#adolescentcat

context

as an overview, p&p was first written in 1813, and set around the same time

this is Regency era England: we’re talking a brief span between the Georgians and the Victorians: everything’s in social upheaval; the landed gentry are panicking about the poor becoming richer; everyone’s still terrified about the French revolution; England have spent most of the past couple of decades dealing with the Napoleonic and Revolutionary wars; there aren’t enough marriageable young men to go around; the English have only just learnt to waltz; and things are a bit shit for women (oh, wait, that’s relevant to most historical contexts)

the book itself is about social propriety and the marriage market (more on this later), but it’s also quite satirical, and Austen’s definitely having a laugh at her own social class

main characters

the main characters in p&p are members of the landed gentry – that is to say, rich people who have been rich for generations, own big country estates, and don’t need to work. the Bennets are our main family. they’re rich, but they have five Big Problems: five unmarried daughters. oh, the horror

the Goal of the book (and of Mrs Bennet) is to get them all settled in happy hetero marriages. why? because that’s literally all women of this class can do in those days – they can’t work, so the only way they can ‘earn’ money is by marrying into it – marriage is an economic transaction. scholarly folk like to call this concept ‘marriage economy’

our five daughters, from oldest to youngest, are: Jane (literal cinnamon role, known for her kindness and beauty), Elizabeth/Lizzie (our main protagonist, sarcastic, and quick to judge (she contributes most of the ‘prejudice’ of the title)), Mary (clever, but boring and plain-looking), Catherine/Kitty (no real personality – does whatever Lydia tells her to), and Lydia (flirty and silly)

here’s a pic of them from the 2005 film:

1. Bingley and Darcy, or New Studs Arrive In Town

the girls and Mrs B are completely unsettled at the start of the book by the news that a rich new hottie has moved into Netherfield, a nearby estate. this is Mr Bingley. as the first line of the book says, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”: we all know that Mr Bingley’s on the market, and Mrs B will be damned if it’s not one of her girls he marries 

the girls meet Bingley at a local ball and all think he’s rather swell. Jane and Bingley hit it off ‘straight’ away (get it? because they’re straight? haha). Elizabeth does not hit it off with Bingley’s main bro, Mr Darcy, who’s kind of an asshole and refuses to dance with her. this is, like, so rude in Austen novels

Jane goes to visit Bingley’s sister, Caroline, entirely as an excuse to get some of that Bingley eye candy. however, it rains, and she becomes very ill and has to stay at Netherfield. Elizabeth goes to help heal her with sisterly love, and has to spend a lot of time awkwardly socialising with Darcy. he turns out to be slightly less of an asshole than she first thought. slightly

2. Collins and Wickham, or How Many Straight Men Can You Fit In One Book?

once Jane and Elizabeth are safely back home, the Bennets receive a visit from Mr Collins, who is a clergyman, and a cousin of Mr Bennet. Collins is clearly here because he wants to marry one of the Bennet girls. because marrying your second cousins is totally, not gross, at all... 

anyway, at first he wants to marry Jane, because (as i said) she’s a literal cinnamon roll, but because she’s already hot for Bingley, Collins decides to settle for Elizabeth. Elizabeth is Not Impressed

Elizabeth then meets yet another hottie, George Wickham. he’s one of the military officers who are staying in town, and whom Lydia and Kitty are absolutely giddy over. Elizabeth gets a bit of a crush on Wickham, but soon learns he has a Tragic Backstory: he used to be practically a second son to Darcy’s dad, but when Darcy’s dad died, Darcy refused to give him any money, and cast him out. so it looks like Darcy is an asshole, after all

Bingley then throws a ball at Netherfield, because he’s going back to London and wants one last wild night before they all have to part for a while

