively, bold
and intelligent. Elizabeth is not impressed by mere wealth or titles, rather, she values good-
manners and virtue.

Mr. Darcy

An extremely wealthy aristocrat, Mr. Darcy is proud and haughty. He does, however, have a
strong sense of honor and virtue and a degree of fairness that helps him to control his pride after
Elizabeth rebukes him. He wins the trust of Elizabeth and marries her.

Jane

Jane Bennet is the oldest Bennet daughter, she is beautiful, good-tempered, amiable, humble, and
selfless. Her sweetness leaves her vulnerable to injury from insincere friends like Caroline Bingley.
Jane remains a model of virtue throughout the novel.

Mr. Bingley

Charles Bingley is an amiable and good-tempered person, mostly unconcerned with class
differences despite his extraordinary wealth. His virtue proves to be his vice at times, since his
modesty leads him to be easily swayed by the opinions of others. A mostly static character,
Bingley remains pleasant and in love with Jane throughout the novel.

Mr. Wickham

An officer in the regiment stationed at Meryton, Officer Wickham possesses a charm that hides his
untrustworthy personality. Wickham betrayed Darcy by seducing Georgiana when she was only
15. He also spreads false rumors about Darcy. Overall, Wickham is driven by self-interest,
revealed by his many romantic engagements. He marries Lydia only because Darcy provides a
financial help.

Mrs. Bennet

Mrs. Bennet is a foolish woman. She lacks any sense of propriety and neglects to provide her
daughters with a proper education. Instead, she remains concerned with securing them profitable
marriages. Her lack of self-awareness constantly embarrasses Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet.

Mr. Bennet

An intelligent man with good sense, Mr. Bennet displays an unfortunate disinterest in most of his
family (besides Elizabeth). He seems weary after spending many decades married to Mrs. Bennet.
His respect is in danger when Lydia elopes with Wickham.

Lydia

The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia Bennet is foolish and flirtatious. She is Mrs. Bennet's
favorite daughter because they share similar (though frivolous) interests. She is obsessed with the
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regiment officers, and lets her lack of virtue and propriety lead her into a near-disaster with
Wickham.

Kitty

Catherine "Kitty" Bennet, the second youngest Bennet daughter, exhibits little personality of her
own. Instead, she imitates Lydia in almost everything until Lydia leaves for Brighton.

Mary

The middle Bennet sister, Mary, is strangely solemn. She dislikes going out into society and
prefers to spend her time studying. In conversation, Mary constantly makes awkward and
profound observations about human nature and life in general. Some critics believe Mary was
Austen herself.

Mr. Collins

Mr. Collins is a distant cousin of the Bennet family to whom Longbourn has been entailed. He is
mostly a comic character and is somehow ridiculous. Even after he marries Charlotte Lucas, Mr.
Collins remains largely unchanged.

Charlotte

Charlotte Lucas is Elizabeth's best friend, the Bennets's neighbor, and Sir William's daughter. Her
attitudes on marriage is different in contrast to Elizabeth's. She eventually marries Mr. Collins
after Elizabeth rejects his proposal.

Sir William Lucas

Sir William Lucas is a friend and neighbor of the Bennet family. He is pleasant but not overly deep
or intellectual. He is obsessed with having been granted knighthood. He is father to Charlotte and
Maria Lucas.

Maria Lucas

Charlotte's younger sister, Maria, is as empty-headed as her father. She is never featured in the
novel outside of her presence on the trip to visit Charlotte with Sir William and Elizabeth.

Mrs. Gardiner

Mrs. Bennet's sister-in-law acts as a levelheaded maternal figure to Elizabeth and Jane,
compensating for Mrs. Bennet's inadequacy in this regard. She is an intelligent, caring and
sensible woman. Austen uses the Gardiners as a means to explore the value of personality over
class distinction.

Mr. Gardiner

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Elizabeth's maternal uncle is a merchant, and an upright and intelligent man. Though he is in a
lower social class than the Bennets are, Mr. Gardiner is respectful and distinguished, even
impressing Darcy with his mannered behavior.

Caroline Bingley

Caroline Bingley is Bingley's youngest sister. She is a selfish girl, possessing all of Darcy's class
prejudice but none of his honor and virtue. Throughout the novel, she runs after Darcy in an
attempt to win his affections, but to no avail. Her cruelty towards Jane and Elizabeth marks her as
a generally unpleasant character.

Mrs. Hurst

Bingley's elder sister, Mrs. Hurst, is just as arrogant as Caroline, though she is less involved in
attacking the Bennet sisters. She seems to have no real affection or esteem for her husband.

Mr. Hurst

Mr. Bingley's brother-in-law is an indolent man. Mr. Hurst does almost nothing but eat and
entertain himself by playing cards. He never says an intelligent word in the entire novel, and
seems to be solely concerned with the quality of the food.

Georgiana Darcy

Darcy's sister Georgiana, ten years his junior, is quiet and shy but generally amiable and good-
natured. She has great reverence and affection for her brother and gets along well with Elizabeth
from their first meeting. Bingley's sisters had hoped that Mr. Bingley would marry Georgiana,
thus uniting the fortunes of the two families.

Lady Catherine

Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aristocratic aunt and Mr. Collins's patroness, is a sharp-
tongued woman obsessed with her wealth and social superiority. She asks Elizabeth not to marry
Darcy but Elizabeth refuses.

Miss de Bourgh

Lady Catherine's daughter, Miss de Bourgh, is a frail, weak and sickly woman. She speaks little in
the novel, but seems to be generally good-natured. Lady Catherine had wanted Darcy to marry
Miss de Bourgh, which is the main reason she disapproves of Darcy's union with Elizabeth.

Colonel Fitzwilliam

Colonel Fitzwilliam is Mr. Darcy's cousin who accompanies him on his visit to Lady Catherine's
home. He is a pleasant and amiable gentleman who shows an interest in Elizabeth, but then
confesses he can only marry someone with a large fortune because of his status as a youngest son.

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Mrs. Phillips

Mrs. Phillips is Mrs. Bennet's sister who shares her foolishness. She lives in Meryton and facilitates
Lydia and Kitty's obsession with the officers stationed there.

