The novel centres on Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the five daughters of a country gentleman. Elizabeth’s father, Mr Bennet, is a bookish man, and somewhat neglectful of his responsibilities.
In contrast Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs Bennet, a woman who lacks social graces, is primarily concerned with finding suitable husbands for her five daughters.
Jane Bennet, the eldest daughter, is distinguished by her kindness and beauty; Elizabeth Bennet shares her father’s keen wit and occasionally sarcastic outlook; Mary is not pretty, but is studious, devout and musical albeit lacking in taste; Catherine, sometimes called Kitty, the fourth sister, follows where her younger sister leads, while Lydia is flirtatious and lacks maturity.
Pride and Prejudice is also about that thing that all great novels consider, the search for self. And it is the first great novel that teaches us this search is as surely undertaken in the drawing room making small talk as in the pursuit of a great white whale or the public punishment of adultery.