Theme Plot Setting Character Conflict Symbol Point of view

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Elements of fiction Conflict Bingley starts falling for Jane, but his sisters and friend don t approve. An obstacle in the path of true love and familial happiness! Yes, this is conflict. To make matters worse, Darcy has developed a crush on Jane s sister Elizabeth, and all the objections he has to Bingley marrying Jane (lower class family with crazy family members) also apply to the prospect of him marrying Elizabeth. When the book first introduce Mr. Darcy and his feelings about Elizabeth I thought he was a hypocrite. He tells everyone he doesn t like her, but in actuality, he s in love with her. Through this, we see the role that pride plays. Pride has so much control over Darcy and therefore is his conflict. Should he marry Elizabeth regardless of their class statuses? Bingley too is conflicted. He holds his sisters and friend, Mr. Darcy with such high regards that he would listen to them instead of following his heart? It makes me wonder if Jane Austen was trying to ask if love is worth the risk? For example, Darcy is risking his status, while Bingley is risking his vulnerability.aracter The first plot centers around Mrs. Bennets desperate attempts to find suitable husbands for her marriageable daughters. Protagonist - The Protagonist is Mrs. Bennet, whose business of life is to get her daughters married. To this end, she is assiduously devoted throughout the novel. She presses her husband to develop an acquaintance with Mr. Bingley (a promising catch); she encourages the sick Jane to prolong her stay at Netherfield; she is anxious that Elizabeth should consent to Mr. Collins proposal and is crestfallen when she does not; she promotes the flippancy of Lydia and Kitty and their red-coat chasing.

Antagonist - Mrs. Bennets antagonist is the problem she encounters in getting her daughters married, especially the eldest two. Bingleys abrupt departure from Netherfield interrupts her plans. This and Elizabeths denial to marry the odious Mr. Collins seems to thwart her matrimonial scheme of things. Lydias elopement and the consequent stigma also strikes at the heart of her scheme; ironically, she does not comprehend its fatality. Characters: Major Characters Mrs. Bennet - The match-making mother of five daughters. The wife of Mr. Bennet and "a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper," who embarrasses her older daughters with her lack of class and entertains her husband with her ignorance. Mr. Bennet - A country gentleman, who is the sometimes irresponsible father of five daughters and the husband of Mrs. Bennet. He is fond of books and can be witty and amusing. Jane Bennet - The eldest daughter of the Bennets who is pretty, shy, calm, gentle and goodnatured; she falls in love with and marries Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzy) - The second daughter of the Bennets who is lively, intelligent, witty and sensible; she at first strongly dislikes Mr. Darcy and then falls in love with him. Marry Bennet - The third daughter, who is pedantic, tasteless, plain, vain, silly, and affected. Catherine Bennet (Kitty) -The fourth daughter, who is almost a non-entity in the novel except for chasing soldiers. Lydia Bennet - The youngest daughter who is silly, thoughtless, stupid, unprincipled, flirtatious, loudmouthed and scatter brained; not surprisingly, she is Mrs. Bennets favorite daughter. She elopes with George Wickham - A handsome, militia officer Rev. Mr. Collins - Mr. Bennets cousin who is to inherit Mr. Bennets property. He is a pompous, undignified mixture of servility and self- importance. Charles Bingley - A wealthy country gentleman who is kind and charming. He falls in love with and marries Jane Bennett and is Darcys best friend. Fitzwilliam Darcy - The wealthy, best friend of Charles Bingley who at first is proud, rude, and unpleasant; after falling in love with Elizabeth, he is shown to be discreet, shrewd, generous, and magnanimous; in the end, he wins Elizabeths love. Minor Characters

Georgiana Darcy - The younger sister of Fitzwilliam Darcy who is shy, reserved, and warmhearted. Mrs. Reynolds - The trusted housekeeper of Mr. Darcy. Colonel Fitzwilliam - The cousin of Mr. Darcy who is handsome and well-mannered. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - MonkeyNotes by PinkMonkey.com PinkMonkey.com, Inc. Copyright 1997-2000, All Rights Reserved. No further distribution without consent of PinkMonkey.com, Inc. 3 Lady Catherine de Bourgh - Mr. Darcys aunt who is arrogant, over-bearing, domineering, interfering, vulgar and affected; she cannot tolerate any opposition. Ann de Bourgh - Lady Catherines daughter who is sickly and coddled by her mother and who has no mind of her own. Mrs. Jenkinson - Ann de Bourghs teacher. Caroline Bingley - Mr. Bingleys unmarried sister, who is snobbish, conceited, scheming and jealous. Mrs. Hurst - Bingleys married sister who lives a lazy, purposeless life. Mr. Hurst - Bingleys brother-in-law, who is lazy and purposeless, like his wife. George Wickham - A seemingly charming man with attractive manners, who is really selfish, unprincipled, extravagant and prone to gambling; he is the villain of the novel, who elopes with Lydia Bennet Sir William and Lady Lucas - Neighbors and friends of the Bennet family and parents of Charlotte. Charlotte Lucas - The eldest daughter in the Lucas family who is plain, practical, intelligent and absolutely unromantic; she is a very close friend of Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner - Mrs. Bennets brother and his wife who are sensible and refined; Mrs. Gardiner is a confidante of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. Mrs. Philips - Mrs. Bennets sister, who is as vulgar and ridiculous as her sister; her husband is an attorney. Mary King - An acquaintance of the Bennet family. Setting The novel is set in the 19the 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. Set in Longbourn, in rural England Time frame is some point during the Napoleonic Wars (1797-1815) Many of the locations are real places in England (both towns and estates) The first line also defines Austen's book as a piece of literature that connects itself to the 18th century period. Pride and Prejudice is 18th century because of the emphasis on man in his