Mrs. Forster

Mrs. Forster is the wife of Colonel Forster and invites Lydia to accompany them to Brighton. The
trip enables the near-disaster with Wickham. Mrs. Forster's frivolous nature is implied by her
fellowship with Lydia.

Colonel Forster

A good-natured and basically responsible man, Colonel Forster is the regiment leader who allows
his wife to bring Lydia to Brighton. After the disastrous elopement, Col. Forester helps Mr.
Gardiner and Mr. Bennet to locate Lydia.

Miss Younge

Miss Younge was Georgiana Darcy's governess back when Wickham seduced the young girl. In
fact, Miss Younge was crucial towards facilitating Wickham's wickedness. She never features
directly in the novel, but she proves to be the key in Darcy's locating Wickham and Lydia.

Mrs. Lucas

Mrs. Lucas is married to Sir William and is Charlotte and Maria's mother. Mrs. Bennet often taunts
Mrs. Lucas with gossip about the potential marital success of the Bennet girls.

Mr. Denny

Mr. Denny is a soldier in the regiment who introduces the Bennet girls to Mr. Wickham.

Miss King

Wickham pursues Miss King, a woman in Meryton, after she inherits a sum of money. Her
inheritance distracts Wickham from his flirtation with Elizabeth.

Mrs. Jenkinson

Mrs. Jenkinson Miss de Bough's companion. She pampers the young girl.

Mrs. Reynolds

Mrs. Reynolds is the estate's longtime housekeeper. She gives Elizabeth and the Gardiners a tour
of Pemberley and impresses Elizabeth with her praise of Darcy.

Mrs. Annesley

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Mrs. Annesley is Georgiana's companion at Pemberley. She shows great civility towards Elizabeth
and Mrs. Gardiner when they visit, even though Bingley's sisters are rude to them.

Themes of Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most famous novels in English Literature. Over the years, it has
become a classic in English Literature. It deals with quite a few themes which are discussed below.

The first theme is Love, Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most famous love stories in English
literature between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any good love story, the lovers must overcome
numerous blocks. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first
impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a
time, to her many virtues. (Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride) Austen, meanwhile,
puts obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including Lady
Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingley’s pride and Wickham’s deceit. In each
case, anxieties about social connections, or the desire for better social connections, interfere with
the workings of love. Darcy and Elizabeth’s realization of love seems to show that Austen views
love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an
individual is able to escape the effects of society. Austen does have some more realist idea about
love, using the character of Charlotte Lucas, who marries stupid Mr. Collins for his money, to
demonstrate that the heart does not always dictate marriage. Yet with her central characters,
Austen suggests that true love is a force separate from society and one that can conquer even the
most difficult of circumstances.

Next theme is of reputation, Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation has
great importance. This theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and
arrives with muddy skirts, to the shock of Miss Bingley and her friends. At other points,
ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined Darcys and
Bingleys. Later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives with him without
marriage, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter there. By becoming Wickham’s
lover without benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places herself outside the social circle and her
disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family.

The theme of class difference also dominates the novel. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While
the Bennets, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they
are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes class difference, the
coming of Lady Catherine to Elizabeth's home at the end of the novel and to make her stop in
marrying Darcy clearly shows that Lady Catherine thinks Elizabeth inferior in class. Through the
Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane marriages, Austen shows the power of love and happiness to
overcome class boundaries and prejudices.

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Throughout Pride and Prejudice, pride prevents the characters from seeing the truth of a situation.
Pride is also a major theme in this novel. Most notably, it is one of the two primary barriers in the
way of a union between Elizabeth and Darcy. Darcy's pride in his social position leads him to
scorn anyone outside of his own social circle. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's pride in her powers of
wisdom cloud her judgment. These two find happiness by helping each other overcome his/her
pride. Outside of Elizabeth and Darcy, however, Austen seems negative about the human ability
to conquer this character flaw.

Austen portrays the family unit as primarily responsible for the intellectual and moral education
of children. Throughout the novel, the younger characters either benefit from or suffer from their
family values. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's failure to provide their daughters with a proper education
leads to Lydia's utter foolishness and immorality. Elizabeth and Jane manage to develop virtue
and wisdom in spite of their parents' negligence. Darcy shares his father's aristocratic nature,
while Lady Catherine's parenting style has made her daughter too frightened to speak.

Austen is certainly critical of the gender injustices present in 19th century English society,
particularly of marriage. In Pride and Prejudice, many women (such as Charlotte) must marry
solely for the sake of financial security. However, in her portrayal of Elizabeth, Austen shows that
women are just as intelligent and capable as male. Jane Austen herself went against convention by
remaining single and earning a living through her novels. In her personal letters, Austen advised
friends only to marry for love. In the novel, Elizabeth's happy ending reveals Austen's beliefs that
woman has the right to remain independent until she meets the right man (if she meets him).

Jane Auten’s Limited Range

Jane Austen is one of the famous novelists in English Literature. She wrote six complete novels
and one novel remained unfinished because she died before finishing it. In all her novels, she has
confined herself within her range and she does not go out of her range. She works on a small
canvas.
Jane Austen was the daughter of country parson and she spent all her life in three to four places.
She writes about those people that she knew and came across. She deals with the life of genteel
people. She does not write about lower class people like servants, labourers etc. She does not write
much about aristocrats, if they are present, they are mostly satirised. In her novels, we can find
people like Gardiners who do trade but they are also very rare.
In all of her novels, we can find the theme of love and marriage. We can find beautiful girls
waiting for the unmarried persons to be married. The mothers and aunts of these beautiful girls
are doing whatever they can to trap the unmarried persons for marriage. We can find no other
pursuit in her novels. History tells us that during the time when Jane Austen was writing her
novels, there was French revolution and some other important events in history were happening
but she did not care about them. If we find people from army in her novels, their whole purpose is
to marry girls. There is very little religion in her novels, there is no symbolism or allegory in her
novels, whatever is present in her novels is on the surface, there is nothing beyond the surface in

