Pride and Prejudice 1

''Pride and Prejudice'' takes place in England around the 19th century and the novel begins with introducing the Bennet family, the main characters. Everything starts with Mrs Bennet telling Mr Bennet that a wealthy young man, named Charles Bingley, is moving into Netherfield Park in their neighborhood. Mrs Bennet sees this as an opportunity for marrying away one of her five daughters which is basically her only occupation (getting her daughters married). She pleads with Mr Bennet to call on Mr Bingley so that she can introduce her daughters to him. This leads the Bennet family to become invited to a ball where Mr Bingley instantly become well-liked due to him being personable and polite to the local folk. On the other hand, his friend Mr Darcy who is handsome and noble looking makes a less favorable impression by acting proud and condescending.

The eldest daughter of the Bennet family, Jane, instantly gets drawn by Mr Bingley who also seemed equally attracted to her and they form an attachment to each other at the ball. By contrast, the main characters in the novel, Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy, begin their resentment for each other. This is started by Mr. Darcy who says ''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 slighted by other men.'' about Elizabeth to Mr Bingley who suggests Mr Darcy to dance with her. Elizabeth overhears this and jokes about it dispute feeling a budding resentment.

Alot of characters are introduced in the beginning, such as the Bennet daughters; Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine, Lydia. Mr. Bennet and Mrs Bennet who are their parents and also Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy. These are the characters which the story circles around but there are also some minor characters.

The novel's protagonists are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. The novel plot and the other characters are mostly seen from Elizabeths viewpoint, she is the second daughter of the Bennet daughters. She is described as intelligent, lively, attractive and witty like her father. She, of all the Bennet daughters, has the closest relationship with Mr Bennet on the contrary to her mother which she is her mothers least favorite of all daughters. She is very outgoing, and independent, which you can tell by the way she says whatever is on her mind and she is also quite different from all her sisters.

Mr Darcy is a wealthy bachelor who is considered very handsome by most of the people in the novel. He is described as tall, intelligent and from what I have read it seems as if he is rather unsocial, given that he detests dancing and is not much for light conversations. This is also the reason why people didnt care for him very much during and after the ball. However, Mr Bingley doesn't seem to be bothered by it since they are very close friends.

''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possesion of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feeling or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this thruth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters''

This quote represents the very first lines in the novel, they actually caught my interest (which isn't an easy task since i don't like to read) beacause they were very intriguing and I believe that the entire plot will centre around these sentences. They breifly tell us about Mr Bingley but also that, as i just said(wrote), the novel will be about women (or more likley their mothers) pursuit of ''single men in possesion of good fortune'' for themselves/ their daughters.I believe that Jane Austen chose this title due to Elizabeth represents ''Prejudice'' and Mr Darcy ''Pride''. Futhermore, the title ''Pride and prejudice'' is very fitting for many reasons, one of which is that it refers to the ways that Elizabeth and Mr Darcy view each other from their first meeting where Elizabeth forms a prejudice against him because he hurt her pride by saying  ''she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me...''. 

Reading log 1 - Pride and Prejudice

The first lines 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”

To be honest, these couple of lines in the beginning of the novel really caught my curiosity and at the same time provoked me. Jane Austen begins her entire novel by telling the reader how important it is for a woman to marry a man with a good income and not by love. Except from the fact that these sentences shows us that the novel will be about prejudice, that existed during that time, it also shows us that things have changed. This was probably an every day alternative during their time, but for someone like me, in another century and in another culture, I couldn’t relate to these sentences and therefore I had to read more.

The exposition 

The novel takes places during the 18^th century in England and is about the Bennet family. Mrs Bennett’s biggest wish in life is that her five daughters will find men with a good fortune who they can marry. Therefore, when Mr Bingley, a man who is rich, single and attractive rents a house close to the Bennett’s house; Mrs Bennet sees her opportunity to marrying away one of her daughters. One night Mr Bingley arranges a ball where Jane, the oldest daughter, catches his interest and dances with only her the entire night. This, of course, made Mrs Bennet really delighted and satisfied. However, Mr Bingley’s friend, Mr Darcy, another man with a great fortune is also at the ball. Unfortunately, he does not give as good impression as Mr Bingley. Elizabeth quickly judges him as a man with a lot of pride and when she overhear him saying that Elizabeth isn’t someone he want to spend time with because she isn’t beautiful enough her judgment about him confirms. Furthermore, as a reader you will also get introduced to Mr Collins who is Mr Bennet’s cousin, and in the case of Mr Bennet’s death inherits all of Mr Bennet’s fortune. Mr Collins will visit the Bennet family and his main intention is to marry one of the five sisters. Soon, he proposes to Elizabeth who declines and her mother gets furious.

