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| Джеймс Эндрюс, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Portrait of Jane Austen |
[Opening]
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow readers and lovers of literature,
It is my privilege today to speak to you about one of the most enduring and beloved novels in the English language—Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Published in 1813, it has delighted, amused, and moved readers for more than two centuries. But why? Why should a story about courtships, balls, misunderstandings, and proposals in the English countryside still grip us today?
Let us journey together through the novel—first with a lucid narration of its plot, and then with reflection on why it is a special book to read. And along the way, let us hear Austen’s own words, sparkling with irony, wit, and truth.
[Part I: The Short Summary—What Happens in the Novel]
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| Джеймс Эндрюс, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Portrait of Jane Austen |
The novel begins with one of the most famous sentences in all of literature:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Here, Austen sets the tone. Marriage, money, social expectation—and, above all, irony. We are invited to laugh and to observe.
The focus of the story is the Bennet family of Longbourn. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. The estate is entailed to a distant male relative, meaning the daughters cannot inherit. Thus, Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with marrying them off well.
News spreads: a wealthy young gentleman, Mr. Charles Bingley, has rented Netherfield Park. Excitement runs high. Mrs. Bennet exclaims, “What a fine thing for our girls!”
At the Meryton assembly ball, Bingley proves amiable and kind. He dances twice with Jane, the eldest Bennet sister, and admiration grows between them. His friend, however—Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy—appears proud and aloof. When pressed to dance with Elizabeth Bennet, he refuses, saying:
“She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.”
Elizabeth overhears. That one remark sparks her prejudice, and from it much of the novel unfolds.
Elizabeth, lively, witty, and independent, soon meets a new acquaintance: Mr. George Wickham, a charming officer. Wickham claims Darcy wronged him and denied him a promised inheritance. Elizabeth, already inclined to dislike Darcy, believes Wickham readily.
Meanwhile, Mr. Collins, the pompous clergyman who will inherit Longbourn, visits the Bennets. His obsequious praise of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is almost comic. He proposes to Elizabeth with words that seem to praise himself more than her:
Джеймс Эндрюс,
Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Portrait of
Jane Austen“My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman … Secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly — which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier — that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness.”
Elizabeth refuses him firmly: “You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who could make you so.”
Mr. Collins, unfazed, quickly proposes to Elizabeth’s practical friend, Charlotte Lucas, who accepts for security.
As Jane and Bingley’s affection deepens, Darcy becomes increasingly drawn to Elizabeth, despite himself. He admires her “fine eyes,” her intelligence, her wit. In a scene charged with emotion, he declares:
“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
But his proposal is couched in pride, dwelling on the inferiority of her family. Elizabeth’s response is unforgettable:
“From the very beginning … your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike.”
She rejects him.
The next day, Darcy delivers a letter. In it he explains two things: that he advised Bingley against Jane because he believed she did not truly love him, and that Wickham is in fact dissolute and untrustworthy, having attempted to elope with Darcy’s young sister. Elizabeth is shaken. “Till this moment, I never knew myself,” she reflects.
Her prejudice begins to waver.
Later, visiting Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth unexpectedly encounters Darcy again—and finds him transformed. He is gracious, hospitable, even gentle. She sees another side of him, and her feelings begin to change.
But a family crisis interrupts: Lydia Bennet elopes with Wickham. Ruin looms for the family’s reputation. It is Darcy, acting quietly, who persuades Wickham to marry Lydia, providing the money to settle his debts.
In time, Bingley and Jane are reunited, and Darcy, humbled and earnest, renews his proposal to Elizabeth. This time, she accepts. Their story, once marred by pride and prejudice, ends with mutual respect, affection, and love.
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| Джеймс Эндрюс, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Portrait of Jane Austen |
Part II: Why This Novel Is Special
Now, why does Pride and Prejudice remain such a special book to read?
1. Austen’s Wit and Irony
Austen observes her world with a sharp but playful pen. Consider Mr. Bennet’s dry humor, when asked about Bingley:
“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”
Or his sardonic description of Mr. Collins: “He seems to be a most conscientious and polite young man, indeed, and I doubt not will prove a valuable acquaintance.”
Her irony both entertains and critiques the absurdities of social convention.
2. Elizabeth Bennet—A Heroine Ahead of Her Time
Elizabeth is intelligent, spirited, unwilling to marry without affection. When Lady Catherine demands she promise never to marry Darcy, Elizabeth answers:
“I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.”
This is independence, spoken in a society that often silenced women.
3. The Human Growth of Darcy
Darcy, too, undergoes transformation. His pride yields to humility; his coldness to generosity. When Elizabeth thanks him for aiding Lydia, he replies:
“If you will thank me, let it be for yourself alone. That the wish of giving happiness to you might add force to the other inducements which led me on, I shall not attempt to deny.”
His love teaches him to act with humanity, not arrogance.
4. Social Commentary Beneath the Comedy
Through the fates of Charlotte, Lydia, and the Bennet family, Austen shows how precarious women’s lives could be when inheritance laws and social expectations left them dependent on marriage. The humor never obscures the seriousness.
5. Universality
The title itself captures timeless truths. Pride. Prejudice. Misjudgment. Correction. These are not Regency relics. Who among us has not been quick to judge? Who has not let pride distort understanding? Austen’s genius is to take what is local and make it universal.
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| Джеймс Эндрюс, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Portrait of Jane Austen |
[Part III: Why We Should Read It Today]
Why should we read this novel today, amidst our digital age, our globalized society?
Because its central lesson—that love must be founded on respect, honesty, and growth—is as urgent as ever. Darcy and Elizabeth’s story is not about instant attraction but about learning, unlearning, and humbling oneself.
Because Austen teaches us to laugh at pretension, to beware of shallow charm like Wickham’s, and to cherish the constancy of real affection like Jane’s.
And because the novel delights us. To read it is to enjoy sharp dialogue, keen observation, and characters who feel alive. When Darcy says, “My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever,” our hearts still stir.
[Conclusion]
Ladies and gentlemen, Pride and Prejudice is not merely a romance. It is a study of character, a comedy of manners, a critique of society, and above all, a celebration of human growth.
It teaches us that pride can blind, prejudice can mislead, but humility and honesty can open the way to love. It entertains us with wit, and it educates us with truth.
Elizabeth Bennet herself might remind us to seek happiness on our own terms, and Darcy shows us that change is possible, that even the proudest heart can learn to love with humility.
That is why Pride and Prejudice is special. That is why, two centuries later, we still read it, still quote it, still fall in love with it.
So I say to you: return to it, or read it for the first time. You will find in its pages not just the manners of Regency England but the truths of the human heart.
Thank you.