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her novels.
Jane Austen's characters are from ordinary life. Her men do not have any high ambitions. Her
women are happy with their lives and their main focus is on marriage. We do no find villains,
great saints or strange characters or people with really high ambitions and passions. In her novels,
no surprising thing occurs, there are no adventures, no mysteries present in her novels. The
greatest villainy that we can find is elopement, Wickham eloped with Lydia in Pride and Prejudice
and in another novel of Jane Austen, Henry eloped with Maria.
Jane Austen's view of life is ironic. She does not deal with tragic aspect of life. She deals with those
behaviors that can give an ironic aspect to be treated. We can find hypocrisy, self-deception,
dissimulation and they are treated ironically. She does not touch the height of romantic love. She
even does not go deep in the sea of despair; she only remains on the surface.
As we all that Jane Austen was a woman, so she writes about the themes which are in the interest
of woman. She is expert in creating female characters, the character of Elizabeth has become one of
the famous characters in English Literature but even then she limits herself within canvas and
does not go out of the canvas. We cannot find sports like hunting, her novels are clean from these
dangerous things. There is no obscenity or vulgarity in her novels. There is absolutely nothing
which can corrupt the heart of an innocent maid. The action in her novels is unfolded through
heroines' point of view. In Pride and Prejudice, everything is looked through Elizabeth's eyes.
Many critics and novelists have criticised her limited range, the famous novelist Edward
Fitzgerald has said: "She never goes out of the parlour." Charlotte Bronte also complained that in
her novels, there is lack of passions. The great admirer of nature, William Wordsworth has also
said that there is absence of imagination in her novels. But inspite of criticism, Walter Scott has
praised her novels. We can say that if Jane Austen had not realized her limitations and if she had
not realized her true genius, she would not have created so memorable characters and novels. She
works on a small canvas but what she loses in largeness, she gains in depth.
In the end, we can say that she is an ironist but irony in her hand is the instrument of a moral
vision, it is not a technique of rejection, this is what Andrew Wright says about irony in her
novels. Although her limited range has been criticized, yet she has been able to produce
remarkable novels, and Pride and Prejudice has become a classic in English Literature.

Use of Irony

Irony is the difference between appearance and reality. It may be a contrast between what a
character thinks himself to be and what he really is or it may be a contrast between what a
character says and what he really means to convey. It is also a contrast between what the
reader thinks is going to happen and what actually happens. Irony may produce a comic and
tragic effect in the novel or drama.
Jane Austen is a comic writer and the use of irony in her novels adds to the comic effect. In
her novels, we have comic irony. It may be present in a situation or in a piece of dialogue or
in a remark which a character makes. Irony can be conscious and unconscious but on the part
of the author, it is always conscious.
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We find the use of irony from the beginning to the end of Pride and Prejudice. Its first
sentence,
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in po ssession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife”, tells the humorous tone of the novel. The statement is ironic in the
respect that, in the late 18th century, women were much more dependent on their husbands.
Especially women who had no families were hardly able to earn their own living in the
society. Thus, it was usually the woman who was in want of a husband with a good fortune
and not the man looking for a wife.
In several cases we find a comic reversal in the novel. There is irony in the main plo t of the
novel. The main plot is about the relationship of Darcy and Elizabeth. We find in the
beginning that Darcy and Elizabeth do not like each other. Elizabeth's dislike incr eases
because she finds Darcy a proud man. Darcy's feelings for Elizabeth changes but the idea of
marriage is far from his thoughts because she is far below him in social status. But still in the
end they are united in wedlock, so we have a striking case of an ironic reversal in the main
plot of the novel.
Then we can find irony in Darcy urging his friend Mr. Bingley to give up his idea of marrying
Jane. Darcy tells his friend Mr. Bingley that Jane does not love him as much as he loves her.
Mr. Bingley did give up the idea in the end but Darcy was wrong and afterwards Darcy had
to change his views. Mr. Bingley does propose marriage to Jane and she accepts him. This
irony on the part of Darcy is unconscious.
Elizabeth considers Mr. Collins to be a silly man. She thinks that no decent girl would agree to
marry him. Elizabeth holds Mr. Collins in contempt. Charlotte also loses her respect in
Elizabeth's eyes when she agrees to marry Mr. Collins. But same Mr. Collins provides a basis
for Elizabeth's visit to Hunsford where Mr. Collins lives and where Charlotte has settled
down as Mr. Collin's wife. At that place, Elizabeth meets Darcy and later Darcy proposes her
but she rejects his proposal on some charges. Darcy writes a letter and defends himself
against the charges. Her reading of the letter is the turning point in her attitude to him. Thus
the visit to Mr. Collin's whom Elizabeth considers a silly person becomes an important factor
in bringing Elizabeth and Darcy a little close to each other. But once again the purpose of the
irony is unconscious.
When militia regiment was shifted from Meryton to Brighton, everybody thought that Lydia
would give up flirting with officers. But the reverse of it happened; Lydia visited Brighton
and at the end eloped with Mr. Wickham. The irony here results from the contrast between
what was expected and what actually happens.
The role of Mr. Wickham is also ironic in the novel. In the beginning, he tries to defame Darcy
by telling Elizabeth how cruelly he has treated him. Wickham is the man who has won
Elizabeth's trust and he might have even won her heart but Darcy's letter revealed the true
nature of Wickham's character. Elizabeth started hating him now and later he was important
in bringing Darcy and Elizabeth together when Elizabeth learnt that it was Darcy who paid
the money for Lydia and Wickham's marriage. Wickham tried to increase Elizabeth's
prejudice against Darcy but ultimately proves the means by which Elizabeth feels further
attracted towards Mr. Darcy. There is a similar irony in Lady Catherine's warning to Elizabeth
not to marry Darcy. Lady Catherine tries to prevent a marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth
but she proves instrumental in bringing them closer to each other.
We also have some ironical remarks in the novel. These remarks mean just the opposite of
what the character actually says. When Wickham and Lydia visited Longbourn, Mr. Bennet
had a low opinion of Mr. Wickham who brought shame and disgrace to the whole family. Mr.
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Bennet expresses his opinion about Mr. Wickham in the following manner:
"He is as fine a fellow as ever I saw. He simpers and smirks and makes love to us all. I am
prodigiously proud of him."
On the surface, these remarks are complimentary but in reality these remarks are made to
discredit Mr. Wickham. Actually Mr. Bennet is ashamed of having Mr. Wickham as a son -in-
law but here he says that he is proud of him. Elizabeth's remark early in the novel that Mr.
Darcy has no defects at all in his character is ironical because Elizabeth means just the
opposite of what she has said. She has found a fault in him and the fault was pride. She
conveys her opinion by making a remark which on the surface is a compliment to Mr. Darcy.
There is unconscious irony in Elizabeth telling Mr. Collins that she would never refuse a first
proposal of marriage and then accept a second proposal from the same man. But Elizabeth
does exactly what she here says she would never do. She rejects Darcy's first proposal of
marriage but later accepts his second proposal.
In the end, we can say that the irony in Pride and Prejudice amuses us and makes us smile
and we enjoy the novel more than we would otherwise have done.