The characters

One of the main characters in this novel is Elizabeth Bennet. She is the second oldest of five daughters in the Bennet family. It seems like Elizabeth is her father’s favourite daughter since he believes she is the cleverest one, this contrary to her mother who wont consider Elizabeth as her first choice among the other daughters.

Elizabeth is a woman who is gifted in many ways. She is beautiful, intelligent, intellectual and outspoken. She is also a caring and loving person and values her family the most, particularly her sister Jane. Furthermore, she is the kind of person who has faith in in true love and therefore believes that a woman should marry a man she loves and not because of his great fortune. However, she has a bad habit, which is judging people very quickly in a sarcastic way. For an example, she judges Mr Darcy for being arrogant only after their first meeting.

Another main character is Mr Darcy. He is from a respectable family with a big fortune. He seems to be a man of few words, Mr Darcy is described as an asocial man with a lot of pride and therefore thinks highly about himself. But, he seems to be a very trusted man by his friend Mr Bingley, and also by his younger sister, Miss Darcy, who he loves and protects very much. This shows us that he is most likely, just like Elizabeth Bennet, a caring and loving person.

The title 

The title of this novel is Pride and Prejudice and I believe that the entire novel is based on this couple of words. Just by reading the first sentences on the first page, the author, Jane Austen, presents the themes pride and prejudice. This goes on in the coming chapters where we can read about the predetermined thoughts to the characters, depending on their birth or status, or how they should act in a certain occasion and mostly about how a woman is expected to act during the 18^th century.

Reading log 1 - Pride and Prejudice

The exposition

I have chosen to read the novel Pride and Prejudice which is a book written by the famous author Jane Austen. The story takes place on the English countryside in the early 19^th-century and revolves around a family called Bennet. The Bennet family has five daughters and they are all represented on the first few pages of the book. Jane and Elizabeth are the oldest ones and therefore expected to soon be married. Their mother, Mrs. Bennet, spends day and night searching for gentlemen who are willing to marry her beloved daughters. Therefore when Mr. Bingley moves to town everyone gets very excited. The rumour has it that Mr. Bingley is a very wealthy and proper man, a perfect match for one of the girls.

”It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other their daughters.”

These are the first lines of the book. I think they are well connected to Mrs. Bennet’s life goal - the importance of finding a good and suitable man for her daughters. The first lines tell you what the book will be about. Family, marriage and relationships are all big parts of the plot.

The first major event in the novel is when Mr. Bingley and the Bennets finally meet at a ball, with all the other upper-class locals. Jane, the oldest of the five sisters, and Mr.Bingley enjoy each other’s company very much and Mrs. Bennet could not be more pleased with the night. She is already making up wedding plans in her head on the way home. But Mr. Bingley did not arrive alone. With him came his two sisters and an old friend of his, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a very arrogant and proud man, this has a connection with the title of the book I guess, and no one gets a good first impression of him. Elizabeth Bennet who is a very free-speaking person tries her best to get to know this man but with no luck since Mr Darcy does not finds any interest in her because of her lack of beauty he says.

At first I thought this would be a typical love story with Jane and Mr.Bingley getting happily married. But as the story went on I realised this book had so much more to offer - Jane Austen is not famous for nothing.

In my opinion the main characters of the book are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy since the book circles more and more around them as the story goes on.

Elizabeth is not like the rest of the Bennet sisters. She is a very independent woman and is not afraid to speak her mind. Elizabeth is often a disappointment to her mother since she is not very ladylike and does not want to settle down with just any man that comes in her way. I find her character very interesting because of her intelligence and strong will.

Mr. Darcy on the other hand is a character that develops as the story goes on. In the first chapters he is very arrogant and grumpy. He is not at all as open minded as Elizabeth and as a reader I had a really hard time liking Mr. Darcy in the beginning.

Part one - The exposition

The exposition

The novel Pride and Prejudice begins with getting the reader acquaintance with the main characters, the Bennet family. Mrs Bennet had just heard that the Netherfield Park had been rented out and the renter was a handsome, rich, single man named Charles Bingley. This meant for Mrs Bennet that one of her daughters had to be his future wife. Therefore she asked or more forced her husband Mr Bennet to go and talk to the new neighbour. So, Mr Bennet did what his wife had asked him to do. The meeting resulted in an invitation from Mr Bingley to the Bennet family for the ball that was expected to take place the few next days. At the ball the family and especially the Bennet daughters was presented to Mr Bingley and his company. The company consisted Mr Bingley's two sisters, his brother-in-law Mr Hurst and his friend Mr Darcy. Mr Bingley was soon to be in love with the oldest Bennet daughters, Jane Bennet. Of course this made Mrs Bennet extremely happy and expected a wedding to take place any time soon. The next oldest Bennet daughter was Elizabeth Bennet who had believed that Mr Darcy was a supercilious person. In fact not only did she, but also all the guests. However the reader gets to know Mr Darcy as one restrained person who tries his hardest to not falling in love with Elizabeth Bennet. Hence he calls Elizabeth as not beautiful enough to deserve his interest or his time. This statement broke Elizabeth's heart but despite those hurtful words she continued to have a good time at the ball with her family and friends.