Elizabeth goes in the hope of flirting with Wickham, but he’s not there. instead, Darcy asks her to dance with him. plot twist! they dance, and Elizabeth uses the opportunity to make some snide comments about Wickham, and also to ask literally everyone she meets what they know about him. subtle, Elizabeth, subtle

in the meantime, the rest of the Bennet family (apart from cinnamon roll Jane) are awfully embarrassing and socially improper

the next day, Collins proposes to Elizabeth. she rejects him and it’s all very embarrassing. Mrs B is not happy with her at all

3. Jane's heartbreak, or Men Are Awful

Bingley leaves for London, as expected

not long after, it turns out that Elizabeth’s bestie, Charlotte Lucas, has now agreed to marry Collins. not only is she clearly not in love with him, on account of him being a Massive Loser (and her being a Massive Lesbian. that’s 100% the subtext here), but also it means she’ll have to move away and Elizabeth won’t get to see her much any more :(

to make matters worse, Jane receives a very bitchy series of letters from Bingley’s sister, who makes it clear that Bingley will not be returning to Netherfield any time soon, that he is totally going to marry Darcy’s little sister, and that Jane is not good enough for him

Jane, being so good and pure-hearted, resigns herself to be sad and single forever, but Elizabeth is very angry on her behalf. still, what can she do? in the end, Jane goes to stay with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in London, in the hopes that maybe she’ll bump into Bingley and change his mind

4. Elizabeth visits Charlotte, or Darcy Gets Horribly Rejected

Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte and Collins in Kent. Collins’ patroness, Lady Catherine, just so happens to be Darcy’s aunt, and Darcy just so happens to be visiting her. Elizabeth and Darcy bump into one another, of course

Elizabeth then learns from Darcy’s cousin that Bingley was totes going to marry Jane, until Darcy stepped in and told him not to. thanks a fucking lot, asshole

at some point along the way, Darcy seems to have fallen in love with Elizabeth (well, who can blame him?), so now Darcy proposes

his proposal is... well... i don’t know how he expected it to go well, he basically just insults her family and says he wants to marry her against his better judgement. she says “no” because she has, you know, standards. she also accuses him of ruining the lives of both Jane and Wickham. here’s a great video:

Darcy later sends her a letter explaining that he did not purposefully ruin either life. Wickham did receive an inheritance, squandered it all, and then tried to elope with Darcy’s little sister for her money. also, Darcy thought Jane wasn’t in love with Bingley, and that Mrs B was just pushing her into marriage for Bingley’s money. he was just looking out for his bro, honest

5. Elizabeth visits Pemberley, or Oh No Darcy’s Hot

a month or so later, Elizabeth goes on holiday with her aunt and uncle, and they decide to visit Pemberley, which is Darcy’s estate. they don’t think he’s home, but it turns out that he is. he’s uncharacteristically polite to them, introduces Elizabeth to his little sister, and has them all over for dinner. Elizabeth begins to fall in love with him

6. Lydia’s disgrace, or Teenage Lust Ruins Everything

however, before she can get into any serious flirting, a letter arrives from Jane saying that Lydia has run off with Wickham. Elizabeth returns home and is very upset that a) Lydia has basically disgraced the whole family and b) now Darcy will stop liking her because of the whole disgrace thing

Mr Bennet and Uncle Gardiner go to track Lydia down

7. Happily ever after, or The Completion Of Various Economic/Marriage Transactions Which Always Seem To Be The Natural Conclusion Of Austen’s Novels

eventually, they find Lydia, and persuade Wickham to marry her. everyone’s convinced that Uncle Gardiner must have bribed Wickham, and wonder how they can ever repay him

however, it turns out that it was Darcy who tracked down Wickham and bribed him. that’s how you know he’s husband material

Bingley returns to Netherfield, and proposes to Jane

Lady Catherine then rocks up at the Bennet family home. she’s heard a (false) rumour that Elizabeth is engaged to Darcy, and wants to tell Elizabeth to back off, because Darcy should marry her daughter instead. Elizabeth politely tells Lady C to get fucked

off-page, Lady C goes to complain about this to Darcy. Darcy realises that this means he still has a chance with Elizabeth, and hurries over to propose to her again. this time, she accepts