Character of Elizabeth

Elizabeth is one of the best-loved heroines in English Literature. She has many traits. These
traits are her sense of humour, her mature thinking, her wit, her attachment to her family and
especially to her elder sister Jane, her self-confidence, her realization of mistakes and her
feeling of repentance about them.
Elizabeth is a lively girl with keen sense of humour. She makes witty remarks and is capable
of making sarcastic remarks. But she does have a serious mood and even gloom. She is very
good at conversation and she is not a girl who remains silent in the gathering all the time. She
makes fun of Mr. Darcy early in the novel by saying that he suffers from no defects at all. And
later when her mother complains that the departure of Lydia from the house has made her
sad, Elizabeth says that her mother should be happy at the thought that she still has four
unmarried daughters at home with her. It must be noted over here that she does not speak
foolish or unnecessary things. She even does not accept the kind of talk in which her two
youngest sisters takes part. She often feels ashamed by the kind of remarks which her mother
makes at social gathering.
Elizabeth shows the maturity of her mind when she asks her father not to allow Lydia to go to
Brighton. She knows that Lydia is a vain girl and when she will be free in Brighton, she might
go astray. Mr. Bennet pays no attention to Elizabeth's advice and allows Lydia t o go to
Brighton with Mrs. Forster. And when the news of Wickham and Lydia's elopement comes,
the prediction of Elizabeth turns into reality. She knew that Mr. Wickham was a charming
man who could take advantage of Lydia and Lydia did not have much experie nce of life. Had
Mr. Bennet acted upon the advice of Elizabeth, the family would not have faced the shame
and disgrace. Elizabeth is deeply connected with her family. When she heard the elopement
of Lydia and Wickham, she rushed back home in order to give comfort to her parents and to
Jane who is also deeply hurt by Lydia's shameful behavior.
Elizabeth's attachment to her elder sister, Jane, is also a striking trait of her character.
Elizabeth has love and affection for Jane. Elizabeth was very worried when Mr. Bingley left
Netherfield Park quite suddenly, probably never to return. Jane kept saying that she would
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get over her sadness but Elizabeth knew that Jane was deeply hurt. Elizabeth's chief concern
at that time was to bring happiness in Jane's life. This kind of love is very touching and is
really an attractive trait of Elizabeth's character.
Elizabeth is a bold girl. She does not feel shy in the company of people who are socially above
her. When Jane was ill in Netherfield Park, Elizabeth visited and looked after her. She took an
active part in the conversations which took place there among Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley and
Miss. Bingley. She had the courage to differ with them when her views of a matter are
different from theirs. Later on when she visited Charlotte Lucas and met Lady Catherine,
Charlotte's father and her sister felt awed by the splendor of Lady Catherine's palace but
Elizabeth remained cool and composed. Her self-confidence can be clearly seen in the scene
when Lady Catherine visited the Bennet's and asks Elizabeth not to accept Darcy's proposal
for marriage. Elizabeth remained calm and refused firmly to give her promise which Lady
Catherine had demanded from her.
Elizabeth is an honest woman. She believes in honest dealings. She is filled wit h regret when
she discovered the true nature of Mr. Wickham. She was impressed by Wickham's charm and
had almost fallen in love with him. She also accepted his words without any evidence that Mr.
Darcy has cruelly treated him in the past. But when his true nature is revealed, she is filled
with the deepest regret. Her regret shows that she has the courage to face the realities.
In spite of her traits, she does have some faults. For example, she is easily prejudiced and her
prejudice sometimes takes deep roots. Such is the prejudice she had against Mr. Darcy, her
prejudice took even deeper root when Wickham told her that how cruelly Mr. Darcy treated
him in the past. Here Elizabeth shows a strange lack of power to judge human character. She
was completely deceived by Mr. Wickham. She also has a prejudice against Mr. Collins. We
know that Mr. Collins is a fool but Elizabeth goes so far as to consider him as her enemy.
Elizabeth was deeply hurt when she learnt that her best friend Charlotte married Mr. Collins.
She did not realize that Charlotte had reached the age of twenty seven and it was necessary
for her to get married. Even after she has observed with her own eyes Charlotte's happiness in
her married life, her opinion of Mr. Collins does not change much. Despite of all her faults,
the charm of her character her traits conceal these faults.
In the end we can say that the character of Elizabeth has forced the readers to love and admire
Pride and Prejudice and without any doubt the creation of the character o f Elizabeth is a great
achievement of Jane Austen.

Character of Mr. Darcy

Pride and Prejudice is one of the famous novels in English Literature. One of the reasons of the
popularity of this novel is Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a rich and handsome man besides being the
hero of the novel. We meet him quite early in the novel. In the beginning, we find him to be an
extremely proud man when he refuses to dance with Elizabeth. He considers her not handsome
and beautiful enough to tempt him. He dances only with the two sisters of his friend, Mr. Bingley.
Jane Austen has presented Darcy before us as a handsome and a fine figure belonging to a noble
family. When he enters in the gathering for the first time in the novel, all the ladies look at him
with great admiration. But they all turn away from him when they realize that he is a proud man.
The ladies consider him to be the proudest man in the world. Darcy's proud is one of the traits of
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his character. In the gathering, only Charlotte Lucas defends him by saying that he has every right
to be proud. But we cannot accept these words of Charlotte Lucas because Pride is an odious trait.
No sensible person can be attracted toward a proud man. We can find in the novel that Mr.
Wickham is also complaining about Darcy's pride but we cannot give much importance to Mr.
Wickham's words because he himself is not a reliable person. There is a sharp contrast between
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley has a cool temper and pleasing manners but Mr. Darcy is
clever, intelligent and also a proud person as well.
Darcy's cold feelings towards Elizabeth do not last for a long time. We find that when Elizabeth
comes to Netherfield Park, Darcy realizes his error and now he tries to rectify his error. He finds
that Elizabeth's face looks very intelligent because of the beautiful expression in her dark eyes. He
also finds her manners pleasing and soothing. Darcy begins to feel more and more attracted by
Elizabeth till he gets the feeling that he is almost on the brink of falling in love with her. The only
reason he did not confess his love at that time was Elizabeth's social inferiority. But later he rejects
this social inferiority and proposes her but Elizabeth, a self-respecting woman as she is, rejects his
proposal on some charges and she also thought that he was conferring a great favour and a great
honour on her. This rejection deeply hurts Darcy's pride. Darcy writes a letter and defends himself
against the charges. Elizabeth believed that Darcy has cruelly treated Wickham and prevented Mr.
Bingley from marrying Jane. Darcy writes a letter and tells the true nature of Mr. Wickham and he
also clarifies the point that why he stopped Mr. Bingley from marrying Jane. Darcy believed that
Mr. Bingley loves Jane but Jane does not love him. The letter somehow changes the picture of
Darcy in Elizabeth's mind.

Darcy claims himself to be an intelligent person but he was wrong in judging Jane's feelings for
Mr. Bingley. According to Darcy, Jane does not love Bingley as deeply as he loves her. Darcy was
absolutely wrong in this opinion; he forces Bingley to leave Jane forever. We cannot doubt the
intention of Darcy because he was doing the best for his friend but he misunderstood the feelings
of Jane and Bingley for each other. And this misunderstanding brought pain and misery for
several months for both of them. Elizabeth too suffers deeply from the sudden departure of Mr.
Bingley from the Netherfield Park.
Darcy is a loving brother; he looks after his sister Georgiana. He stops her sister from meeting Mr.
Wickham when he finds out that he wanted to elope with his sister. Darcy takes every step to
ensure a comfortable life for her sister. He is a dutiful nephew to Lady Catherine but does not
follow her advice blindly. He knows that her aunt is a selfish woman who wants him to marry his
daughter. Mr. Darcy is a good master to his servants. Mrs. Reynolds, speaks very highly of him.
She describes him to be a generous master.
In the beginning of the novel, Darcy may be a proud man but with the passage of time, his true
nature reveals to everyone especially when Wickham and Lydia eloped and when Wickham asked
for the money for marrying Lydia. It was Darcy who paid the money. Back in the Bennet's house,
everyone thought that the money was paid by Mr. Gardiner but Lydia told Elizabeth that it was
Darcy who saved the reputation of their whole family.
Mr. Darcy is an incredible figure. He transforms himself from the proud man to a man who has

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learnt the worth of others correctly. All this change has been brought by Elizabeth. Towards the
end of the novel, Mr. Darcy speaking to Elizabeth traces the development which has taken place in
his character. He tells her that from his childhood he has been selfish and was spoilt by his parents
but the influence of Elizabeth has completely changed him. Elizabeth feels the truth behind his
words and was also impressed by the change she felt in him accepted his marriage proposal at the
end of the novel.
In the end we can say that Jane Austen has shown her masterly skills in portraying the complex
character of an upper class. The character of Darcy is the victory of characterization. The character
of Mr. Darcy has made Pride and Prejudice memorable and has taken an immortal place in
English Literature.

