Pride and Prejudice summary for kids

Five sisters and a new neighbour

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live at Longbourn, a country house in Hertfordshire, with their five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. There is a serious problem. The estate is entailed, which is a rule that the house must pass to a male relative, so when Mr. Bennet dies his daughters will have no home and little money. Mrs. Bennet is therefore determined to marry them off well, while her clever, dry-humoured husband mostly finds the whole business amusing.

News arrives that a rich young man, Mr. Bingley, has rented nearby Netherfield Park. At the next village ball he is friendly and cheerful, and he quickly admires the eldest Bennet sister, gentle Jane. His friend Mr. Darcy, who is even richer, is tall, handsome and silent. Elizabeth overhears him refuse to dance with her, calling her only “tolerable.” She decides at once that he is proud and disagreeable.

Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham

Jane catches a cold while visiting Netherfield, and Elizabeth walks there through the mud to nurse her. Staying on, she sees more of Darcy, who is secretly beginning to admire her lively mind, though she is too annoyed with him to notice. Soon afterwards a cousin, Mr. Collins, arrives. He is the clergyman who will inherit Longbourn, and he is pompous and silly, full of praise for his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Meanwhile the Bennet girls meet a charming army officer, Mr. Wickham. He tells Elizabeth that Darcy treated him cruelly and cheated him out of a position that Darcy’s late father had promised him. Elizabeth believes every word, which makes her dislike Darcy even more. At a ball at Netherfield, Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, and she refuses him firmly, to her mother’s fury.

Disappointments

Mr. Collins quickly turns to Elizabeth’s sensible friend Charlotte Lucas, who accepts him because she wants a secure home. Elizabeth is shocked that her friend would marry for comfort rather than love. At the same time, Bingley and his sisters suddenly leave for London, and Jane is heartbroken. Elizabeth believes Bingley’s sisters and Darcy have talked him out of loving her.

In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr. Collins in Kent, near Lady Catherine’s grand house, Rosings. Darcy, who is Lady Catherine’s nephew, is visiting too. One evening, he surprises Elizabeth by declaring that he loves her, though he speaks as if he is doing her a favour and talks about how much lower her family is than his. Elizabeth refuses him angrily. She accuses him of ruining Jane’s happiness and of treating Wickham badly.

Darcy’s letter and a trip to Pemberley

The next day Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter. He explains that he separated Bingley from Jane because he thought Jane did not return Bingley’s feelings and he disliked the family’s poor manners. He also reveals the truth about Wickham, who had wasted the money Darcy’s father left him and had even tried to run away with Darcy’s young sister, Georgiana, to get her fortune. Elizabeth is deeply shaken. She reads the letter again and again, and she slowly realises that she has judged both men unfairly and that her own pride in being a good judge of people has misled her.

Later that summer, Elizabeth travels with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, and they tour Pemberley, Darcy’s beautiful estate. She believes he is away. The housekeeper praises him warmly as a kind master. Then Darcy unexpectedly returns, and he is polite, gentle and eager to please. He even introduces her to his sister.

Lydia’s disgrace

Their visit is cut short by terrible news. Lydia, the youngest Bennet sister, who is sixteen and very silly, went to Brighton with the army and has run away with Wickham. The couple are not married, and in those days that could ruin the reputation of the entire family and make it hard for her sisters to marry. Elizabeth hurries home, and Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner search for the couple in London.

Soon the family hears that Lydia and Wickham have been found and will marry, and that Wickham has agreed to it for a surprisingly small sum. Everyone assumes Mr. Gardiner paid. Later Elizabeth learns, from a careless remark by Lydia, that it was really Darcy who found them and arranged and paid for everything, quietly and without asking for any thanks.

Second chances

Bingley returns to Netherfield, and he and Jane soon become engaged. Then Lady Catherine descends on Longbourn, furious about a rumour that Elizabeth will marry Darcy. She demands that Elizabeth promise never to accept him. Elizabeth refuses, saying that she will make her own choice.

This news encourages Darcy to try again. He and Elizabeth walk out together, and she thanks him for what he did for Lydia. He tells her that his feelings have not changed. This time Elizabeth accepts gladly. Darcy admits that she taught him to be less proud, and she admits that her first impression of him was wrong.

Happy endings

Mr. Bennet is surprised and worried, since Elizabeth once disliked Darcy so much, but he agrees when she assures him that she truly loves him. Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed at having two daughters marry such rich men. In the last chapter we learn that Jane and Bingley move to a home close to Pemberley, and that Elizabeth and Darcy are very happy at Pemberley, which becomes a welcoming place for her aunt and uncle. Lydia and Wickham do not turn out as well, since they keep spending more than they have.