Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel by author Jane Austen. Given here is a short summary of the famous novel. It is a fine blend of romance, with some very dramatic situations, and succeeds in making people believe that such a love story is possible. This novel is a personal favorite of the author herself. The opening lines to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife", grip the reader enough to make one follow through the entire novel.

Plot
Pride and Prejudice is the story of Mrs. and Mr. Bennet and their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Lydia, especially Elizabeth. The story focuses on various romantic adventures these young girls encounter at their residence. Their parents are strikingly contrasting to each other. Mr. Bennet comes across as a wise and witty gentleman, while the issue of marrying off her daughters has absorbed Mrs. Bennet completely. The arrival of the young and wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy in the neighborhood adds a new twist to Austen's tale.

While Jane Bennet, the oldest and most beautiful of the Bennet sisters, attracts Mr. Bingley's eye and sparks fly, Darcy upsets another sister, Elizabeth, with his proud behavior and arrogance. She is now looking for every opportunity to demean Darcy and see him down. However, as fate would have it, Darcy finds himself drawn to Elizabeth's liveliness and independent spirit, when she comes to visit Jane at Netherlands, Bingley's residence. This doesn't set well will Bingley's sister, Caroline, and her jealousy becomes quite apparent. In the mean time, Elizabeth meets a young and charming military officer, George Wickham.

Wickham who tells Elizabeth about his past mistreatments at the hands of Darcy. This grows Elizabeth's disdain for Darcy. As the story progresses, even Elizabeth finds herself attracted to Darcy. Darcy proposes to her, much to her surprise. He tells Elizabeth that he had been fighting and trying to overcome his feelings for her, due to her family's inferiority. Feeling insulted, she rejects the proposal saying that she dislikes Darcy as he mistreated Mr. Wickham and is also responsible for separating Jane and Bingley. The next da,y she receives a letter from Darcy, narrating an alternate version of events.

Things once again go sour between the duo, due to certain misunderstandings. Some time later, they meet again and Elizabeth comes to know that Darcy is a kind and generous man and that he has played a major role in bringing Jane and Bingley together. Darcy musters the courage to propose her once again and this time, Elizabeth accepts the proposal. Jane and Bingley also clear their misconceptions and come together as the climax unfolds. 'Pride and Prejudice' is the story of the various fondness, mannerisms and engagement pranks that develop due to Mrs. Bennet's insistent matchmaking and the dashing Darcy's passionate relationship with Elizabeth Bennet.