Character of Mrs. Bennet

Mrs. Bennet is one of the comic figures in the novel. From the start to the end of the novel, her
only concern is the marriage of her daughters. We come to know that she has been married to Mr.
Bennet who mostly makes fun of her negligence. Mr. Bennet married her because he had been
captivated by her beauty but later he discovered that she was a woman with weak intelligence. All
the respect for his wife came to an end after his marriage. Mr. Bennet had found escape from the
unhappiness of his married life mainly in books. He treats her as a source of amusement to
himself. Mrs. Bennet really does not care whether she has been happy in her married life or not
because she keeps herself busy in social visits, in gossip and her concern about the marriage of her
daughters.
Mrs. Bennet's chief concern is the marriage of her five daughters. She believes that her daughters
should marry wealthy men. When she comes to know that a wealthy and noble man has come to
live in Netherfield Park, she thinks of him as a potential husband for one of her daughters. She
suggests to her husband that he should meet Mr. Bingley and make an acquaintance. But, Mr.
Bennet does not pay much attention to her suggestion of making an acquaintance but she becomes
very happy when he tells her that he has already visited the Netherfield Park. Once again she tells
her husband that it would be a great pleasure to her if one of her daughters happily settles down
at Netherfield Park. She wishes in her heart that Mr. Bingley should marry Lydia.
Every mother in this world concerns about the marriage of her daughters but this concern
becomes comic in the case of Mrs. Bennet. The marriage of her daughter has become an obsession
with her. Mrs. Bennet is a talkative lady, we come to know that when she returns from the first
gathering, she tells Mr. Bennet everything but her husband takes very little interest in her talk. She
spoke very highly about Mr. Bingley but scornfully about Mr. Darcy. She thinks that Mr. Darcy is
the most unpleasant man in the world.
Mrs. Bennet was delighted to find that Mr. Bingley danced twice with Jane. Mrs. Bennet begins to
feel certain that Mr. Bingley would marry Jane. We find that when Jane visited the Netherfield
Park and became ill, Mrs. Bennet was very happy at that time because now she would spend more
time with Mr. Bingley and the Mr. Bingley's interest in Jane would increase. Here once again, we
find her a comic figure; she is not caring about the health of her daughter but about the possibility
of the marriage between Mr. Bingley and Jane. Later, Mrs. Bennet does not feel very happy when
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Jane, after recovering from her illness, returns with Elizabeth to her house because Mrs. Bennet
would have liked both her daughters to stay on at Netherfield field a little longer so that the
possibility of Mr. Bingley marrying Jane could have become stronger. Mrs. Bennet became upset
and depressed when Mr. Bingley left Netherfield Park and did not return for several weeks. At the
end of the novel, Jane does get married with Mr. Bingley and then Mrs. Bennet feels overjoyed.
Mrs. Bennet cares about the marriage of her daughters so much that she does not care whether the
man is suitable or not. When Mr. Collins proposes Elizabeth for marriage, she did whatever she
can to make Elizabeth accept the proposal. She tries to coax and then threaten Elizabeth without
realizing that a sensible girl like Elizabeth would never marry a stupid person like Mr. Collins.
Mrs. Bennet's ideas and views change dramatically when Elizabeth gets engaged to Darcy. She
was very happy at that time and her thinking was totally changed regarding Mr. Darcy. It is also
amusing to find that Mr. Darcy who had always seemed to Mrs. Bennet as an odious man, is now
described by her as a charming man when Elizabeth gets engage to Darcy.
Mrs. Bennet felt sad and grieved when she came to know that Lydia had eloped with Wickham.
She has every right to feel sad but here again we find her talking too much to Mrs. Gardiner about
the misfortune which has enveloped her family. She tells her that she is in a dreadful state; she can
get no rest by night or by day. We feel amused by Mrs. Bennet's talk though we do at the same
time feel sorry for her. Later, when she heard the marriage of Wickham and Lydia, she feels very
excited and begins to speak about the wedding clothing which Lydia would receive from her. She
had completely forgotten the disgrace which Lydia brought to the family. Mrs. Bennet feels
delighted when Wickham and Lydia visited Longbourn after having got married.
At the end of the novel, we find her quite happy because three of her daughters are married. Out
of three marriages, two are among the most fortunate marriages that could have taken place. Mrs.
Bennet will always remember one of the most amusing and comic characters in English
Literature.

Justify the title of the novel Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice tells the story of the gradual union of two persons. One person has pride and
the other is blinded by prejudice. The heroine of the novel, Elizabeth has prejudice and that
occupies a large part of the novel and the hero of the novel is Mr. Darcy who has pride in himself.
Initially, they both dislike each other. But in the course of time, Darcy's pride finishes and
Elizabeth's prejudice also comes to an end. They both get balanced ideas about each other and
discover that they are suited to each other for a marriage. Pride and Prejudice is, therefore, is a
suitable title of the novel.
We find in the novel that Elizabeth conceives a dislike for Darcy when she overhears him telling
Mr. Bingley that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. She also overhears his remarks that he
is in no mood to dance with a girl, whom no other has chosen as a dance-partner. After hearing
these remarks, Elizabeth thinks Darcy to be a proud man and harbors prejudice against him in her
heart. When Darcy and Elizabeth meet at Netherfield Park where Jane is ill, Darcy's ideas about
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Elizabeth starts to change and he offers her to dance with him but Elizabeth firmly refuses him.
This shows that her prejudice against Darcy is continuing.
Then Mr. Wickham appears on the scene. He tells Elizabeth a long tale of his anger against Mr.
Darcy. Elizabeth believes every word of what Wickham has said. She did not care whether he was
telling a lie or was narrating a true story. Elizabeth now thinks Darcy to be an unemotional man.
Her dislike of Darcy now changes into hatred. Later we find that Wickham's tale was false and he
himself was a dishonest person. Wickham has also told Elizabeth that Lady Catherine wants
Darcy to marry her daughter. However, in saying this, Wickham has not told a lie because Lady
Catherine does want Mr. Darcy to marry her daughter.
Elizabeth meets Darcy at Hunsford where she has come on a brief visit to her friend Charlotte
who has got married to Mr. Collins. This meeting is purely accidental. Mr. Darcy has come to meet
his aunt, Lady Catherine. Darcy comes with his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth begins to
like Colonel Fitzwilliam and he also shows his interest in her but Colonel Fitzwilliam does not
propose her for marriage because she would not bring handsome dowry. Darcy who had started
to feel differently about Elizabeth no longer controls his emotions and one day proposes marriage
to Elizabeth. Elizabeth rejects his proposal without hesitation. She gives him reasons for her
refusal. She points out that he has made his proposal of marriage in a patronizing manner because
of his sense of social superiority over her. She mentions that Darcy has cruelly mistreated
Wickham and stopped his friend, Mr. Bingley to marry Jane. At this point, Elizabeth's prejudice
against Darcy is is its height.
On the very next day, Darcy writes a letter and hands over to Elizabeth. The letter contains a
defence of Darcy against the charges which she had leveled against him. There is much substance
in this defence and Elizabeth is deeply affected by it. Her reading of the letter is the turning point
in her whole attitude towards Darcy. Wickham's allegations against Darcy have been described in
this letter as totally false. Darcy gives strong reasons for having prevented Bingley's marriage with
Jane. He also referred to the uncultured talk of her mother and two younger sisters as reasons for
his hesitation in proposing marriage to Elizabeth earlier. Elizabeth now blames herself for having
a grudge against Darcy. In fact, she now feels ashamed of herself. Darcy now appears to her in a
most favourable light.
The next meeting between Darcy and Elizabeth is at Pemberley House. Darcy is the owner of
Pemberley House and Elizabeth has come to see Pemberley House in the company of her uncle
and aunt because this house is a tourist attraction. On this occasion, Darcy's whole attitude
towards Elizabeth has changed. His pride has gone. He speaks to her warmly and behaves
towards her relations with hospitality. By now all Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy has melted
away. She becomes strongly inclined towards him. This inclination becomes stronger when she
learns that Darcy has arranged the marriage of Lydia and Wickham. Wickham would not have
married Lydia if Mr. Darcy had not intervened in the matter. Then comes Lady Catherine from
whose talk Elizabeth guesses that Darcy might still propose marriage to her. Her guess proves to
be right and Darcy arrives soon and proposes marriage to her which Elizabeth happily accepted.
She now begins to think that Darcy would suit her most as her husband.
Elizabeth also has a prejudice against Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins is surely an absurd fellow and
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Elizabeth is fully justified. She refers to him as a man who does not have one single good quality.
She rebukes her friend Charlotte for having agreed to marry Collins. Not only that, even after
seeing with her own eyes that Charlotte is quite happy as Collin's wife, she still has adverse
opinions about Collins. It is not easy for us to forgive Elizabeth for having so deep prejudice
against Collins.
When we talk about Darcy, he certainly has pride. In the first gathering, everybody noted him to
be a proud man. Elizabeth too was offended by his pride when he made remarks about her.
However, Darcy soon changes his mind about Elizabeth because he discovers certain attraction in
her. But although, he is in love with her, he has not shed his pride. Even when he made his
proposal of marriage, the proposal is made in an insulting manner. His letter too was written in a
tone of insolence. The letter does produce an effect on Elizabeth but she fails to understand the
pride of the writer. However, all of his pride came to an end, when he made a proposal of
marriage to Elizabeth and Elizabeth rejected it. Later on when he meets her in Pemberley House,
there was a complete change in his behaviour. All of his pride has gone now. He plays a leading
role in the Lydia-Wickham's marriage. Later in the novel, he again proposes to Elizabeth
and Elizabeth now has seen a change in Darcy accepts his proposal.
Darcy says that he has been a proud man all his life and it was she who humbled his pride and
cured him of it. He says that Elizabeth has taught him a lesson and the lesson was that it was
utterly wrong to be proud of one's wealth and social position.
In the case of Jane-Bingley's affair, there is no pride on either side. Jane does not know what pride
is and Bingley is also completely free from this fault. Pride has no part to play here. It was
prejudice which has kept Jane and Bingley away from each other for several months. Darcy had
told Bingley that Jane does not love him as he loves her. Darcy had prejudiced Bingley against
Jane and thus prevented Bingley from proposing marriage to Jane. Bingley's prejudice melts away
afterwards and he marries Jane.
Pride is also represented by Lady Catherine. When Elizabeth was staying at Charlotte's, Lady
Catherine was conscious of showing her social superiority over the other two women. Later when
she visited Longbourn and has a long conversation with Elizabeth, she shows herself to be an
arrogant woman whose head is swollen by pride of her wealth. But her pride brings her nothing.
And she was defeated in the end.
In the end we can say that Pride and Prejudice is certainly an appropriate title of the novel because
pride and prejudice do play a dominant role in it.