A few days later Mr Bingley and his sisters, who had been fond of Jane Bennet, invited her to their home Netherfield Park. Jane wanted to borrow the carriage due to the fact that it seemed to be going to rain. Nonetheless Mrs Bennet was unwilling to let her daughter take the carriage when she could horseback riding to Netherfield Park. With some luck she would get sick, which would result in the Bingley family forced to keep her at their home until she got better. And so did that happen. After a visit to the Netherfield Park the younger Bingley daughters insisted in Mr Bingley having another ball to meet all his new neighbours and make some new acquaintance. They also insisted in Mr Bingley inviting the military men who had arrived at Herfordshire. One of these men, Mr Wickham was a former friend of Mr Darcy though he had unfortunately lost his friendship with him. Mr Wickham had told Elizabeth that Mr Darcy was jealous of him because his father was fonder of Wickham than Darcy. Elizabeth is now also fond of Mr Wickham however he does not attend Mr Bingley's ball due to not wanting it getting intense between him and his former friend.

The next day a family member Mr Collins, a clergyman, arrived at the Bennet house. His visit had the intend of finding a suited wife. He therefore had arrived at Longbourn to express his interest in choosing one of his cousins to be his future wife. Once again Mrs Bennet was delighted of the news and soon Elizabeth was his chosen one. Although Elizabeth could not return same feelings, which made her mother extremely, mad. Mr Collins was therefore forced to forget his intend in marrying his cousin and asked instead for her best friend Charlotte Lucas hand.

As it turns out, the novel is mainly about love, pride, prejudice and finding a wife/husband. Women had not equally rights as men at 18th century in England. Therefore young ladies were compelled to find a husband who could provide for them. However Elizabeth refused to see marriage as an affair and was therefore persistent in not marrying a man who she did not think could make her happy and neither would she make him.

The characters 

Elizabeth Bennet is the next oldest daughter. She is not her mother’s favourite contrary to her father who believes she is the most rational and smartest of his daughters. She is portrayed as intelligent, lively, playful, and attractive and has the tendency to judge on first impression. For example she judges Mr Darcy for being arrogant and to high-minded which would make him the last man on earth to marry. Miss Bennet is described as a woman ahead of her time that refuses to marry a man who she does not love.

Mr Darcy is from a rich and respectable family. He has a younger sister who he is very protective of. At his first visit to Herfordshire no one liked him especially Elizabeth Bennet. The reader gets to know that Mr Darcy is restrained and when you lose his friendship there is no turning back on receiving it again. He is portrayed as being handsome, tall, intelligent and asocial.

The first three lines 

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. ` My dear Mr Bennet,´ said his lady to him one day, `have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?´

The first three lines describe what the novel is going to be about. Mrs Bennet as all the other ladies in Herfordshire is excited that a handsome, rich man is staying at the Netherfield Park. That would imply that one of their daughters had to be his future wife. During this century in England rich men was obligated to marry to provide young women due to the fact that women had no rights and could not inherit money or house from their parents to support themselves.

These three lines describe perfectly what the story is going to be about. However they do not catch my interest. I would like to read more to understand the main characters and their part in the story. Who does Mr Bingley choose? Does all the mothers or daughters share the same opinion that a good fortune man needs to find a wife to provide for? And does all the citizens share the same opinion on the status of women? To be able to receive an answer on these questions, I need to continue reading.  

The title

The title Pride and Prejudice implies that the theme of the novel is pride and prejudice. At the same time the theme love is woven in the storyline. Mr Darcy is to pride and arrogant to even consider talking or marrying a woman in a submissive position. Elizabeth Bennet is to prejudice of Mr Darcy. She thinks that he is too self-important to even want to dance with anybody than his company. Yet the reader gets to know Mr Darcy as an asocial and restrained man. This quality of him and his fortune has made him seen as an arrogant person. Nevertheless the reader sense love between the two characters. They may not like each other or at least Elizabeth does not, yet the feeling is there.