When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy she thinks him arrogant & conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks & lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley & her beloved sister Jane she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions & superbly evokes the friendships gossip & snobberies of provincial middle-class life.