The Short Version
Today I’m walking you through the whole plot of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, from the first dance to the final wedding. Full spoilers, so if you want the book to surprise you, come back after.
The short version: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy can’t stand each other. He proposes and she turns him down. Then a letter, a visit to his estate and a family scandal change everything, and they end up married.
The Bennets
The Bennets live at Longbourn, in the English countryside. There are five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. Because of an entail, the house will pass to a distant male cousin, Mr. Collins, when Mr. Bennet dies.
So Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see her daughters married well, and fast.
The First Ball
Mr. Bingley, rich and charming, rents the nearby estate of Netherfield. At a local ball, he falls for Jane right away.
His friend Mr. Darcy is even richer, with ten thousand a year, but he’s cold and proud. He refuses to dance with Elizabeth, calling her tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him. She hears it. The whole neighborhood decides he’s horrible.
Mr. Collins
Then Mr. Collins arrives, a pompous clergyman who works for a grand lady, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. He’s decided to marry one of the Bennet girls.
He proposes to Elizabeth, in one of the funniest scenes in the book. She refuses. Days later, he proposes to her practical friend Charlotte Lucas, who accepts, because she wants security, not romance.
Mr. Wickham
Meanwhile, a charming officer named Wickham tells Elizabeth that Darcy cheated him out of a career that Darcy’s father had promised him.
Elizabeth believes every word. It confirms everything she already thinks about Darcy.
Jane’s Heartbreak
Then Bingley suddenly leaves for London, and his sisters make it clear he isn’t coming back. Jane is heartbroken, though she hides it.
Elizabeth suspects Bingley’s sisters, and Darcy, of separating them.
The First Proposal
In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte in Kent, near Lady Catherine’s estate, Rosings. Darcy is there too. He keeps turning up.
Then, out of nowhere, he proposes. In vain have I struggled, he says. It will not do. But he spends half the proposal talking about how beneath him her family is. She refuses him, furiously, and accuses him of ruining Jane’s happiness and mistreating Wickham.
The Letter
The next morning, Darcy hands her a letter. He admits he separated Bingley and Jane, because he honestly thought Jane didn’t care for him.
And he tells the truth about Wickham. Wickham took money instead of the career, wasted it, and then tried to elope with Darcy’s fifteen year old sister, Georgiana, for her fortune.
Elizabeth Changes Her Mind
Elizabeth reads the letter again and again. She realizes she’s been blind, proud of her own judgment, and wrong.
It’s the turning point of the book. Till this moment, she says, I never knew myself.
Pemberley
That summer, Elizabeth travels with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, and they visit Darcy’s grand estate, Pemberley, thinking he’s away. His housekeeper praises him as the kindest master.
Then Darcy arrives early. He’s polite, warm, and kind to her relatives, the very people he once looked down on. Elizabeth starts to see him differently.
Lydia’s Scandal
Then disaster. A letter from Jane: sixteen year old Lydia has run off with Wickham, and they aren’t married. In their world, that could ruin all five sisters.
Elizabeth tells Darcy, and assumes she’ll never see him again.
Darcy’s Secret
Lydia and Wickham are found and married, apparently thanks to Mr. Gardiner. But Lydia lets slip that Darcy was at the wedding.
It turns out Darcy tracked them down, paid Wickham’s debts, and arranged the marriage, and wanted no credit for it. He did it for Elizabeth.
Lady Catherine
Bingley returns and proposes to Jane, who happily accepts. Then Lady Catherine storms into Longbourn. She’s heard a rumor that Elizabeth will marry Darcy, and orders her to promise she won’t.
Elizabeth refuses to promise anything. Lady Catherine reports this to Darcy, and it gives him hope.
The Second Proposal
Darcy comes back. Out walking, Elizabeth thanks him for saving Lydia. He says, if your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged.
This time, she says yes. They both admit their faults: his pride, her prejudice.
The Ending
Elizabeth and Darcy marry, and so do Jane and Bingley. Elizabeth moves to Pemberley.
The book ends with a nice touch. The Gardiners, who brought Elizabeth to Derbyshire, become their closest friends, and are thanked as the people who brought them together.
Your Turn
Which moment is your favorite, the first proposal or the second? Tell me in the comments. My review and the book versus screen comparison are linked below.
