Below is a synopsis of the show. You've been warned.
Mrs. Bennet is determined to see her daughters married. This is a practical concern–since women can’t inherit land, when Mr. Bennet dies, the Bennet home will go to a distant cousin, leaving the girls homeless and destitute. Still, this does not make Mrs. Bennet’s prodding and methods of husband-catching any less mortifying for her daughters, particularly the smart and stubborn Lizzy, who has no interest in marrying at all. Lizzy goes so far as to turn down a proposal by the distant cousin, even though it directly hurts her family. She simply can’t risk being unhappy for a lifetime, as she sees her parents doing.
While her mother does everything she can to set up Lizzy’s gentle older sister Jane with the sweet (and wealthy) Bingley, Lizzy is forced to interact with Mr. Darcy, a gravely serious man that Lizzy finds to be unbearably proud. Darcy, in turn, finds Lizzy completely prejudiced against him, although he comes to appreciate her wit and intelligence. The two still clash, particularly when Lizzy meets Lt. Wickham, an old acquaintance of Dacy’s that says Darcy denied him his inheritance. Lizzy can find nothing redeemable about Darcy then, a position that only worsens when Bingley unexpectedly moves back to London, and Lizzy learns Darcy played a direct role in it.
While visiting her newly-married friend Charlotte, Lizzy meets Darcy again and confronts him about Wickham and Jane’s unhappiness when Darcy unexpectedly declares he has feelings for her. Lizzy is surprised to learn Wickham was denied his inheritance only after he’d tried to seduce Darcy’s very young sister, and that he encouraged Bingley to leave when it seemed Jane didn’t care about him. Lizzy corrects Darcy’s assumptions about Jane–she likes Bingley very much, she’s just shy and proper. Both humbled, they still part ways badly with Lizzy declaring she could never marry a man such as Darcy, and Darcy promising to never whisper a romantic word around her again. Lizzy remains upset with Darcy’s presumptions until she talks it over with Charlotte, who helps her see she’s been unfair to Darcy.
Lizzy’s visit to Charlotte is cut short when word comes that her youngest sister, the boy-crazy Lydia, has run off with Wickham. Darcy is the one who tracks the pair down and pays Wickham to marry Lydia, saving her reputation. He also brings Bingley to the Bennet home, allowing Jane to finally express her feelings, and the two become engaged.
Lizzy is deeply moved by all of Darcy’s actions and finally sees all the good in him, as he sees in her. Perhaps she was too quick to say she would never marry. Still she is uncertain of their future together; his aunt does not approve of her, her family is ridiculous, and it can be so hard to know oneself, let alone another person. Darcy encourages her to let all of that go and dance with them. And so they dance and kiss.
