Pride and Prejudice

The Bennet Family consists of five daughters. The elder of the girls, Jane and Elizabeth, are intelligent, rational young women; The younger daughters, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, are thoughtless and silly. Mr Bennet himself is an aloof father watching rather than guiding his daughters. Mrs Bennet is as foolish as her younger children. The novel opens with Mrs Bennet trying to persuade Mr Bennet to visit an eligible bachelor, Mr Bingley, who has arrived in the neighborhood. After some verbal sparring with Mr Bennet baiting his wife, it transpires that this visit has taken place at Netherfield (Mr Bingley's rented house). The visit is proceeded by an invitation to a ball at the local assembly rooms that the whole neighborhood will attend.