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Literatura Inglesa I (Novela)
2º Grado en Estudios Ingleses
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Universidad de Málaga
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No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad.
Literatura Inglesa. Novela 1
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen was born in 1775 in New Hampshire, but lived in Bath most of her life; and died in 1817. She
was the Daughter of a rector. And remained unmarried.
Pride and Prejudice was one of the novels written by Jane Austen (1775-1817). Jane Austen reflects in this
novel focus on feelings and inner life, but is not Romantic. Also she pays attention to objectivity and reality,
but is not Realism.
Jane Austen’s novels:

-‘Sense and sensibility, rewriting of ‘Elinor and Marianne’ (1811)
-‘Pride and Prejudice’, rewriting of ‘First impressions’ (1813)
-‘Mansfield Park’ (1814)
-‘Emma’ (1816)
-Northanger Abbey (1818)- the first work in order of composition, rewriting of Lady Susan (written in 1793-4
and published in 1871).
-Persuasion (1818)- the last novel she completed.
-Sandition (1925)- left unfinished.
We can notice about these facts in Lizzy Bennet’s charcacter, for example. She has a neoclassical spirit
(walking to Netherfield) which is improper of a lady in that time because of social clases and conventios of
the time. Buy she also has a natural way of acting which is typical of the Romantic period.
Main differences between Neoclassicism and Romantiscism:
a) Neoclassical:
-Tradition
- Rules
- Society
- Education
a) Romantic:
- Innovation, French Revolution
- Spontaniety
- The individual
- Feelings (inspired by Nature)
DATA SHEET
Full title: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen
Type of work: Novel
Genre: Comedy of manners
Language: English
Time and place written: England, between 1796 and 1813
Date of first publication: 1813
Publisher: Thomas Egerton of London
Narrator: Third-person omniscient.
The narration typically stays with Elizabeth, although it occasionally offers us information that
Elizabeth isn't aware of (like Charlotte's pursuit of Mr. Collins). This third person view lends a cold
dimension to the novel, in the sense that dialogue, opinions, ideas, and events dominate the story
rather than emotions. Elizabeth is the exception to this rule—Chapter 36, for example, is devoted
entirely to her emotional transformation following her receipt of Darcy's letter. In contrast, even
though we do often get to hear the thoughts of others, it's usually in shorter, less complex bursts.
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Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad.
Pride and Prejudice
Climax: Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth (Volume 3, Chapter 16)

Protagonist: Elizabeth Bennet
Antagonist: Snobbish class-consciousness (epitomized by Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Miss Bingley)
Setting (time): Some point during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815)S
Setting (place): Longbourn, in rural England
Point of view: The novel is primarily told from Elizabeth Bennet’s point of view.
Falling action: The two chapters of the novel after Darcy’s proposal
Tense: Past tense
Foreshadowing: The only notable example of foreshadowing occurs when Elizabeth visits Pemberley,
Darcy’s estate, in Volume 3, Chapter 1. Her appreciation of the estate foreshadows her eventual realization
of her love for its owner.
Tone: Comic—or, in Jane Austen’s own words, “light and bright, and sparkling”
SUMMARY
The news that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the manor of Netherfield Park
causes a great stir in the nearby village of Longbourn, especially in the Bennet household. The Bennets have
five unmarried daughters—from oldest to youngest, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia—and Mrs. Bennet
is desperate to see them all married. After Mr. Bennet pays a social visit to Mr. Bingley, the Bennets attend a
ball at which Mr. Bingley is present. He is taken with Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with
her. His close friend, Mr. Darcy, is less pleased with the evening and haughtily refuses to dance with
Elizabeth, which makes everyone view him as arrogant and obnoxious.
At social functions over subsequent weeks, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself increasingly attracted to
Elizabeth’s charm and intelligence. Jane’s friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to burgeon, and Jane
pays a visit to the Bingley mansion. On her journey to the house she is caught in a downpour and catches ill,
forcing her to stay at Netherfield for several days. In order to tend to Jane, Elizabeth hikes through muddy
fields and arrives with a spattered dress, much to the disdain of the snobbish Miss Bingley, Charles Bingley’s
sister. Miss Bingley’s spite only increases when she notices that Darcy, whom she is pursuing, pays quite a bit
of attention to Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth and Jane return home, they find Mr. Collins visiting their household. Mr. Collins is a young
clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property, which has been “entailed,” meaning that it can only
be passed down to male heirs. Mr. Collins is a pompous fool, though he is quite enthralled by the Bennet
girls. Shortly after his arrival, he makes a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. She turns him down, wounding his
pride. Meanwhile, the Bennet girls have become friendly with militia officers stationed in a nearby town.
