Pride and Prejudice: Themes, Characters, and Setting
Setting of Pride and Prejudice
The novel is set in the 19th century, principally in Longbourn, the Hertfordshire country town that is a mile from Meryton and twenty-four miles from London. It is a well-ordered, provincial town, filled with landed gentry and oblivious to the sweeping changes occurring outside the fringes of its narrow, circumscribed vision.
Themes in Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice both stand in the way of relationships, as embodied in the persons of Darcy and Elizabeth, respectively. Pride narrows a person’s vision and causes one to underestimate other mortals. Prejudice blinds the vision and leads to false perceptions about others, like Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice.
Reputation
It represents a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance. A woman is expected to behave in certain ways. Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism.
Plot Summary
There are two central plots that revolve around Mrs. Bennet’s desperate attempts to find suitable husbands for her marriageable daughters.
- The Protagonist is Mrs. Bennet, whose ‘business of life’ is to get her daughters married.
- The Antagonist is the problem Mrs. Bennet encounters in getting her daughters married, especially the eldest two. Bingley’s abrupt departure from Netherfield interrupts her plans.
Characters in Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Bennet
She is the second of the Bennet daughters. Elizabeth is twenty years old. She is very attractive, witty, and nice, but she tends to judge people on first impressions. Her best friend is Charlotte Lucas.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy
He is intelligent, good-natured, and wealthy, but he is also proud and concerned with social status. Mr. Darcy is twenty-eight years old and is still unmarried. He is the owner of an estate in Derbyshire, and he loves Elizabeth Bennet, although he tries to avoid it.
Other Characters
Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet
Mr. Bennet has a wife and five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia. He is nice and intelligent, and he dislikes the frivolity of his wife and his three young daughters, but he has a good relationship with Jane and Elizabeth. Besides, he is very close to them.
Mrs. Bennet is not as clever or educated as her husband. Her only aim in life is to find husbands for her daughters, and her pleasures are visiting, talking, and clothes.
However, their situation was worse than it seemed because of a lawyer’s agreement. Since Mr. Bennet had no son, the property, when he died, would pass to a distant cousin, Mr. Collins. His daughters would not have anything unless they married.
Caroline Bingley
She is Mr. Bingley’s sister. Caroline is a fashionable girl who looks down on Meryton’s people. She is jealous due to the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy.
William Collins
He is twenty-five years old. Portrayed as a dull and pompous man, he is the heir of Longbourn (the property of Mr. Bennet, his cousin). Mr. Collins is a parson, and he has obtained clerical living on the estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Kent). He gets married to Charlotte Lucas.
Georgiana Darcy
She is sixteen years old and is Darcy’s younger sister. This young teenager plays the piano very well. Although it is supposed that she is very proud, she isn’t. In fact, Georgiana is incredibly shy.