“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Longbourn, Hertfordshire lives the Bennets with their five daughters; Jane (22), Elizabeth (20), Mary (18), Catherine (17) and Lydia (15). They are of middle class.

In this society of the late eighteen hundreds, there are distinct social classes divided by wealth and power. It is a patriarchal society in which women do not question men. For a woman, it is her objective in life to marry well for security in life.

For the Bennets, having no sons, Mrs. Bennet finds it her duty to marry off her daughters.

"....she still was occasionally nervous and invariably silly.”

Mrs. Bennet..... is a most disagreeable character, if not the most in the whole book as her constant presence is felt quite painfully. Silly, annoying, fickle and yet you cannot help but shake your head with amusement at a kind of lightness that she brings....maybe. She is so desperate to impress with her gossip and boasting and declarations of senseless talk and we can see how ridiculous she is. Throughout the novel, it is no secret to anyone that the woman is intolerable to nearly all those she meets.

“I admire all my three sons-in-law highly," said he. "Wickham, perhaps, is my favourite; but I think I shall like your husband quite as well as Jane's.”

Personally, I loved Mr. Bennet for the most part. Even though he may not be the best father figure, he is more sensible than his wife, with whom he can't even get along with. His teasing her is quite amusing which he does for that exact reason, along with further disagreements and provoking, and it is evident that they are not a great match, thus not great parents. Mr. Bennet may be sarcastic but he can be quiet enough when he hides in the library to read, (probably from Mrs. Bennet).


“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”

The eldest of the daughters, Miss. Jane Bennet, is said to be the most beautiful of them. Her sweet personality is adored by all as she is honest and fair and thinks well of everyone. She can also be rather quiet and reserved. She is close to Elizabeth, with whom she confides in throughout the novel. As much as her mother is concerned with money, Jane wishes to marry for love.

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

Most of the story is told from Elizabeth's point of view, the second eldest who is also thought to be quite beautiful but not as much as Jane. Although they are both much more sensible than their mother, Elizabeth is different in personality as she is better at reading people and her surroundings. She is not as conservative and can be quite bold. She is not afraid to speak up for herself which can shock some.


“Unhappy as the event must be for Lydia, we may draw from it this useful lesson: that loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin; that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful; and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex.”

Mary is quite different to the rest of the sisters as she has no interest in marrying, it appears. Her love is in music and books which we see her retreat to quite often throughout the novel. Her role is quite in the background.

"In society so superior to what she had generally known, her improvement was great."

“And we mean to treat you all,' added Lydia, 'but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.”


Catherine Bennet, also known as Kitty, is more influenced by her younger sister, Lydia. Both of them are young and silly like their mother. They have not very many talents to show and prefer to gossip and shop, and of course they love the balls. It is evident though, that Kitty follows Lydia who is the real culprit for their irrational behaviour.


“Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners."

When the wealthy party travel into town, Mrs. Bennet is eager to introduce themselves. With the young Mr. Bingley she hopes to set up one of her daughters and we can see from very early on, a connection is made with Jane. Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed at how well things are going and Elizabeth rejoices at her sister's happiness over finding such a man with whom she finds herself falling in love with. Along with Mr. Bingley's party is his good friend Mr. Darcy...

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.”

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a proud, arrogant man with wealth and power from his inheritance. He is reserved and serious and looks down on people beneath him, whilst also appearing rude and snobby.


Due to the attraction between Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth runs into Darcy on numerous occasions during their stay in the rented estate of Netherfield nearby. As they find themselves in the same company, Darcy finds himself noticing Elizabeth. He fears that he may fall for her, which would be a catastrophe as her family he finds insufferable and her family connections quite vulgar. On Elizabeth's mind though, she immediately dislikes him from his behaviour which she witnesses earlier on, and is impertinent with him.

"One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.”