Among them is Wickham, a handsome young soldier who is friendly toward Elizabeth and tells her how
Darcy cruelly cheated him out of an inheritance.
At the beginning of winter, the Bingleys and Darcy leave Netherfield and return to London, much to Jane’s
dismay. A further shock arrives with the news that Mr. Collins has become engaged to Charlotte Lucas,
Elizabeth’s best friend and the poor daughter of a local knight. Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she is
getting older and needs the match for financial reasons. Charlotte and Mr. Collins get married and
Elizabeth promises to visit them at their new home. As winter progresses, Jane visits the city to see friends
(hoping also that she might see Mr. Bingley). However, Miss Bingley visits her and behaves rudely, while Mr.
Bingley fails to visit her at all. The marriage prospects for the Bennet girls appear bleak.
That spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte, who now lives near the home of Mr. Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine
de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose
presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. One day, he
makes a shocking proposal of marriage, which Elizabeth quickly refuses. She tells Darcy that she considers
him arrogant and unpleasant, then scolds him for steering Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting
Wickham. Darcy leaves her but shortly thereafter delivers a letter to her. In this letter, he admits that he
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Pride and Prejudice
urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane, but claims he did so only because he thought their romance
was not serious. As for Wickham, he informs Elizabeth that the young officer is a liar and that the real cause
of their disagreement was Wickham’s attempt to elope with his young sister, Georgiana Darcy.
This letter causes Elizabeth to reevaluate her feelings about Darcy. She returns home and acts coldly toward
Wickham. The militia is leaving town, which makes the younger, rather man-crazy Bennet girls distraught.
Lydia manages to obtain permission from her father to spend the summer with an old colonel in Brighton,
where Wickham’s regiment will be stationed. With the arrival of June, Elizabeth goes on another journey, this
time with the Gardiners, who are relatives of the Bennets. The trip takes her to the North and eventually to
the neighborhood of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate. She visits Pemberley, after making sure that Darcy is away,
and delights in the building and grounds, while hearing from Darcy’s servants that he is a wonderful,
generous master. Suddenly, Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his
proposal, he entertains the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister.
Shortly thereafter, however, a letter arrives from home, telling Elizabeth that Lydia has eloped with Wickham
and that the couple is nowhere to be found, which suggests that they may be living together out of
wedlock. Fearful of the disgrace such a situation would bring on her entire family, Elizabeth hastens home.
Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet go off to search for Lydia, but Mr. Bennet eventually returns home empty-
handed. Just when all hope seems lost, a letter comes from Mr. Gardiner saying that the couple has been
found and that Wickham has agreed to marry Lydia in exchange for an annual income. The Bennets are
convinced that Mr. Gardiner has paid off Wickham, but Elizabeth learns that the source of the money, and
of her family’s salvation, was none other than Darcy.
Now married, Wickham and Lydia return to Longbourn briefly, where Mr. Bennet treats them coldly. They
then depart for Wickham’s new assignment in the North of England. Shortly thereafter, Bingley returns to
Netherfield and resumes his courtship of Jane. Darcy goes to stay with him and pays visits to the Bennets but
makes no mention of his desire to marry Elizabeth. Bingley, on the other hand, presses his suit and proposes
to Jane, to the delight of everyone but Bingley’s haughty sister. While the family celebrates, Lady Catherine
de Bourgh pays a visit to Longbourn. She corners Elizabeth and says that she has heard that Darcy, her
nephew, is planning to marry her. Since she considers a Bennet an unsuitable match for a Darcy, Lady
Catherine demands that Elizabeth promise to refuse him. Elizabeth spiritedly refuses, saying she is not
engaged to Darcy, but she will not promise anything against her own happiness. A little later, Elizabeth and
Darcy go out walking together and he tells her that his feelings have not altered since the spring. She
tenderly accepts his proposal, and both Jane and Elizabeth are married.
CHARACTER LIST
Elizabeth Bennet - The novel’s protagonist. The second daughter of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth is the most
intelligent and sensible of the five Bennet sisters. She is well read and quick-witted, with a tongue that
occasionally proves too sharp for her own good. Her realization of Darcy’s essential goodness eventually
triumphs over her initial prejudice against him.
