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    Pride and Prejudice
    Pride and Prejudice
    Pride and Prejudice
    Ebook491 pages8 hours

    Pride and Prejudice

    By Jane Austen

    4.5/5

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    One of the most universally loved and admired English novels, Pride and Prejudice was penned as a popular entertainment. But the consummate artistry of Jane Austen (1775–1817) transformed this effervescent tale of rural romance into a witty, shrewdly observed satire of English country life that is now regarded as one of the principal treasures of English language.
    In a remote Hertfordshire village, far off the good coach roads of George III's England, a country squire of no great means must marry off his five vivacious daughters. At the heart of this all-consuming enterprise are his headstrong second daughter Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy — two lovers whose pride must be humbled and prejudices dissolved before the novel can come to its splendid conclusion.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateApr 20, 2012
    ISBN9780486132501
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels—Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion—which observe and critique the British gentry of the late eighteenth century. Her mastery of wit, irony, and social commentary made her a beloved and acclaimed author in her lifetime, a distinction she still enjoys today around the world.

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    Reviews for Pride and Prejudice

    4.5/5

    19,228 ratings563 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The Little BookwormElizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet and dislike each other, then through a series of meetings realize that first impressions do not always make the kindest.I haven't read Pride and Prejudice in a very long time so when the Everything Austen Challenge came along I decided to take advantage and do an all P&P list. Since it had been so long since I read it, it seemed only natural to start at the beginning. Oddly I found myself bored until Mr. Collins arrived (ironic). That's when the action started to pick up as much as it ever does in this book. The characters start moving locations and interacting in situations outside their normal places and then it starts to get good.I love how natural the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy becomes and is, frankly, the archetype for this type of relationship. If this book was published now it would totally be considered chic lit. The meet cute, the fighting and misunderstanding, the declaration of love at the end, well, actually it has been made into chic lit through the Bridget Jones character. Anyway, P&P still holds up in my esteem and it was well worth re-reading.
    • 5/5
      No wonder this book is a classic; it's awesome!
    • 4/5
      Obviously the language is dated and heavy on narrative. Structurally, it's an excellent example of a 3-act play with multiple plot lines and surprising twists.
    • 3/5
      Forced myself to listen to it, because I kept giving up on reading after page 50. Love the BBC version with Colin Firth. The book, not so much. Definitely do not understand the Austen obsession.
    • 1/5
      Oh gosh. This book is not for me. I made it to page 70 in a borrowed book, and returned it at that point rather than taking the person up on the offer to take it with me.
      The wife calling her husband 'Mr. Darcy' during their personal conversations with each other was hard to overlook after the fifth time.
      The underhanded and sneaky means of finding husbands for the females was annoying, but when it became more obvious that was the only goal in life for the female characters, I got truly discouraged and disappointed. Is this the 200 year old version of Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey?
      Just like in a Harlequin novel, the rouge vagrant of a man that the heroine initially despises was to become her object of undying love (or so I think, from what I've heard of the book over the past decades). And just like a Harlequin novel, I could not care less about these characters near the middle of the book than before I met them.
      I will try again in a few years in an attempt to see the greatness that others have seen. Just having a hard time right now thinking that I ever will enjoy it.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable as an audiobook.
    • 4/5
      Who doesn't love this book? I mean, really. It's the quintessential love story that most of us base our romantic fantasies and reading preferences on. Even if you're the type to shy away from classic literature, you'll find this story accessible, relevant, and enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      The Top Ten Things to know about the characters and character of Pride and Prejudice:•Jane Austen is observant in a way that could do you much credit or reveal you to be the most lamentable boor or ninny ever.•“Elizabeth Bennet is one of the greatest and most complex characters ever written.” That line’s lifted from the movie You’ve Got Mail. It’s got truth.•Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth’s father, is often sensible and well-humored, though not without defect even good humor cannot always compensate. One wonders if he has, in his parental supervisions and marital forbearance, support from something distilled.•Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth’s mother, isn’t sensible and her good humor deserts her often. Yet, despite her follies and the vexations afforded by her family, she is set aglow by even small promise of desired events to come. That is a thing not to be scoffed at.•Elizabeth Bennet pays firm notice of Mr. Darcy’s prejudice; her pride is to interpret it prejudicially.•Mr. Darcy’s pride is to have a stick up his hind side for the longest time. Elizabeth Bennet, in her musings, somehow refrains from expressing her identical sentiments with identical words.•Mr. Wickham, a roguish fellow, boldfaces the grievances Elizabeth Bennet has with Mr. Darcy. The comparison has consequences and is a source of much that’s fun.•Lady Catherine’s genius is to put pride and prejudice in service of her very great admiration of her own greatness at endeavors she’s never attempted and emotions she’s never felt, thus calling to mind a person quite prominent in present-day U.S. politics.•The last third or so of the book is not as good as what came before. But keep on—Elizabeth Bennet does and that should suffice.•You might not be enchanted by Elizabeth Bennet. But if you are not, justice should petition that Lady Catherine (or her toady, Mr. Collins) become an affliction to your days.And that’s the true gen. Count on it.
    • 5/5
      My favourite.
    • 3/5
      Title says it all.
    • 5/5
      I LOVE this book!
    • 5/5
      Always a favorite
    • 5/5
      What can I say? An absolute favorite from seventh grade.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful love story full of biting humor, Pride & Prejudice has some of the most memorable, endearing characters in literary history. This book will be remembered and cherished long after you read it.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice is probably her most popular novel. I have to admit; I read Austen's novel Emma first and didn't thoroughly enjoy it. Therefore, I put off Pride & Prejudice for months and months. Finally one day I decided to take a crack at it. At first I found once again the plot to be slow and dry. Once the characters were all introduced I really became engrossed with the story and setting. I immediately fell in love with Elizabeth and grew to feel sorry for her. Elizabeth is the second eldest of five daughters. She is completely misunderstood by everyone in her family except for her eldest sister Jane and her father. It was very obvious that Elizabeth’s mother favored Jane and was very anxious for her to be engaged to Mr. Bingley, a wealthy gentleman who just moved in to Netherfield Park. When Mr. Darcy was introduced, I thought he was very arrogant and rude and just a revolting man to be around. However, as the story and plot continued I began to like him more and more. It was really hard to get a handle on Mr. Darcy. Is he arrogant and rude or is he really shy and mysterious?Overall, I absolutely loved Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. I really got a feel for who most of the characters were and I loved the twists and turns. Austen did a fantastic job making it witty and comical. I would have given this novel 5 out of 5 stars, however, I did find it to be dry in parts and found myself skipping paragraphs and even a page or two at times and didn’t really feel I was missing anything. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a witty romance novel.
    • 4/5
      Returned to a classic as my library offered no attractive newer options and I was well rewarded by a reread as a mature--very--adult. 'The marriage game' to use Eugenides' phrase in its most sophisticated and subtle rendition. In its most essential lines a typical lady romance, but its sensibility to the social context of the times brings it to another level altogether, plus that something magical of an artist's(author's) unique expression. As I sometimes felt I was wading through the oblique and rather artificial for our time's dialogue, where people rarely spoke openly, I wondered how the book could still be so absorbing. But the editor I think hit it spot on saying that difference can be fascinating. So in that sense it was interesting as a historical novel, bringing alive the context of the times, and the same holds for the rather circumscribed setting and actors of the genteel English countryside. Again I wondered how these so different and 'irrelevant' characters could hold my interest whereas in the contemporary --peerless for some-- "Corrections" I ended up saying I just don't care about them. I think likely because the latter were so extremely self-absorbed, selfish in their mundane problems, whereas in the former there is balance and retrospection rather than absorption. And if I don't give it a fifth star, it's basically because of the light romantic theme and of the 'distant' to us setting, which are also the main points for giving it four stars.
    • 3/5
      When I started my reading list for 2017, I decided to go heavy on the classics, those books that always appear on those Read These Books Before You Die lists, 100 Greatest Books, blah-blah-blah. So I read it. It was okay, but I wasn’t exactly bowled over, it was a bit stiff and stilted. Not surprising considering the setting, plot, etc. “Oh, Lady Frillypants and Lord Salsburywichshireford! What an honor to see you at our daughter’s ball! Fa-la-la!” It wasn’t horrible, and I’m glad to have read it, but I did remove the other Jane Austen novels I had put on my list. One was enough.
    • 5/5
      Oh what can I say about this book, or any Jane Austen book, that hasn't already been said. And by people who are more intelligent than me. I have always been a fan of Jane Austen but, surprisingly, I have never read any of her books until now. Not that I haven't wanted to but school, after school activities, and many other little things were in the way. Resulting in me not having a chance to read it until a couple of weeks ago, but having started it about ten times.