social environment rather than in his individual conditions. The use of satire and wit, a common form of 18th century literature, also contributes to label the book as 18th century. However, because Austen had allowed personal feelings of the characters to be expressed in her work, she can also be classified as Romantic. In the figure of Elizabeth, Austen shows passion attempting to find a valid mode of existence in society. Passion and reason also comes together in the novel to show that they are complementary of marriage. Theme Major Themes The pivotal theme is that marriage is important to individuals and society. Throughout the novel, the author describes the various types of marriages and reasons behind them. Marriage out of economic compulsions can be seen in Charlottes marriage to Collins. Marriage due to sensual pleasure can be seen in Lydias marriage. The marriage of Jane and Elizabeth are the outcome of true love between wellmatched persons. Another major theme is that pride and prejudice both stand in the way of relationships, as embodied in the persons of Darcy and Elizabeth respectively. Pride narrows the vision of a person and causes one to underestimate other mortals. Prejudice blinds the vision and leads to false perceptions about others. Darcys pride and Elizabeths prejudice come in the way of understanding each other and keep them apart. Only when Darcy becomes more humble and Elizabeth becomes more accepting can they relate to one another and find happiness together. Minor Themes A minor theme found in the novel is appearance versus reality, with Austen stressing that a person cannot be judged by his/her outer being. During the course of the book, several characters are not properly judged, for good conduct does not necessarily mean good character, just as a pretty face does not indicate a pure soul. Another theme stressed by the author is that in order to display good sense, a vitally important characteristic, a person must possess intelligence, sensitivity, and responsibility. Each of the major characters in the novel is judged against these three important criteria. Style

The tone of the novel is light, satirical, and vivid. Scenes such as Mr. Collins proposal to Elizabeth, and Lady Catherine visits to Lizzy at Longbourn, provides comic relief to the reader while at the same time revealing certain traits of the characters. For example, Lydias lack of common sense and responsibility is revealed when she takes pride in being the first Bennet girl to be married. Lydia does not take into consideration the circumstance of her marriage, the personality of her husband, or the prospects of their marriage for the future. Elizabeth Bennets ability to laugh off her misfortune and to continue to be optimistic, considering her situation, also contributes to the tone of the novel. The happily ever after the last chapter serves as a bit of an epilogue. Our two favorite married couples are doing well, but Lydia and Wickham s marriage unravels and they become broke. Charles and Jane Bingley move out of Netherfield after a year because they can t stand Mrs. Bennet, Mary becomes less sanctimonious, and Kitty blossoms under the guidance of her two oldest sisters. Jane moves to an estate practically next door to Pemberley. That all sounds quite peachy. Overall, this is a great novel. All the deserving characters got what they desired. My favorite character is Elizabeth Bennet because she was ahead of her time for a woman. When women of her time only married to secure their future, she wanted to marry for love. That was something unheard of in Jane Austen s time. Elizabeth s defiance towards her society shows her individuality, strength and independence. There are so much symbolism in this novel, one of my favorite was when Darcy, the Bingley sisters and Elizabeth were walking in Netherfield. By walking away and not join the rest of the group it symbolizes Elizabeth rejecting her society and the fact that there was no room for Elizabeth illustrates that her society had no room for someone like her. Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness and immediately said, -- This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.' But Elizabeth, who had not the least inclination to remain with them, laughingly answered, No, no; stay where you are. -- You are charmingly group'd, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoilt by admitting a fourth. Good bye. (52).

Mood The mood throughout the novel is formal and realistic to its nineteenth century setting. Even though it is a novel about love and marriage, it is not romantic and emotional, but realistic and practical. Point of view Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, like many classic novels, is told from the third person point of view: 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!"