Fitzwilliam Darcy - A wealthy gentleman, the master of Pemberley, and the nephew of Lady Catherine de
Bourgh. Though Darcy is intelligent and honest, his excess of pride causes him to look down on his social
inferiors. Over the course of the novel, he tempers his class-consciousness and learns to admire and love
Elizabeth for her strong character.
Jane Bennet - The eldest and most beautiful Bennet sister. Jane is more reserved and gentler than Elizabeth.
The easy pleasantness with which she and Bingley interact contrasts starkly with the mutual distaste that
marks the encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy.
Charles Bingley - Darcy’s considerably wealthy best friend. Bingley’s purchase of Netherfield, an estate near
the Bennets, serves as the impetus for the novel. He is a genial, well-intentioned gentleman, whose easy-

Pride and Prejudice
going nature contrasts with Darcy’s initially discourteous demeanour. He is blissfully uncaring about class
differences. (Read an in-depth analysis of Charles Bingley).
Mr. Bennet - The patriarch of the Bennet family, a gentleman of modest income with five unmarried
daughters. Mr. Bennet has a sarcastic, cynical sense of humour that he uses to purposefully irritate his wife.
Though he loves his daughters (Elizabeth in particular), he often fails as a parent, preferring to withdraw from
the never-ending marriage concerns of the women around him rather than offer help. (Read an in-depth
analysis of Mr. Bennet).
Mrs. Bennet - Mr. Bennet’s wife, a foolish, noisy woman whose only goal in life is to see her daughters
married. Because of her low breeding and often unbecoming behaviour, Mrs. Bennet often repels the very
suitors whom she tries to attract for her daughters. (Read an in-depth analysis of Mrs. Bennet).
George Wickham - A handsome, fortune-hunting militia officer. Wickham’s good looks and charm attract
Elizabeth initially, but Darcy’s revelation about Wickham’s disreputable past clues her in to his true nature
and simultaneously draws her closer to Darcy.
Lydia Bennet - The youngest Bennet sister, she is gossipy, immature, and self-involved. Unlike Elizabeth, Lydia
flings herself headlong into romance and ends up running off with Wickham.
Mr. Collins - A pompous, generally idiotic clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property. Mr. Collins’s
own social status is nothing to brag about, but he takes great pains to let everyone and anyone know that
Lady Catherine de Bourgh serves as his patroness. He is the worst combination of snobbish and obsequious.
Miss Bingley - Bingley’s snobbish sister. Miss Bingley bears inordinate disdain for Elizabeth’s middle-class
background. Her vain attempts to garner Darcy’s attention cause Darcy to admire Elizabeth’s self-
possessed character even more.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh - A rich, bossy noblewoman; Mr. Collins’s patron and Darcy’s aunt. Lady
Catherine epitomizes class snobbery, especially in her attempts to order the middle-class Elizabeth away
from her well-bred nephew.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner - Mrs. Bennet’s brother and his wife. The Gardiners, caring, nurturing, and full of
common sense, often prove to be better parents to the Bennet daughters than Mr. Bennet and his wife.
Charlotte Lucas - Elizabeth’s dear friend. Pragmatic where Elizabeth is romantic, and also six years older
than Elizabeth, Charlotte does not view love as the most vital component of a marriage. She is more
interested in having a comfortable home. Thus, when Mr. Collins proposes, she accepts.
Georgiana Darcy - Darcy’s sister. She is immensely pretty and just as shy. She has great skill at playing the
pianoforte.
Mary Bennet - The middle Bennet sister, bookish and pedantic.
Catherine (Kate) Bennet - The fourth Bennet sister. Like Lydia, she is girlishly enthralled with the soldiers.
ANALYSIS: MAIN CHARACTERS
Elizabeth Bennet: Intelligent, Mr. Bennet’s favourite daughter. She has insight, (can recognise how people
really are). She’s not a slave of social conventions. She knows what is right and what is not. Very clear moral
sense. She’s a pretty girl. Lizzy’s beauty is more natural tan Jane’s. Darcy feels attracted for her affectional
character and sense of humour. She’s observant as well, she’s aware of her family’s defects. Lizzy feels
proud of her insight anyway. Both characters are guilty for both pride and prejudice. The second daughter
in the Bennet family, and the most intelligent and quick-witted, Elizabeth is the protagonist of Pride and
Prejudice and one of the most well-known female characters in English literature. Her admirable qualities
are numerous—she is lovely, clever, and, in a novel defined by dialogue, she converses as brilliantly as

Pride and Prejudice
anyone. Her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behaviour that
pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society. Nevertheless, her sharp tongue and tendency to make
hasty judgments often lead her astray; Pride and Prejudice is essentially the story of how she (and her true
love, Darcy) overcome all obstacles—including their own personal failings—to find romantic happiness.