      I love this book. I knew I would. A beautiful, engaging, wonderful book. I have always thought I was born in the wrong time. Although, I want the fashions I would love them with the values of the 21st century. But the book has captivated me and Jane Austen as gained another fan.

      Elizabeth was a refreshing, lively, stubborn young woman who in some ways is ahead of her time. Her sisters and parents are all amazing characters who are living in the world were girls are supposed to be married and have children. However, Elizabeth wanted to marry for love and in walks Mr. Darcy who turns her world on end. My love for this book cannot be expressed in words, nor will I ever be able to.

      5/5
    • 4/5
      The absolute embodiment of the Romance novel. The style, though lovely and expressive in its own peculiar, is outdated for the genre today. The characters though are still the paragons of "boy meets girl" plots, imitated and copied millions of time - and usually worse than in the original.Karen Savage did a superb job in the Librivox reading, giving every character their very own quirks. Especially Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet were as hilarious as they were supposed to be.
    • 3/5
      Sorry to all the P&P fans out there . . . this just wasn't my thing. *ducks and hides*
    • 5/5
      I have read this book multiple times--every time I read it, I find something new in Austen's wonderful writing. The novel tells the story of finding love in the reality of a mercenary world and prescribed social norms.
    • 5/5
      So, so, so wonderful!!! I first read P&P 30+ years ago. Re-reading it was such a wonderful treat. Such lovely characters (except Lydia an Mrs. B are a hot mess!). I'm such an Elizabeth! And I'm 100% cool with that. The manners and mores are so foreign to today, but that helps the reader totally immerse herself in the story. And the story rings so true. These people are real to me and I feel their emotions and understand their motivations. It's simply a lovely bit of zeitgeist to cleanse the palate.
    • 4/5
      (Original Review, 1981-02-20)If Jane Austen had never become a novelist, what would have happened? What would have happened to the British? Have Jane Austen's works become an antidote to a harshness in the world? Are they a key to disarming totalitarian societies? To making the world decide to be happier and freer? People read Jane Austen's novels to be entertained, after all. The problem with the world today is that it does not really know how to entertain itself or fears doing so - even in this busy, time-aware technological age - and even in Western societies where the hubs of the world's light entertainment have been developed in the last one hundred and fifty years (with theatre and music hall and all that) (and their milieu) would be far poorer.For me Austen is brilliant at conveying the restricted options that women of this period and class had (privileged as they were). Marriage was really the only decent "career" option to them; everything else (spinsterhood and governess) conferred real loser status. Austen, while seemingly amused at the shenanigans centered around the game and rituals of marriage, also managed to convey just how desperate the situation could be for women (and their families) reliant on a "good match" - particularly if they chose badly or acquired "reputations" that knocked them out of contention for a solid "settlement". For all the emphasis on marrying for love, such as that between Mr. Darcy and Lizzie B - there was a very mercenary eye towards the fortunes that Mr. Darcy brought to such a marriage - the economic reality of marriage was never far from Austen's (or her contemporary audience's-) mind. Why do women admire D'Arcy so much? He was at best a toad for most of the book. In fact, a cut n' shut, modeled on one bloke until just before he goes to London, and someone else after that. No wonder he reformed - it's someone else! Captain Wentworth now, that is a man to admire, an exemplar of masculine virtue. Jane Austen had an exceptional understanding of women, but the young Austen knew very little about men.For me, Austen reminds me of how little agency women of that time had - rather than making me nostalgic, it makes me grateful to be living in a time and society that allows far more options for women in how they can live their lives (as imperfect as they can often be).I was also interested in the notes on the significance of the mourning clothing. Some years ago I read a book specifically dealing with the history of mourning costume in Europe. The conventions over the centuries are as complex as they are fascinating and elaborate. One snippet: in the 19th century, a widower marrying again within the mourning period, was expected to hold a "mourning wedding"; this included the requirement that the current bride wearing mourning for the previous wife for the duration of the mourning period's run (both in terms of the dress worn for the wedding), any wedding decorations were also expected to be appropriate to the period of mourning.
    • 4/5
      Rating: 3.5 of 5I've never been one for romance novels or "love stories," but overall, I was entertained by Pride and Prejudice. I enjoyed Mr. Bennett the most. He cracked me up more than once; I am a sucker for sarcasm, though. Elizabeth was my second favorite after her father; namely, her determination to make her own life choices. Not likely to re-read anytime in the next decade.Note to self: This study guide edition offered great questions for anyone, not just students, to answer in order to delve a little deeper into the story, its characters and themes. Glad I purchased it for my daughter.
    • 5/5
      Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is by far one of my favorite books. Jane Austen paints a beautiful picture of what life for a woman living in 19th century England was like. The characters are perfectly developed, in fact, more so than most books that I have read. Elizabeth is a smart woman who is ahead of her time, in that she is a free-thinker and is not afraid to show a little brass. She is described as being plain rather than beautiful, and she is beautifully flawed, making her seem quite real.

      Pride and Prejudice is about an overly dramatic mother, overbearing Mrs. Bennett, who is trying to marry off her daughters. It's about Elizabeth’s life through the pressure of it all, her sister’s romance with an extremely wealthy man, and her acquaintance with the handsome, rich, and socially handicapped, Mr. Darcy.

      The book is perfectly titled as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have to overcome both their pride and the prejudice of others to find true love and both pride and prejudice are the main theme, as witnessed by the reader throughout the novel. Class comes into play often as accurate for the time.

      I recommend Pride and Prejudice to all who would like to read an exciting romance with a 19th century backdrop. Your patience is required when starting the novel if you have not previously familiarized yourself with the language of the times. I suggest that you go into the novel expecting to take your time while enjoying the experience of reading the literary masterpiece. The extra time is sure to pay off in the end. Once you are into the book, everything will flow beautifully and you are sure to find it even more captivating that a modern romance.
    • 3/5
      So, I'm probably the last one of my friends to read this book. It's not for lack of trying. I had started it about 4 times, but couldn't ever get through it. I love the 2005 movie version. I love the LBD youtube version. But it took me til this year to make it through the text. It wasn't bad. I don't know if I will read more Austen. It didn't blow me away like other "classic" books have. I like the story. I like Lizzy. I like imagining what my life would be like in England. Maybe just because I had known the story already from so many other versions, I was not quite as interested in finishing. I listened to part of it on audiobook, and maybe the narrator was not the best. But I'm glad I have finally read this book. It seemed like a rite of passage that I missed in early college.
    • 5/5
      What a classic. No matter how many times you read it, it never gets old. Though not quite as good as Sense & Sensibility (in my humble opinion), I still "greatly esteem" this book. Mr. Darcy is and always will be my favorite fictional character. Thank you Mr. Darcy for setting the bar so high that I know without a doubt I will die a lonely cat lady surrounded by empty boxes of wine. Pride & Prejudice can be summed up in one sentence, "Two people who strongly dislike each other end up falling madly in love despite their initial prejudices." Even though I spoiled the entire plot for you, you should still read it. Ladies, you will have new standards for men and gentlemen... you will hopefully learn how to properly woo a lady. Also... the only movie Mr. Darcy to nail it is Colin Firth, don't even try to argue with me on that one!
    • 5/5
      I read this (for the third time) to get a jump-start on the bicentennial. As I began it it was enjoyable but felt a little repetitive like I remembered virtually every word and scene and was not getting anything new out of them. But the time I got to Darcy's letter I was completely sucked in and absorbed as if I was reading it for the first time. And unaccountably, I had completely forgotten the magnificent interview between Elizabeth and Lady De Bourgh near the end of the book so at least that felt new to me. Overall, very much worth re-reading ever now and then.
    • 5/5
      I mean, it's Mr. Darcy for crying out loud. Go read it and fall in love with him like everyone else has!
    • 4/5
      It took me a little while to get into this one - you have to calibrate yourself to Austen's style, but once you do, the characters jump right off the page. Austen is witty and funny at most every turn, but doesn't beat you senseless to make you laugh - if you miss it, it's your loss. Her way with words is delightful, and she uses them to give us both a snapshot of life as it was in the 18th century and a vignette of the things we do to each other as people in every age. Pride and Prejudice makes us all look at the way we think of people, the way we put on airs to give a certain perception, and at how so often the closeness to our own lives makes it so much more difficult to know the right thing to do.

    Book preview

    Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

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    DOVER THRIFT EDITIONS

    GENERAL EDITOR: STANLEY APPELBAUM

    EDITOR OF THIS VOLUME: CANDACE WARD

    Copyright

    Copyright © 1995 by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

    Bibliographical Note

    This Dover edition, first published in 1995, is an unabridged, slightly corrected republication of the text of the first edition of 1813 (London: T. Egerton). A new introductory Note has been specially prepared for this edition.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Austen, Jane, 1775-1817.

    Pride and prejudice / by Jane Austen.

    p. cm.—(Dover thrift editions)

    9780486132501

    1. England—Social life and customs—19th century—Fiction. 2. Young women—England—Fiction. 3. Courtship—England—Fiction. I. Title. II. Series. [PR4034.P7 1995] 823’.7-dc20

    95-849 CIP

    Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

    28473518

    www.doverpublications.com

    Note

    JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817) was the seventh child of a country rector, born in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Though her family was not wealthy, Austen enjoyed a genteel education and early on displayed the wit and intelligence evident in her works. Austen’s first novel, Lady Susan (published posthumously in 1871), was written about 1793-94, and is predated by a substantial body of juvenilia—plays, verses, novellas and prose—written between the years 1787 and 1795. The six major novels were published between 1811 and 1817: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815-16), Northanger Abbey (1817) and Persuasion (1817).

    Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the most popular of Austen’s novels; it was well received immediately upon publication, and today it remains a classic of English literature. Like Austen’s other novels, its primary subject is marriage. Some critics point to this theme as evidence of Austen’s conservatism, claiming that the comic resolution of the novels affirms conventional nineteenth-century values. Other criticism suggests that Austen’s novels implicate a society that restricted women’s options to either marriage or a dismal spinsterhood. According to these readings, the comic ending is ironic and often anticlimactic, brought about despite negligent or absent parent-figures and despite a limited pool of compatible marriage partners. As James Thompson notes, Austen sends her heroines out to do business in a bad market, only to have them overcome all obstacles and marry well.

    Pride and Prejudice certainly fits this pattern. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, though comic figures, are seriously ineffectual parents, directly responsible for the disastrous elopement of their daughter Lydia with the scoundrel Wickham. The seriousness of this event—the greatest dramatic conflict in the novel—cannot be overemphasized. If Wickham had refused to marry Lydia, the marriage prospects of her four sisters would have been ruined. Upon Mr. Bennet’s death (at which time the family estate would revert to Mr. Collins, the nearest male relative), Mrs. Bennet and her daughters would have been left destitute, ostracized by polite society and entirely dependent on Mr. Collins’ unlikely charity.

    This potential disaster is averted by Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose stormy courtship of Elizabeth Bennet is one of the most famous in literature. But Darcy is not Elizabeth’s only suitor. Mr. Collins, too, harbors an attraction for his fair cousin—until she rejects his proposal of marriage. He promptly turns his attention to her friend Charlotte Lucas, who hears his proposal more favorably: Mr. Collins to be sure was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservation from want.

    Charlotte’s future prospects, of course, bear no resemblance to Elizabeth’s. Despite Darcy’s concerns about the Bennets’ vulgarity and Elizabeth’s prejudices against his arrogance, the two are happily married at book’s end. Whether this resolution constitutes romance or social criticism, the genius of Pride and Prejudice cannot be underestimated, even by the author. Of her novel Austen wrote, The work is rather too light and bright and sparkling; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn specious nonsense about something unconnected with the story: an essay on writing, a critique of Walter Scott, or a history of Buonaparte. The novel is bright and sparkling, notwithstanding Austen’s humorous assessment. It is also full of sharp and incisive satire—and it justifiably ranks as one of the greatest novels in Western literature.

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    Copyright Page

    Note

    Chapter I

    Chapter II

    Chapter III

    Chapter IV

    Chapter V

    Chapter VI

    Chapter VII

    Chapter VIII

    Chapter IX

    Chapter X

    Chapter XI

    Chapter XII

    Chapter XIII

    Chapter XIV

    Chapter XV

    Chapter XVI

    Chapter XVII

    Chapter XVIII

    Chapter XIX

    Chapter XX

    Chapter XXI

    Chapter XXII

    Chapter XXIII

    Chapter XXIV

    Chapter XXV

    Chapter XXVI

    Chapter XXVII

    Chapter XXVIII

    Chapter XXIX

    Chapter XXX

    Chapter XXXI

    Chapter XXXII

    Chapter XXXIII

    Chapter XXXIV

    Chapter XXXV

    Chapter XXXVI

    Chapter XXXVII

    Chapter XXXVIII

    Chapter XXXIX

    Chapter XL

    Chapter XLI

    Chapter XLII

    Chapter XLIII

    Chapter XLIV

    Chapter XLV

    Chapter XLVI

    Chapter XLVII

    Chapter XLVIII

    Chapter XLIX

    Chapter L

    Chapter LI

    Chapter LII

    Chapter LIII

    Chapter LIV

    Chapter LV

    Chapter LVI

    Chapter LVII

    Chapter LVIII

    Chapter LIX

    Chapter LX

    Chapter LXI

    Chapter I

    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?’

    Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

    ‘But it is,’ returned she; ‘for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.’

    Mr. Bennet made no answer.

    ‘Do not you want to know who has taken it?’ cried his wife impatiently.

    ‘You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.’

    This was invitation enough.

    ‘Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.’

    ‘What is his name?’

    ‘Bingley.’

    ‘Is he married or single?’

    ‘Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!’

    ‘How so? how can it affect them?’

    ‘My dear Mr. Bennet,’ replied his wife, ‘how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.’

    ‘Is that his design in settling here?’

    ‘Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.’

    ‘I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.’

    ‘My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.’

    ‘In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.’

    ‘But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.’

    ‘It is more than I engage for, I assure you.’

    ‘But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.’

    ‘You are over scrupulous surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying which ever he chuses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.’

    ‘I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.’

    ‘They have none of them much to recommend them,’ replied he; ‘they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.’

    ‘Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.’

    ‘You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.’

    ‘Ah! you do not know what I suffer.’

    ‘But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.’

    ‘It will be no use to us, if twenty such should come since you will not visit them.’

    ‘Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.’

    Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

    Chapter II

    MR. BENNET WAS among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid, she had no knowledge of it. It was then disclosed in the following manner. Observing his second daughter employed in trimming a hat, he suddenly addressed her with,

    ‘I hope Mr. Bingley will like it Lizzy.’

    ‘We are not in a way to know what Mr. Bingley likes,’ said her mother resentfully, ‘since we are not to visit.’

    ‘But you forget, mama,’ said Elizabeth, ‘that we shall meet him at the assemblies, and that Mrs. Long has promised to introduce him.’

    ‘I do not believe Mrs. Long will do any such thing. She has two nieces of her own. She is a selfish, hypocritical woman, and I have no opinion of her.’

    ‘No more have I,’ said Mr. Bennet; ‘and I am glad to find that you do not depend on her serving you.’

    Mrs. Bennet deigned not to make any reply; but unable to contain herself, began scolding one of her daughters.

    ‘Don’t keep coughing so, Kitty, for heaven’s sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces.’

    ‘Kitty has no discretion in her coughs,’ said her father; ‘she times them ill.’

    ‘I do not cough for my own amusement,’ replied Kitty fretfully.

    ‘When is your next ball to be, Lizzy?’

    ‘To-morrow fortnight.’

    ‘Aye, so it is,’ cried her mother, ‘and Mrs. Long does not come back till the day before; so, it will be impossible for her to introduce him, for she will not know him herself’

    ‘Then, my dear, you may have the advantage of your friend, and introduce Mr. Bingley to her.’

    ‘Impossible, Mr. Bennet, impossible, when I am not acquainted with him myself; how can you be so teazing?’

    ‘I honour your circumspection. A fortnight’s acquaintance is certainly very little. One cannot know what a man really is by the end of a fortnight. But if we do not venture, somebody else will; and after all, Mrs. Long and her nieces must stand their chance; and therefore, as she will think it an act of kindness, if you decline the office, I will take it on myself.’

    The girls stared at their father. Mrs. Bennet said only, ‘Nonsense, nonsense!’

    ‘What can be the meaning of that emphatic exclamation?’ cried he. ‘Do you consider the forms of introduction, and the stress that is laid on them, as nonsense? I cannot quite agree with you there. What say you, Mary? for you are a young lady of deep reflection I know, and read great books, and make extracts.’

    Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how.

    ‘While Mary is adjusting her ideas,’ he continued, ‘let us return to Mr. Bingley.’

    ‘I am sick of Mr. Bingley,’ cried his wife.

    ‘I am sorry to hear that; but why did not you tell me so before? If I had known as much this morning, I certainly would not have called on him. It is very unlucky; but as I have actually paid the visit, we cannot escape the acquaintance now.’

    The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished; that of Mrs. Bennet perhaps surpassing the rest; though when the first tumult of joy was over, she began to declare that it was what she had expected all the while.

