Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
62 chapters·11h 58m listening·Also in Romanian
4.30from 4,993,407 ratingson Goodreads
Mr Bennet has five daughters, an estate that will pass to a cousin, and no intention of managing either. When a rich young man takes the house nearby and brings a richer and prouder friend, Elizabeth Bennet decides within an evening what Mr Darcy is, and spends the rest of the book finding out how good her judgement is.
About the book
Published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice follows the Bennet family, whose five daughters face a social world in which marriage has serious financial consequences. Elizabeth Bennet’s lively intelligence and independence bring her repeatedly into contact with Fitzwilliam Darcy, a wealthy landowner whose manner initially appears proud and disagreeable. Jane Austen uses courtship, conversation and misunderstanding to examine how class, money, family behaviour and personal vanity distort judgement. Elizabeth is a perceptive observer but not an infallible one, and the novel gives equal weight to what people reveal through conduct and what others are prepared to believe about them.
Characters
Elizabeth Bennet — Protagonist
The intelligent second Bennet daughter, confident in her judgement and unwilling to marry without respect.
Fitzwilliam Darcy — Landowner
A wealthy landowner whose reserved and proud manner makes a poor first impression on Elizabeth.
Jane Bennet — Elizabeth’s sister
The eldest Bennet sister, admired for her beauty, kindness and tendency to think well of other people.
Charles Bingley — Darcy’s friend
A wealthy and sociable young man whose arrival at Netherfield immediately interests the Bennet family.
Mr Bennet — Elizabeth’s father
The witty but detached father of five daughters, often retreating into irony rather than family management.
Mrs Bennet — Elizabeth’s mother
The anxious and outspoken mother of the Bennet sisters, determined to see her daughters securely married.
George Wickham — Militia officer
A charming militia officer whose account of his history with Darcy strongly influences Elizabeth’s opinion.
Lydia Bennet — Youngest sister
The impulsive youngest Bennet sister, delighted by officers, gossip and the excitement of social attention.
About the author
Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose six completed books turned the ordinary business of courtship, money and family into some of the most exacting social comedy in the language. She wrote about a narrow world — the minor landed gentry of southern England — with an irony precise enough that readers still argue about where her sympathies lie. Her handling of a character's thoughts in the narrator's own voice shaped how novels have reported an inner life ever since. Her novels appeared anonymously in her lifetime, credited only to "A Lady"; they include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion.