Pride and Prejudice Book Recap: From Darcy’s First Proposal to Elizabeth’s Change of Mind

Elizabeth Bennet turns down Mr. Darcy’s first proposal because he helped separate Jane from Bingley, she believes he wronged Wickham, and he asks her to marry him while making his contempt for her family connections plain. His letter the next morning gives her reason to question what she knows about him. It takes two more encounters with a side of Darcy she has never seen before, at Pemberley and during Lydia’s crisis, for her to trust him enough to say yes.

Spoilers follow for chapters 34–61 of Jane Austen’s novel, including both proposals and the ending.

Darcy proposes in Kent, and Elizabeth refuses (chapter 34)

Elizabeth is visiting Charlotte Collins in Kent when Colonel Fitzwilliam mentions that Darcy recently saved a friend from what he considered an imprudent marriage. Elizabeth realizes the friend must be Bingley. She has been reading Jane’s letters and can see how unhappy her sister is, even though Jane never complains outright. When Darcy calls on Elizabeth at the parsonage that evening, she has a fresh reason to be furious with him.

Darcy tells Elizabeth he loves her, then dwells on the social objections he has had to overcome to offer marriage. From his side, admitting those objections shows how strong his feelings are. From hers, he is asking her to accept a man who thinks he is making a sacrifice by marrying her. She confronts him about Jane and Bingley and about Wickham’s claim that Darcy deprived him of a living in the church. Before he leaves, she tells him that he could have spared her some pain had he behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner. Darcy will remember that sentence long after the sting of the refusal.

Darcy’s letter makes Elizabeth question her judgment (chapters 35–36)

Darcy hands Elizabeth a letter the next morning. He addresses her two accusations separately.

• Jane and Bingley. Darcy admits that he encouraged Bingley to give up Jane. He thought Bingley was more attached than Jane was because she showed so little of what she felt. He also objected to the public behavior of several members of her family. He admits that he helped conceal Jane’s presence in London from Bingley.
• Wickham. According to Darcy, Wickham accepted money in place of the church living and later asked for the position anyway. Darcy refused. Wickham then tried to elope with Darcy’s fifteen-year-old sister, Georgiana, who had a fortune of £30,000. She told her brother before the plan went ahead. Darcy points Elizabeth to Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgiana’s other guardian, as someone who can corroborate his account.

Elizabeth initially resists the letter. As she rereads it, she remembers that Wickham avoided Darcy at the Netherfield ball after saying he had no reason to avoid him. She also realizes how readily she believed a man who flattered her and gave her a reason to dislike someone who had slighted her. Her conclusion, “Till this moment I never knew myself,” is about her own judgment. She can still object to Darcy’s interference with Jane while admitting how badly she misread Wickham.

At Pemberley, Darcy gives Elizabeth a reason to believe he listened (chapters 43–45)

Elizabeth agrees to tour Pemberley with her aunt and uncle Gardiner because she thinks Darcy is away. His housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, describes a generous brother and considerate landlord. Her account surprises Elizabeth because it comes from someone who has known him since childhood and sees him in circumstances Elizabeth never has.

When Darcy arrives unexpectedly, he greets Elizabeth and treats the Gardiners with warmth. He invites Mr. Gardiner to fish and asks if he can introduce Elizabeth to Georgiana. The estate is impressive, but the encounter with the Gardiners tells Elizabeth something the tour cannot. At the parsonage, Darcy made her relatives sound like a burden he would have to accept. At Pemberley, he seeks out their company. Elizabeth can see the difference in how he behaves when he has every reason to expect an awkward encounter.

Lydia’s elopement shows what Darcy does in private (chapters 46–52)

Letters from Jane bring Elizabeth news that Lydia has run off with Wickham. The family soon learns that the couple has gone to London and that Wickham has no intention of marrying Lydia without financial inducement. Elizabeth tells Darcy about the elopement and assumes it has ended any chance of his wanting to marry into her family.

Instead, Darcy tracks them down, settles Wickham’s debts, provides money for Lydia, and purchases Wickham a commission. Mr. Gardiner appears to have arranged the settlement. Elizabeth learns who actually paid after Lydia lets slip that Darcy attended the wedding and Mrs. Gardiner fills in the details by letter. Darcy had no reason to expect Elizabeth would learn what he did. That makes his conduct here especially persuasive after a first proposal in which he told her at length what marrying her would cost him socially.

Lady Catherine gives Darcy reason to ask again (chapters 56–61)

By the time Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits Longbourn, Bingley has returned and proposed to Jane. Lady Catherine has heard that Darcy may marry Elizabeth and demands a promise that Elizabeth will never accept him. Elizabeth refuses to give it. When Lady Catherine reports the conversation to Darcy, hoping to put him off, he takes Elizabeth’s refusal as reason to hope her feelings have changed.

Elizabeth thanks Darcy for helping Lydia. Darcy tells her that his feelings are unchanged and makes clear that if hers are the same as they were in Kent, he will drop the subject. This time she tells him that her feelings have changed, and they become engaged. In their conversation afterward, Darcy admits how much her criticism of his manners affected him. He also explains that he told Bingley about Jane’s feelings and admitted that he had concealed her presence in London.

The two proposals are worth reading side by side. In Kent, Darcy expects Elizabeth to accept him and is astonished when she tells him what she thinks. Near the end, he asks in a way that leaves her free to refuse, and she can answer without having to defend her family or her right to decide. Austen lets us see Elizabeth revise her opinion in stages. The letter gives her reason to doubt her first impression. The way Darcy treats people afterward gives her reason to change it.

For a broader look at Austen’s comedy of manners and why it still reads so well, see our Pride and Prejudice book review.

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The full text is available through Project Gutenberg. For a print edition with an introduction and notes by Vivien Jones, see the

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