    ‘How good it was in you, my dear Mr. Bennet! But I knew I should persuade you at last. I was sure you loved your girls too well to neglect such an acquaintance. Well, how pleased I am! and it is such a good joke, too, that you should have gone this morning, and never said a word about it till now.’

    ‘Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you chuse,’ said Mr. Bennet; and, as he spoke, he left the room, fatigued with the raptures of his wife.

    ‘What an excellent father you have, girls,’ said she, when the door was shut. ‘I do not know how you will ever make him amends for his kindness; or me either, for that matter. At our time of life, it is not so pleasant I can tell you, to be making new acquaintance every day; but for your sakes, we would do any thing. Lydia, my love, though you are the youngest, I dare say Mr. Bingley will dance with you at the next ball.’

    ‘Oh!’ said Lydia stoutly, ‘I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I’m the tallest.’

    The rest of the evening was spent in conjecturing how soon he would return Mr. Bennet’s visit, and determining when they should ask him to dinner.

    Chapter III

    NOT ALL THAT Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in various ways; with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas. Her report was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and to crown the whole he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley’s heart were entertained.

    ‘If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,’ said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, ‘and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.’

    In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet’s visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining from an upper window, that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.

    An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and consequently unable to accept the honour of their invitation, &c. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might be always flying about from one place to another, and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be. Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to get a large party for the ball; and a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a number of ladies; but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing, that instead of twelve, he had brought only six with him from London, his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered the assembly room, it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another young man.

    Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

    Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped that he would never come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behaviour, was sharpened into particular resentment, by his having slighted one of her daughters.

    Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes, to press his friend to join it.

    ‘Come, Darcy,’ said he, ‘I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.’

    ‘I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.’

    ‘I would not be so fastidious as you are,’ cried Bingley, ‘for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them you see uncommonly pretty.’

    ‘You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,’ said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

    ‘Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say, very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.’

    ‘Which do you mean?’ and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, ‘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 are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.’

    Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off, and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous.

    The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this, as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane’s pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned therefore in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet still up. With a book he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations. He had rather hoped that all his wife’s views on the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear.

    ‘Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet,’ as she entered the room, ‘we have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Every body said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her twice. Only think of that my dear; he actually danced with her twice; and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all: indeed, nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So, he enquired who she was, and got introduced, and asked her for the two next. Then, the two third he danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the Boulanger——’

    ‘If he had had any compassion for me,’ cried her husband impatiently, ‘he would not have danced half so much! For God’s sake, say no more of his partners. Oh! that he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!’

    ‘Oh! my dear,’ continued Mrs. Bennet, ‘I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw any thing more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst’s gown——’

    Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

    ‘But I can assure you,’ she added, ‘that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set downs. I quite detest the man.’

    Chapter IV

    WHEN JANE and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him.

    ‘He is just what a young man ought to be,’ said she, ‘sensible, good humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!—so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!’

    ‘He is also handsome,’ replied Elizabeth, ‘which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete.’

    ‘I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.’

    ‘Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.’

    ‘Dear Lizzy!’

    ‘Oh! you are a great deal too apt you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in any body. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life.’

    ‘I would wish not to be hasty in censuring any one; but I always speak what I think.’

    ‘I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough;—one meets it every where. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of every body’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone. And so, you like this man’s sisters too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.’

    ‘Certainly not; at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.’

    Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgment too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable where they chose it; but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank; and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.

    Mr. Bingley inherited property to the amount of nearly an hundred thousand pounds from his father, who had intended to purchase an estate, but did not live to do it.—Mr. Bingley intended it likewise, and sometimes made choice of his county; but as he was now provided with a good house and the liberty of a manor, it was doubtful to many of those who best knew the easiness of his temper, whether he might not spend the remainder of his days at Netherfield, and leave the next generation to purchase.

    His sisters were very anxious for his having an estate of his own; but though he was now established only as a tenant, Miss Bingley was by no means unwilling to preside at his table, nor was Mrs. Hurst, who had married a man of more fashion than fortune, less disposed to consider his house as her home when it suited her. Mr. Bingley had not been of age two years, when he was tempted by an accidental recommendation to look at Netherfield House. He did look at it and into it for half an hour, was pleased with the situation and the principal rooms, satisfied with what the owner said in its praise, and took it immediately.