Meanwhile in the town of Meryton a few miles away, the regiment arrives creating a buzz for parties and balls as the officers make their stay. The younger sisters in particular, Kitty and Lydia, flock to the attention of the officers. The family find themselves making an acquaintance with Mr. Wickham who appears to be a very agreeable man with his looks and mannerism. Spending time with Elizabeth, she learns of his terrible misfortunes in life, in which she finds out further knowledge of Darcy. Her judgement of him becomes even less agreeable.

As things become more certain between Jane and Bingley, the family is shocked to hear of their sudden departure from the area for reasons they cannot fathom. As confusion and hurt takes over Jane, Elizabeth is worried and their mother is outraged, but only over the fact that a marriage did not take place. Jane is sinking as she tries to get over Bingley.

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

For Elizabeth, she arranges to visit her good friend Charlotte Lucas in Hunsford, whom we would've met earlier in the novel. On this visit, Elizabeth is shocked to find herself in the company of Mr. Darcy, as we learn he is a relative of the very powerful Lady Catherine nearby. She is suspicious from the last time she heard from them in regards to their party's hasty departure from Netherfield. In speaking to his cousin, she is hit with another realisation about Darcy and is furious at his actions which has caused so much hurt to her family.

But Elizabeth is shocked again, when during her stay in Hunsford, Darcy offers her his hand as he reveals his true feelings for her which she could never have suspected. Although she is almost humbled that such a wealthy man would have an interest in her, to love her as he proclaims, she is too angry at him. Not to mention the way he lists out all the reasons why he shouldn't marry her. After insulting her most unfortunate circumstances, Elizabeth makes a stand, and to his surprise, rejects him. As she reveals all that she knows of him, he is shocked at her boldness to address him in such a way as she accuses him of his wrong doings. Things are left quite uncivil.

Distressed by her findings, and thrown off by Darcy's proposal, Elizabeth returns to Longbourn, but not without a letter from Darcy. A letter that turns the tides.

“Till this moment I never knew myself.”

Unable to face her family, she retreats into herself, though she is only able to confide so much in Jane to protect her.

She finds herself thinking about him.

As the regiment leaves Meryton for Brighton, Lydia receives an invite to go with them under care of the Colonel. With Mrs. Bennet eager for her daughter to go, and her father flippant of any danger occurring, it is decided however Elizabeth might plead against it. Though she points out that the silly girl that Lydia is could ruin their reputation if she was let loose, it is set that she will go.

Meanwhile, another journey for Elizabeth along with her favourite aunt and uncle, their most fortunate connection, ends up with her setting eyes on the grand estate of Pemberley, of Mr. Darcy, though they are assured that he is away. In awe of the fine mansion and grounds, she cannot help fantasize about the possibilities of her becoming mistress of the place, had she accepted the man. She had been wrong about him, his reasonings explained in that letter which she had almost memorized. And how ashamed she was at how she spoke to him!
Her shock and embarrassment at his unexpected return when he shows up unannounced is enough to make them both blush but she soon finds him much more amiable and agreeable to her and her family. This change in him though she cannot understand and yet she admires it greatly so. She dared to hope...

“Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her.”

But when scandal threatens to bring down Elizabeth's family, she is sure there can never be any possibilty of him proposing to her for a second time, or any man for that matter. Until she finds him saving them all, for her.

He was proud. She was prejudice.


“My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”

Wow, this book, just so beautiful!!! Having gone through it in English I was supposed to read it ages ago, but having found a better understanding it, I felt the need to go back and read it on my own accord. And it was super gorgeous to read.

From the variety of characters and the plot itself, helped by the era of course since things were done so differently back then, you could not help but be interested and captivated by this love story told by the Great Jane Austen. I fell in love with Jane and Bingley, and Elizabeth and Darcy.

Of course, there is a lot more to the story than what I've told but I think the main focus was generally on those relationships.

The writing itself took a while to get into but none the less beautiful.

I have now even been inspired to read other classics so this was a wonderful start :)