Reasons for the Immense Popularity of the Novel

Pride and Prejudice is certainly one of the famous novels in English Literature. There are many
causes of its popularity. In the first place, it has a very interesting plot. The very theme of Love
and marriage has a great appeal about it. There is hardly any man in the world who is not
interested in love and marriage. This theme has a universal appeal because it is not only men who
are interested in it but women also. Women are perhaps more interested in this theme than men.
What interesting about the theme of love and marriage in the novel is that the novelist provides
many variations to the theme. The marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy comes to happen after a
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gradual process by which these two persons come together. In the beginning, they both dislike
each other. But as the progresses forward, their dislike changes and eventually they marry at the
end. So we have a case of love and marriage that is unique. Then there is the marriage between
Mr. Bingley and Jane, which comes about after an interruption and a break in their love affair. The
love affair between them seems to have come to an end but its revival towards the end of the
novel has a pleasant surprise for the readers. The marriage of Lydia and Wickham is brought
about by Darcy's intervention. Wickham had no intention to marry Lydia. He was just seducing
her. In the marriage between Wickham and Lydia, only woman was in love. The marriage of
Charlotte Lucas and Collins is a marriage of convenience. There is no love on either side. Thus,
marriage between Charlotte and Collins is of an unusual kind. The development of these
marriages makes this novel interesting. It must be noted here that Jane Austen does not depict the
passionate love or the agony of love. She depicts love in a minor key.
Jane Austen shows her craftsmanship by depicting the main plot and subplots. The subplots are
closely related to the main plot. The subplots are interwoven with the main plot so beautifully that
they create a pleasant pattern. The development of Elizabeth-Darcy and Jane-Bingley affair are
parallel to each other. The Charlotte-Collins affair begins soon after these two affairs have begun.
The Wickham-Lydia affair begins much later. The interweaving of various stories is perfect and
increases the appeal of the novel.
We have some dramatic situations in the novel which make the plot more interesting. Elizabeth's
rejection of Mr. Collin's marriage is a dramatic scene. Elizabeth's rejection of Darcy's proposal of
marriage and Darcy's letter is a dramatic account of incidents and events. The elopement of Lydia
and Wickham is also exciting. But the most dramatic situation in the whole novel is the
confrontation between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine. Elizabeth succeeds and Lady Catherine goes
away, defeated.
Jane Austen shows her skills in depicting the characters of Pride and Prejudice. Each of the
character is made to live before our eyes. When we read the novel, we have the feeling that we
have actually met Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Jane, Lydia, Darcy and above all Elizabeth
Bennet. The portrayal of Elizabeth is one of Jane Austen's major successes. Even the character of
Darcy is a successful one. We have seen so many people in the world who have pride and
arrogance just like Darcy and the change that comes later in his character is not unbelievable. At
the end of the novel, his pride was melted away. There are people in this world whose pride does
melt away because of experiences which have a softening effect on them. We cannot reject the
novelist's talent in portraying the real life characters.
One of the major reasons for the popularity of Pride and Prejudice is its rich comedy. Mrs. Bennet
and Mr. Collins are the immortal comic characters in English fiction. Mrs. Bennet has only one
obsession and that is the marriage of her daughters. This obsession pleases the readers. Mr.
Collins is a vain and silly person. The way he praises Lady Catherine and her daughter is
amusing. Mr. Collins is a proud man. He has high opinions about his attainments. The way he
proposes to Elizabeth and his reasons for marriage are very amusing. Mr. Bennet has a habit of
making sarcastic remarks. His main target is his wife and later Wickham also becomes the target
of his sarcastic remarks. Elizabeth too makes witty remarks. We also have comic irony which
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further enriches the novel.

