PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen creates a picture of the small, cocooned world of the
middle class gentry -- with their commonplace joys and their commonplace sorrows. The
central concern of this "comedy of manners" is Mrs. Bennets dogged efforts to find suitable
husbands for her eldest daughters. Of course, Mrs. Bennets judgements cannot be trusted, for
she is a nagging wife, an ineffectual mother, and a social misfit throughout the novel. Her
repeated and continued foolishness is one of the things that holds the plot together into a
unified whole.
The plots focus on marriage is seen from the very beginning of the story. The arrival of Mr.
Bingley, a single man of large fortune at near-by Netherfield immediately fires the
imagination of Mrs. Bennet. An acquaintance is struck and what follows is a series of parties,
balls, and teas, which are very essential to the plot; it is at these social gatherings that the four
main characters -Bingley and Jane and Darcy and Elizabeth - are brought together. They also
serve to illustrate the culture, manners, fashions, pretensions, and snobberies of the English
gentry at the time.
The first ball at Netherfield hints at the course of things to follow. The amiable Jane and the
gentle Bingley are almost instantly drawn to each other. In contrast, the proud Darcy and the
prejudiced Elizabeth have great difficulty in communicating; Elizabeth is infuriated that the
arrogant man has slighted her. Much of the remaining plot is centered on the unfolding of the
pride and prejudices of this pair, which Jane Austen carefully develops. Janes illness at
Netherfield Park is deftly contrived by the author to get the two pairs of lovers into closer
contact, where they can observe each others natures and evaluate their own feelings. In
contrast to his reaction at the ball, Darcy is attracted by Elizabeths fine eyes, her frankness,
and her ready wit. Unfortunately, Elizabeths prejudice against Darcy makes her misinterpret
anything he says or does. Wickham, serving as a contrast to Darcy, diversifies the plot. By
telling falsehoods about Darcy, he strengthens Elizabeths dislike of the man. When Elizabeth
spurns his advances, he preys upon the coquetry and caprice of Lydia, finally eloping with
her. This event lets Darcy prove his true worth to Elizabeth.
Mr. Collins is introduced into the plot to reveal the negative side of marriage. He is a
sycophant, a pompous clergyman, and an odd combination of servility and self importance.
He is a deliberately constructed, grotesque figure, who is desperate to marry for any reason.
Unfortunately, Charlotte Lucas, compelled by economic and social pressures, accepts his
proposal. The picture of their married life is a bleak one. The noble Charlotte, however, tries
to make her life as pleasant as possible, tolerating Collins as a payment for her sense of
security offered by marriage.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is introduced into the plot as a very wealthy member of the upper
class society and as Collins patroness. She also happens to be Darcys aunt, and it is
speculated that her nephew will marry her unacceptable daughter. In each encounter with
Lady Catherine, she shows herself to be rude, authoritative, and domineering woman, who
would like to run the lives of everyone she knows. Through her, Jane Austen clearly shows
that superiority of social class does not necessarily imply superiority of intellect, ethics, or
morality. For all her purported sophistication and snobbery, Lady Catherine, in her own way,
is as coarse and vulgar as Mrs. Bennet.
The plot is further advance by another meeting of Darcy and Elizabeth, which leads him to
know that he is in love with this vivacious young lady. Against his better judgement and sure
that she will accept, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth. Her stormy refusal jolts his prides and
results in an explanatory letter, which seeks to clarify the two allegations leveled against him.
Although angered by the letter, from this point forward, Elizabeth begins to change her
opinion of Darcy, moving away from her prejudice to a more realistic and uncritical
viewpoint. At the same time, Darcy is forced to look at himself and lose some of his
arrogance.
Elizabeths visit to Derbyshire with the Gardiners brings her into contact with Darcy once
again. Elizabeths prejudice really begins to thaw under the warmth he emits during the visit;
but just as the two are about to be reconciled, tragedy strikes. Lydia has eloped with
Wickham, and Elizabeth is summoned to Longbourn. Ironically, Lydias crass behavior
threatens to fatally injure the chances of her two admirable sisters to attract Bingley and
Darcy.
In the end, Lydias elopement provides an opportunity for Darcy to prove his worth to
Elizabeth. He convinces Wickham to marry Lydia, by offering him a large sum of money.
When Elizabeth learns of his noble deed, she realizes how wrong she his been in her
judgement of him and hopes for a chance to make things right. When she sees Darcy again,
she apologizes and expresses her appreciation. Darcys response to Elizabeths humility is to
propose to her once again. This time Elizabeth eagerly accepts, bringing the plot to its natural
climax.
The fully developed and tightly constructed plot clearly centers on marriage in its various
forms. It is the central theme that binds the plot together. Therefore, the natural end of the
novel comes with Janes marriage to Bingley and Elizabeths marriage to Darcy. Love has
conquered all - both pride and prejudice.
Another way to consider the structure is pay attention to the divisions that were concieved by
the author. Austen divides the novel into three volumes. In Volume 1 (chapter 1-23) we meet
all of the main characters and learn all of their relationships and conflicts. This section of the
book ends with Collin's second proposal to Charolotte and the absense of Bingley. In Volume
2 (chapters 24-42) we learn more of the complications. Immediately we learn that Bringley
and his party have returned to London and of Wickham's interest in Miss King. The romantic

lives of the girls appear bleak. We meet one of the most important minor characters, Lady
Catherine, and hear Darcy's rather ill-conceived proposal to Elizabeth. We also get hear
Darcy's side of the story as revealed in his letter to Elizabeth. We hope that things will
change, but aren't sure how that can happen. Volume 3 (chapters 43 to the end) resolve all of
the relationship complications. It starts with the grand visit to Pemberly and Elizabeth's
realization of her true feelings and ends with the marriage of three of the Bennet sisters.
Based on Freytag's plot structure pyramid, the structure of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
begins with an inciting action in the first pages of Chapter One wherein Mrs. Bennet
announces that Mr. Bingley has rented a neighboring manor and is taunted by Mr. Bennet
who insists he shall never strike up a family friendship with the new tenants, leaving his wife
and five daughters to fend for themselves in meeting the new young man and his friends at
the upcoming town sponsored ball.
The rising action is based on the conflict--which is that Mr. Darcy is not overly impressed
with Elizabeth and audibly expresses his opinion, thus setting Elizabeth's mind against him-and its complications, like Mrs. Bennet's ill-bred behavior and Miss Bingley's fondness for
Mr. Darcy. The climax comes when Mr. Darcy says that he knows that Elizabeth would have
told Lady de Bourgh honestly that she had no interest in Mr. Darcy if that had been true and
then asks Elizabeth for her love.
The falling action is quite significant because Elizabeth has to break the news to her two
parents, which is no small task because neither one likes him and Mr. Bennet has to be told
that he owes Lydia's salvation to Mr. Darcy. The resolution occurs at the woefully understated
wedding at which everyone who mattered to the couple was present and is followed by a brief
epilogue describing the happiness of the other couples involved in the story.