Pride and Prejudice (Annotated)

Set against the backdrop of early 19th-century England, the novel opens with the Bennet family, a respectable yet financially modest clan residing in the rural town of Longbourn. The Bennets consist of the witty and sharp-minded Mr. Bennet, his good-natured but sometimes frivolous wife Mrs. Bennet, and their five daughters-Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.

The crux of the story unfolds with the arrival of the eligible and wealthy bachelor Mr. Charles Bingley to the nearby Netherfield...