Jane Austen depicts the manners and customs of her time. We have a clear picture of the social life
of Jane Austen's times in her novels. Same is the case with Pride and Prejudice as well. We come to
know about the upper class people like Darcy, Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley, Mr. Bingley. We also
meet the middle class people like the Bennet family, the Lucas family and the Gardiner family. We
come to know of the pride of the upper class people and we come to know of the concern of the
mothers of middle class i.e. the marriage of their daughters. We witness the customs, traditions of
the life of the times. We witness the assemblies and the balls. We are taken to the middle class
houses and we are taken inside such large mansions as Rosings Park and Pemberley Hall. These
pictures of social life add to the beauty of Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen deals not only with the outward life of the characters. She also depicts the inner life of
the heroines of each of her novels. In Pride and Prejudice, we have several passages depicting the
inner life of Elizabeth. We are given Elizabeth's thoughts and reflections after she has gone
through Darcy's letter in defence of himself. We come to know of Elizabeth's mind when she was
thinking about the situation which results from the elopement of Lydia with Mr. Wickham. The
state of her mind after her confrontation with Lady Catherine is also depicted in some detail. So,
the novel also gives us the study of life and the mind of the character.
In the end, we can say that Pride and Prejudice is by far the most popular of Jane Austen's novels.
The above discussed reasons are the major factors for the popularity of this novel. It is no
overstatement that Pride and Prejudice will always remain an immortal novel in English fiction.

Note on the Episode between Wickham and Lydia

Wickham is described in the novel Pride and Prejudice as a very charming young man with a
fine face, a good figure and a pleasant manner of talking. And Lydia is described by the
author as a stout, well grown girl of fifteen with a fine complexion and good face. She is the
youngest of the five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and she is a favourite with her mother.
She has strong feeling of self-importance.
Wickham is an officer in a militia regiment which is stationed near the town of Meryton and
Wickham and Lydia happen to meet each other when the Bennet sisters accompanied by Mr.
Collins are walking to that town. Mr. Wickham was at that time in the company of a fellow
officer by the name of Mr. Denny. The Bennet sisters feel greatly attracted by Mr. Wick ham.
Mrs. Philips, who was the aunt of the Bennet girls also lived in Meryton. Both Lydia and her
sister, Catherine were in the habit of paying frequent visits to her aunt. The two sisters had to
walk only a mile to get to the house of Mrs. Philips and they can easily cover the distance on
foot. Both Lydia and Catherine were much interested in militia officers. Both Lydia and
Catherine had minds which were more vacant than their sisters. Lydia started liking Mr.
Wickham but she became depressed when she learnt that Wickham wanted to marry a girl by
the name of Miss King who had a fortune of ten thousand pounds. But later we find that Mr.
Wickham had decided not to marry Miss King, and that Miss King had already gone away to
her uncle in Liverpool. Lydia felt very happy to know that Wickham was safe. Lydia was very
excited when she told this news to Jane and Elizabeth when they returned from London and
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were in the carriage. But Lydia's happiness dashed to the ground when the militia regiment
moved from Meryton to Brighton. She thought that she would not be able to meet Mr.
Wickham again. However, she felt overjoyed when the wife of the colonel of the regiment,
Mrs. Forster, invited her to accompany her to Brighton. In Lydia's imagination, a visit to
Brighton would bring every possibility of earthly happiness within her reach.
At Brighton, Lydia resumed her relationship with Mr. Wickham and they became so friendly
that one day it is reported that the two had eloped. In a letter, which Lydia wrote to Mrs.
Forster on the very next day, she informed Mrs. Forster that she and Mr. Wickham were going
to Scotland in order to get married. The elopement brought much shame and disgrace to the
Bennet family. The tone of Lydia's letter to Mrs. Forster showed that she was tr eating her
behaviour as something to be proud of.
The whereabouts of Lydia and Wickham were traced later on and Mr. Denny revealed to
Bennet family that Mr. Wickham did not want to marry Lydia. Mr. Wickham's intentions
towards Lydia were not honourable. Mr. Darcy traced the runaway couple and gave money to
Mr. Wickham. And then Mr. Wickham married Lydia. There was no love between the couple.
Mr. Wickham wanted to satisfy his lust and Lydia was a vain girl who thought all of this to be
the part of her adventure. She believed that she was in love with Wickham but it was just an
illusion.
After their marriage, when Lydia and Wickham returned to Longbourn, there was neither
shame nor guilt in their behaviour. They were behaving as if nothing had been happened .
Lydia turned from sister to sister, demanding their congratulations. Lydia wanted her
marriage to be widely publicized so that every relative of the Bennet family might come to
know of her marriage. She felt very proud of being called Mrs. Wickham.
Towards the close of the novel, we learn that the feelings between Wickham and Lydia have
started to vanish. Wickham no longer loves Lydia and that Lydia's love for him is also
vanishing fast. Lydia is always short of money and is constantly asking her two sis ters to help
her. Thus, their marriage proved a failure, besides having brought disgrace to the family.
Wickham-Lydia's affair serves also a didactic purpose. This affair is an example and a
warning to those girls, who, having no experience of life and not much respect for their
elders, think themselves to be wise enough to look after themselves, but who meet a sad end.
We can summarize the whole episode between Lydia and Wickham in the following
paragraph,
Lydia is a thoughtless creature who fantasizes about being married, and to marry an officer in
uniform. Wickham is an immoral, irresponsible and equally worthless individual who takes
advantage of her looseness, and elopes with her as part of his being an adventurer. In the end,
Mr. Gardiner, the person in charge of Lydia at the time she was staying there, finally found
them, and they were married off thanks to money that was actually given by Darcy, to secure
a dowry and try and save her reputation. But their marriage proved a failure.

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