    Between him and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of a great opposition of character.—Bingley was endeared to Darcy by the easiness, openness, ductility of his temper, though no disposition could offer a greater contrast to his own, and though with his own he never appeared dissatisfied. On the strength of Darcy’s regard Bingley had the firmest reliance, and of his judgment the highest opinion. In understanding Darcy was the superior. Bingley was by no means deficient, but Darcy was clever. He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting. In that respect his friend had greatly the advantage. Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offence.

    The manner in which they spoke of the Meryton assembly was sufficiently characteristic. Bingley had never met with pleasanter people or prettier girls in his life; every body had been most kind and attentive to him, there had been no formality, no stiffness, he had soon felt acquainted with all the room; and as to Miss Bennet, he could not conceive an angel more beautiful. Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure. Miss Bennet he acknowledged to be pretty, but she smiled too much.

    Mrs. Hurst and her sister allowed it to be so—but still they admired her and liked her, and pronounced her to be a sweet girl, and one whom they should not object to know more of. Miss Bennet was therefore established as a sweet girl, and their brother felt authorised by such commendation to think of her as he chose.

    Chapter V

    WITHIN A SHORT walk of Longbourn lived a family with whom the Bennets were particularly intimate. Sir William Lucas had been formerly in trade in Meryton, where he had made a tolerable fortune and risen to the honour of knighthood by an address to the King, during his mayoralty. The distinction had perhaps been felt too strongly. It had given him a disgust to his business and to his residence in a small market town; and quitting them both, he had removed with his family to a house about a mile from Meryton, denominated from that period Lucas Lodge, where he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world. For though elated by his rank, it did not render him supercilious; on the contrary, he was all attention to every body. By nature inoffensive, friendly and obliging, his presentation at St. James’s had made him courteous.

    Lady Lucas was a very good kind of woman, not too clever to be a valuable neighbour to Mrs. Bennet.—They had several children. The eldest of them, a sensible, intelligent young woman, about twenty-seven, was Elizabeth’s intimate friend.

    That the Miss Lucases and the Miss Bennets should meet to talk over a ball was absolutely necessary; and the morning after the assembly brought the former to Longbourn to hear and to communicate.

    ‘You began the evening well, Charlotte,’ said Mrs. Bennet with civil self-command to Miss Lucas. ‘You were Mr. Bingley’s first choice.’

    ‘Yes;—but he seemed to like his second better.’

    ‘Oh!—you mean Jane, I suppose—because he danced with her twice. To be sure that did seem as if he admired her—indeed I rather believe he did—I heard something about it—but I hardly know what—something about Mr. Robinson.’

    ‘Perhaps you mean what I overheard between him and Mr. Robinson; did not I mention it to you? Mr. Robinson’s asking him how he liked our Meryton assemblies, and whether he did not think there were a great many pretty women in the room, and which he thought the prettiest? and his answering immediately to the last question—Oh! the eldest Miss Bennet beyond a doubt, there cannot be two opinions on that point.’

    ‘Upon my word!—Well, that was very decided indeed—that does seem as if——but however, it may all come to nothing you know.’

    ‘My overhearings were more to the purpose than yours, Eliza,’ said Charlotte. ‘Mr. Darcy is not so well worth listening to as his friend, is he?—Poor Eliza!—to be only just tolerable.’

    ‘I beg you would not put it into Lizzy’s head to be vexed by his ill-treatment; for he is such a disagreeable man that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him. Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half an hour without once opening his lips.’

    ‘Are you quite sure, Ma’am?—is not there a little mistake?’ said Jane.—‘! certainly saw Mr. Darcy speaking to her.’

    ‘Aye—because she asked him at last how he liked Netherfield, and he could not help answering her;—but she said he seemed very angry at being spoke to.’

    ‘Miss Bingley told me,’ said Jane, ‘that he never speaks much unless among his intimate acquaintance. With them he is remarkably agreeable.’

    ‘I do not believe a word of it, my dear. If he had been so very agreeable he would have talked to Mrs. Long. But I can guess how it was; every body says that he is ate up with pride, and I dare say he had heard somehow that Mrs. Long does not keep a carriage, and had come to the ball in a hack chaise.’

    ‘I do not mind his not talking to Mrs. Long,’ said Miss Lucas, ‘but I wish he had danced with Eliza.’

    ‘Another time, Lizzy,’ said her mother, ‘I would not dance with him, if I were you.’

    ‘I believe, Ma’am, I may safely promise you never to dance with him.’

    ‘His pride,’ said Miss Lucas, ‘does not offend me so much as pride often does,

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