Pride and Prejudice 傲慢与偏见中英文双语简介

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London. Though the story is set at the turn of the 19th century, it retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of 'most loved books' such as The Big Read.[1] It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature and receives considerable attention from literary scholars. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters or themes. To date, the book has sold some 20 million copies worldwide

Plot summary

The narrative opens with Mr Bingley, a wealthy, charming and social young bachelor, moving into Netherfield Park in the neighbourhood of the Bennet family. Mr Bingley is soon well received, while his friend Mr Darcy makes a less favorable first impression by appearing proud and condescending at a ball that they attend (this is partly explained in that he detests dancing and is not much for light conversation). Mr Bingley singles out Elizabeth's elder sister, Jane, for particular attention, and it soon becomes apparent that they have formed an attachment to each other. By contrast, Darcy slights Elizabeth, who overhears and jokes about it despite feeling a budding resentment.

On paying a visit to Mr Bingley's sister, Jane is caught in a heavy downpour, catches cold, and is forced to stay at Netherfield for several days. Elizabeth arrives to nurse her sister and is thrown into frequent company with Mr Darcy, who begins to perceive his attachment to her, but is too proud to proceed on this feeling.

Mr Collins, a clergyman, pays a visit to the Bennets. MrBennet and Elizabeth are much amused by his obsequious veneration of his employer, the noble Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as well as by his self-important and pedantic nature. It soon becomes apparent that Mr Collins has come to Longbourn to choose a wife from among the Bennet sisters (his cousins) and Elizabeth has been singled out. At the same time, Elizabeth forms an acquaintance with Mr Wickham, a militia officer who claims to have been very seriously mistreated by Mr Darcy, despite having been a ward of Mr Darcy's father. This tale, and Elizabeth's attraction to Mr Wickham, adds fuel to her dislike of Mr Darcy.

At a ball given by Mr Bingley at Netherfield, Mr Darcy becomes aware of a general expectation that Mr Bingley and Jane will marry, and the Bennet family, with the

exception of Jane and Elizabeth, make a public display of poor manners and decorum. The following morning, Mr Collins proposes marriage to Elizabeth, who refuses him, much to her mother's distress. Mr Collins recovers and promptly becomes engaged to Elizabeth's close friend Charlotte, a homely woman with few prospects. Mr Bingley abruptly quits Netherfield and returns to London, and Elizabeth is convinced that Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley's sister have conspired to separate him from Jane.

In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her hosts are frequently invited to Rosings Park, home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt; coincidentally, Darcy also arrives to visit. Darcy again finds himself attracted to Elizabeth and impetuously proposes to her. Elizabeth, however, has just learned of Darcy's role in separating Mr Bingley from Jane from his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. She angrily rebukes him, and a heated discussion follows; she charges him with destroying her sister's happiness, with treating Mr Wickham disgracefully, and with having conducted himself towards her in an ungentleman-like manner. Mr Darcy, shocked, ultimately responds with a letter giving a good account of (most of) his actions: Wickham had exchanged his legacies for a cash payment, only to return after gambling away the money to reclaim the forfeited inheritance; he then attempted to elope with Darcy's young sister, thereby to capture her fortune. Regarding Mr Bingley and Jane, Darcy claimed he had observed no reciprocal interest in Jane for Bingley. Elizabeth later came to acknowledge the truth of Darcy's assertions.

Some months later, Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner visit Pemberley, Darcy's estate, believing he will be absent for the day. He returns unexpectedly, and though surprised, he is gracious and welcoming. He treats the Gardiners with great civility; he introduces Elizabeth to his sister, and Elizabeth begins to realise her attraction to him. Their reacquaintance is cut short, however, by news that Lydia, Elizabeth's sister, has run away to elope with Mr Wickham. Elizabeth and the Gardiners return to Longbourn, where Elizabeth grieves that her renewed acquaintance with Mr Darcy will end because of her sister's disgrace.

Lydia and Wickham are soon found, then married by the clergy; they visit Longbourn, where Lydia lets slip that Mr Darcy was responsible for finding the couple and negotiating their marriage—at great expense to himself. Elizabeth is shocked but does not dwell further on the topic due to Mr Bingley's return and subsequent proposal to Jane, who immediately accepts.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh later bursts in on Longbourn; intending to thwart local rumour, she warns Elizabeth against marrying Mr Darcy. Elizabeth refuses her demands. Disgusted, Lady Catherine leaves and drops by to inform her nephew on Elizabeth's abominable behaviour. However, this lends hope to Darcy that Elizabeth's opinion of him may have changed. He travels to Longbourn and proposes again; and now Elizabeth accepts.

Major themes

Many critics take the novel's title as a starting point when analysing the major themes of Pride and Prejudice; however, Robert Fox cautions against reading too much into the title because commercial factors may have played a role in its selection. "After the success of Sense and Sensibility, nothing would have seemed more natural than to bring out another novel of the same author using again the formula of antithesis and alliteration for the title. It should be pointed out that the qualities of the title are not exclusively assigned to one or the other of the protagonists; both Elizabeth and Darcy display pride and prejudice."[5]

A major theme in much of Austen's work is the importance of environment and upbringing on the development of young people's character and morality.[6] Social standing and wealth are not necessarily advantages in her world, and a further theme common to Jane Austen's work is ineffectual parents. In Pride and Prejudice, the failure of Mr and MrsBennet as parents is blamed for Lydia's lack of moral judgment; Darcy, on the other hand, has been taught to be principled and scrupulously honourable, but he is also proud and overbearing.[6] Kitty, rescued from Lydia's bad influence and spending more time with her older sisters after they marry, is said to improve greatly in their superior society

内容简介

说故事最主要是围绕着18世纪末19世纪初，英国地主乡绅贵族的求爱和婚姻问题。女主角是20岁的伊丽莎白?班内特，她机智、聪慧并具有很强的正义感。她父亲班内特先生多数时间藏在书房里，避开妻子班内特太太。班内特太太的行为举止完全是个乡村愚妇，她最大的心愿就是把五个女儿都成功地嫁给有钱绅士。由于没有儿子，班内特家族为数不多的财产要由一位男性继承人──也就是说姑娘们的表兄柯林斯先生来继承，这将使班内特先生死后，班内特太太和其他未婚的女儿无家可归，并只能靠低收入维持生计。

小说的开头，当一位有“相当财产”的单身汉搬到邻近房子时，班内特太太心情激动。这位宾利先生最近租下了尼日尔斐庄园，同住的还有他的两位姐妹──宾利小姐和已婚的赫斯特太太，后者的丈夫徒有风度，没有多少财产。不久，宾利先生去了伦敦一趟，带回了他的朋友达西先生。他们到达之后，很快参加了在梅里屯的一场公共舞会。舞会开始时，人们公认每年有高达10,000英镑的收入的达西先生是最棒的。然而，聚会进行到一半，邻居们就察觉到他本人并不讨人喜欢，因为他自命比身边这些“乡下人”要高贵。班内特家的人特别讨厌他，因为达西先生怠慢了伊丽莎白。当宾利先生建议达西和伊丽莎白跳舞时，达西却说：“她还没有漂亮到可以打动我的地步。”但宾利先生却被公认为是个优秀的，令人愉快的绅士。而他对伊丽莎白最亲近的姐姐──珍的爱慕也相当明显。

舞会之后不久，达西才渐渐发现了伊丽莎白的好：她一双美丽的黑眼睛、娇美的体态和她那爽快、不奉承人的性格都深深地吸引了达西的爱慕。可是达西很快决定了不可让伊丽莎白发现这点，免得她有非份之想，反过来控制他的幸福。他竭力隐瞒，所以伊丽莎白一直不知道高傲的达西先生已爱上了她，而且爱慕越来越深。后来，班内特先生宣布一位客人将来访。众人兴奋地猜测来客是谁，发现原来是她们的表兄柯林斯先生。柯林斯是个唠叨势利的牧师，将宣读《对年轻女性的布道》之类的道德书视为“愉快夜晚活动”。他寻找一切机会提及他

