Summary by chapter

Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice opens in rural England, in the village of Longbourn, where the Bennet family lives. The news that wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley has rented the Netherfield Park estate causes a lot of excitement in the village. Mrs Bennet is particularly excited as she has five unmarried daughters she wants to marry off - Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.

Soon, the Bennet family attends a local ball where Mr Bingley is the guest of honour. Bingley is attracted to Jane and dances with her several times during the evening. His friend, Mr Darcy dislikes the whole event and refuses to dance with Elizabeth. His attitude makes everyone think that Darcy is arrogant and proud.

On various social occasions, Mr Darcy gets to know Elizabeth better and begins to be secretly attracted to her, while Jane and Mr Bingley also grow closer. Jane pays a social visit to Bingley at his property, but catches a cold on the way and is forced to stay in his house to recover. Elizabeth walks the long way to Mr Bingley's property in the mud to see her sister. When she arrives at the house, Charles’s sister, Miss Bingley, secretly criticises her appearance. As the two sisters stay at Netherfield Park, Mr Darcy begins to pay even more attention to Elizabeth.

When the sisters return home, they learn that the family will receive a visit from their cousin Mr Collins, a clergyman who will inherit Mr Bennet’s property because the estate is entailed so that it can only be passed on to male heirs. Not long after his arrival, Mr Collins clumsily proposes to Elizabeth, who declines his marriage offer.

During this time, the Bennet girls also meet and befriend a group of army officers who are stationed nearby. One of them, George Wickham, becomes close with Elizabeth and tells her that he grew up with Mr Darcy, but that Darcy later cheated him out of an inheritance out of envy. To Elizabeth's surprise, her friend Charlotte agrees to marry Collins.

Before winter, Darcy and Bingley leave Netherfield Park for London, and Mi...