Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Free EPUB, Kindle & Public Domain Guide

Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel by Jane Austen. It follows Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates courtship, class, and family pressure, and gradually overcomes her prejudice against the proud Mr. Darcy. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on Project Gutenberg eBook #42671 and is in the public domain in the US.

About Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: Summary, Characters & Themes

Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel by Jane Austen, a comedy of manners that follows Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates courtship, class, and family pressure in Regency England. This summary and analysis covers the novel’s plot, key characters, and core themes, including pride, prejudice, marriage, and social rank.

Austen wrote the novel in the late 1790s under the title First Impressions, and it was published in 1813 after substantial revision. The story is set in Hertfordshire and Derbyshire, among the landed gentry and the militia society of the period. This edition is based on a transcription from Project Gutenberg and produced by Standard Ebooks.

The Bennet family has five unmarried daughters, and their estate is entailed away from the female line. When the wealthy Mr. Bingley rents Netherfield Park, Mrs. Bennet hopes one of her daughters will marry him.

Bingley falls in love with Jane Bennet, while his friend Mr. Darcy initially offends Elizabeth Bennet at a ball. Elizabeth’s dislike of Darcy deepens after she meets George Wickham, who claims Darcy wronged him.

Mr. Collins, the heir to the Bennet estate, proposes to Elizabeth, but she refuses him; he soon marries her friend Charlotte Lucas. Darcy unexpectedly proposes to Elizabeth, and she rejects him, accusing him of ruining Jane’s happiness and mistreating Wickham.

Darcy’s letter reveals Wickham’s true character and explains his own conduct. Later, when Lydia Bennet elopes with Wickham, Darcy secretly intervenes to arrange their marriage. Elizabeth’s feelings toward Darcy change, and after Lady Catherine de Bourgh tries to block the match, Darcy proposes again and Elizabeth accepts.

Key Characters & Literary Archetypes

• Elizabeth Bennet (The Prejudiced Wit & Independent Heroine): she is the novel’s witty and independent protagonist, whose prejudice against Darcy forms the central conflict.
• Mr. Darcy (The Proud Aristocrat & Reluctant Romantic): he is a proud and wealthy gentleman whose initial reserve hides a generous and loyal nature.
• Jane Bennet (The Gentle Sensible Sister): she is Elizabeth’s eldest sister, whose gentle and trusting disposition contrasts with Elizabeth’s sharp judgment.
• Mr. Bingley (The Amiable & Easily Guided Friend): he is Darcy’s amiable friend, whose affection for Jane is nearly undone by the interference of others.
• George Wickham (The Charming Villain & False Suitor): he is a charming but unscrupulous officer whose false account of Darcy misleads Elizabeth.
• Mr. Collins (The Pompous Heir & Comic Clergyman): he is the pompous heir to Longbourn, whose proposal Elizabeth refuses.
• Lady Catherine de Bourgh (The Arrogant Matriarch & Social Gatekeeper): she is Darcy’s arrogant aunt, whose attempt to prevent the match ultimately brings Elizabeth and Darcy together.

Core Literary Themes & Historical Significance

• Pride and Prejudice (The Twin Faults of the Protagonists): they are the twin faults that both Elizabeth and Darcy must overcome before they can love each other honestly.
• Marriage and Social Rank (The Courtship Economy of Regency England): these are central themes, shown through the contrasting matches of Elizabeth, Jane, Charlotte, and Lydia.
• Class and Inheritance (The Entail & Social Mobility): they shape the novel’s conflicts, from the entail of Longbourn to Lady Catherine’s opposition to the marriage.

Chapter summaries

Sixty-one chapters, grouped here into the twelve movements that carry the plot; Austen’s chapters are short, so the breaks fall at changes of place and fortune.

• Chapters 1–6: Bingley takes Netherfield; at the Meryton assembly Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth and calls her tolerable, while Jane and Bingley are instantly drawn together.
• Chapters 7–12: Jane falls ill after riding over in the rain; Elizabeth walks to Netherfield to nurse her and stays, and Darcy’s interest grows as Caroline Bingley mocks the Bennet connections.
• Chapters 13–17: Mr. Collins, who will inherit Longbourn, arrives to choose a wife; he proposes to Elizabeth and is refused, and Wickham tells her his story of Darcy’s cruelty.
• Chapters 18–23: At the Netherfield ball Elizabeth and Darcy trade barbs; Collins proposes to Charlotte Lucas, who accepts, and Bingley’s party leaves for London, ending Jane’s hopes for the moment.
• Chapters 24–27: Charlotte marries Collins; Jane visits London and is coldly received by Miss Bingley; Elizabeth travels to Kent with the Gardiners.
• Chapters 28–32: At Hunsford, Darcy proposes and Elizabeth refuses him, accusing him of ruining Jane’s happiness and of cheating Wickham.
• Chapters 33–37: Darcy’s letter explains Wickham’s real character and clears him of the charge about Jane; Elizabeth rereads her own conduct and begins to see herself differently.
• Chapters 38–42: Elizabeth returns home, Lydia goes to Brighton, and the Gardiners take Elizabeth to Derbyshire, where a visit to Pemberley shows her a Darcy she had not expected.
• Chapters 43–46: At Pemberley Elizabeth meets Darcy again; then news comes that Lydia has eloped with Wickham, and the family faces ruin.
• Chapters 47–50: The Bennets search for Lydia; Darcy intervenes quietly, and a marriage to Wickham is arranged.
• Chapters 51–55: Lydia and Wickham return, Elizabeth learns what Darcy did, and Bingley proposes to Jane.
• Chapters 56–61: Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth renounce Darcy; Darcy proposes a second time and is accepted, and the novel closes with the marriages and an epilogue.

Why Download Our Custom E-Reader Edition of Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice is a 61-chapter novel in three volumes, first published in 1813. Our custom edition is built for comfortable, distraction-free reading on modern e-readers.

Many free copies of Pride and Prejudice online are carelessly scanned, poorly formatted, or missing chapters. Some are wrapped in DRM, and others are filled with broken line breaks and inconsistent punctuation.

• The Unabridged 1813 Text — the complete novel, based on a transcription via Project Gutenberg, with no cuts or modern rewrites.
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Pride and Prejudice: FAQ, Summary & Analysis