的女赞助人，凯瑟琳?德?鲍尔夫人，像哈巴狗一样对她阿臾奉承。因凯瑟琳夫人劝他得找个妻子，柯林斯便马上在他“可怜的表妹”中寻找人选，还再三提及这他对班内特家女孩的补偿（这证明他全部的无知愚蠢）。柯林斯原属意的是珍，但得知她“几乎已经和宾利先生订婚”之后，开始将目光转向可爱的伊丽莎白。伊丽莎白自然不肯嫁他，但班内特太太极力支持这门婚事，甚至试图强迫伊丽莎白肯首。然而，明白事理的班内特先生却对伊丽莎白说：“如果你不嫁柯林斯先生，你母亲不理你了，但如果你嫁的话，便是我不理你了。”，从而表示支持爱女的决定。与此同时，伊丽莎白认识了一位军官，韦克翰先生。韦克翰先生英俊迷人、风度翩翩，令伊丽莎白迅速倾心于他。但他们二人有次谈话，韦克翰竟告诉她：达西先生曾对他不实，令他失去了本唾手可得的财富和机会，伊丽莎白听后，原来便不太喜欢达西先生的心又加强了。

被拒绝后，柯林斯先生立刻转而向伊丽莎白最好的朋友夏洛特?卢卡斯求婚，夏洛特答应，二人很快结婚了。班内特太太非常失望，但让她更失望的是不久宾利先生突然离开珍。珍无比痛心，母亲的长吁短叹更使她难过。伊丽莎白应柯林斯先生和夏洛特新婚夫妇之邀，去参观他们教区，却在凯瑟琳?德?鲍尔夫人的罗新斯庄园看见达西先生，原来他是夫人的姨侄。结果伊丽莎白和达西共度了许多时光。达西先生经过几番争扎，最终当面向伊丽莎白承认他对她那“违背自己意愿”的爱慕，并愿意娶她为妻，但他告白的态度仍是那么傲慢，而且认为伊丽莎白一定不会拒绝他“屈就”的求婚。伊丽莎白大为惊讶，但因为达西先生的态度、韦克翰先生之前的指控和得知是达西先生曾阻挠宾利和珍在一起，愤怒的她告知达西：“即使世界上所有男人都死光了，（她）也不可能同他结婚。”

第二天早上，伊丽莎白与达西先生在散步中相遇。达西交给伊丽莎白一封信，然后冷冷离开。信中达西为自己的行为辩护。他写道，除了她那些举止粗俗、令人尴尬的亲戚外，他见珍看上去无动于衷，以为她并不真心爱宾利，思考再三才劝朋友放弃。伊丽莎白也承认，珍矜持的个性使得其他人难以确定她的真心。同时，达西也揭露了韦克翰花花公子、投机取巧的真面目。达西以前的行为有了新的合理解释，伊丽莎白对他的偏见也逐渐瓦解了。

后来，伊丽莎白和她的舅父母嘉蒂纳夫妇同偕旅行，并参观了达西先生的故居彭伯里。在庄园内散步的时候竟巧遇达西。达西的行为举止显得亲切了许多。伊丽莎白才发现，原来他的傲慢后面隐藏着真诚、慷慨的本性。对他开始改观，但当二人正在增进感情的时候，却突然收到消息，得知伊丽莎白的妹妹丽迪亚私奔了。由于伊丽莎白的疏忽，没有揭露韦克翰的真面目，才使得年轻幼稚的丽迪亚上了当，同韦克翰双双逃出军团躲避赌债。达西找到了韦克翰，替他还清了赌债并付了一笔生活费，迫他同丽迪亚结婚。尽管达西要求保密，但丽迪亚的快嘴和嘉蒂纳太太最终的坦白仍使伊丽莎白了解了实情，并彻底扭转了她对达西的情感。最终，当达西的姨母，凯瑟琳夫人听说达西竟对一个门不当户不对的女孩心生倾慕，并赶来威胁伊丽莎白时，伊丽莎白明白了即使自己拒绝了第一次求婚，达西仍然爱她。当达西将宾利先生带回乡间，带回珍的身边时（他们很快订婚了），伊丽莎白向达西敞开了心扉，他的傲慢和她的偏见全部被遗忘了，幸福终于到来。

After a pairs of person has the prejudice, then is unable fairly to judge the matter the result.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.