A Comedy Don Pedro and his soldiers return from war, covered in glory, stopping at Signior Leonato's in Messina. Count Claudio, Don Pedro's lieutenant, has fallen in love with Hero and begs Don Pedro to arrange the marriage with Leonato, Hero's father. Beatrice and Benedick, hurt from a previous relationship together, swear to remain single all their lives. Their friends conspire to bring them together. Don John, Don Pedro's illegitimate brother, seeks to disrupt all. Uploaded from Gutenberg.org.

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.