Pride and Prejudice is a romance written more than two hundred years ago by Jane Austen. In the novel, the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet finds love even after a disastrous first impression. The book starts with Elizabeth living at her family’s estate with four sisters - no male heirs. This means that at least one of them needs to marry or they’ll live in poverty after their father dies. Luckily, two rich bachelors have arrived in their country: Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley is perfectly likeable and even takes a fancy to Elizabeth’s older sister Jane, but Mr. Darcy is prideful and disliked despite his wealth, especially by Elizabeth. Through a series of balls and meetings, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth become more acquainted and he falls in love with her. Through scandals, misunderstandings, and malicious interventions, they somehow make it work with an immensely satisfying conclusion.
The character development made this book worth reading. However, I found that the prose and initial character attitudes made it hard to get through the first third of the book. It’s also pretty outdated and doesn’t really offer anything you couldn’t get from a modern romance novel. I think anyone who has the extra time to devote to it or just really enjoys romance should read this. Though I didn’t like certain aspects of it, overall I’d give it four stars.