Elizabeth must not only cope with a hopeless mother, a distant father, two badly behaved younger siblings,
and several snobbish, antagonizing females, she must also overcome her own mistaken impressions of
Darcy, which initially lead her to reject his proposals of marriage. Her charms are sufficient to keep him
interested, fortunately, while she navigates familial and social turmoil. As she gradually comes to recognize
the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him. After Lizzy reads
the letter in which Darcy explains the Wickham situation, she spends a lot of time berating herself for her
actions (36.18-19). Notice that sentence at the end, "'Till this moment I never knew myself"? That's some
character growth, right there. Lizzy is admitting that she was "prejudiced" (ahem, title alert): she let
Wickham's pretty face and charming manners make up for the fact that he behaved totally
inappropriately, and she let Darcy's bad manners—which, admittedly, were pretty bad—convince her that
he was actually a bad person. In fact, the whole second half of the novel is full of these moments of self-
revelation
 Elizabeth Bennet’s timeline:

Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy and it's love at first sight.
While taking care of Jane at Netherfield, Elizabeth manages to make Miss Bingley jealous and Darcy
fall in love with her, all without lifting a finger.
Lizzy meets Wickham and finds him charming, so she immediately believes him when he says that
Darcy refused to give Wickham the inheritance he deserved and left him penniless with no means to
support himself.
Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins' proposal of marriage. Emphatically. Several times. So, she's shocked and
horrified when Charlotte accepts a proposal from Mr. Collins. Still, she visits the Collinses after
Charlotte's married and meets Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is Darcy's aunt. And Darcy's there!
The two engage in some verbal sparring, and Darcy, obviously, proposes. Elizabeth says ‘no’.
The next morning, Darcy hands her a letter. When Lizzy reads it, she realizes she was horribly mistaken
about him and about Wickham. Elizabeth begins traveling with her only normal relations: the
Gardiners. They check out the sweet house and grounds at Pemberley (Darcy's estate), and
Elizabeth accidentally bumps into Darcy. Surprisingly, he's actually kind of … pleasant. And he's got
that really nice house.
But soon, tragedy strikes: Lydia has run off with Wickham (she became a fallen women). Luckily,
Wickham and Lydia end up married, so the family's reputation is saved.
Elizabeth learns that Darcy is responsible for paying Wickham off and forcing him to marry Lydia.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits and threatens to stop any possible engagement between Darcy
and Elizabeth. Darcy and Elizabeth get engaged anyway.
Mr. Darcy: Shy and reserved man. He keeps his distances from lower class people, is a way of protecting
himself from people who try to do a fool of him. He feels superior in order to not to be annoyed by ordinary
people (ex. Mrs. Bennet). He’s very different from Bingley, but they’re friends. The son of a wealthy, well-
established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley, Darcy is Elizabeth’s male counterpart.
The narrator relates Elizabeth’s point of view of events more often than Darcy’s, so Elizabeth often seems a
more sympathetic figure. The reader eventually realizes, however, that Darcy is her ideal match. Intelligent
and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make
him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. Indeed, his haughtiness makes him initially bungle
his courtship. When he proposes to her, for instance, he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she is than
on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary. Her rejection of his advances builds a kind of
humility in him. Darcy demonstrates his continued devotion to Elizabeth, in spite of his distaste for her low
connections, when he rescues Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace, and when he goes against
Pride and Prejudice
the wishes of his haughty aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, by continuing to pursue Elizabeth. Darcy proves
himself worthy of Elizabeth, and she ends up repenting her earlier, overly harsh judgment of him.
 Mr Darcy timeline:
Mr. Darcy slights Elizabeth, saying he won't dance with a woman that other men reject.
Mr. Darcy makes himself odious to the entire village, to the Bennet family as a whole, and especially
to Elizabeth Bennet. He begins to admire Elizabeth more and more. Due to his consciousness of his
position in life in comparison to hers, he tries to avoid her.
Finding himself constantly in Elizabeth's company when she visits her friend Charlotte, he finally
cannot bear it any longer and proposes. It's clear that he expects her to accept, but Elizabeth says
"no" very emphatically, with lots of accusations.
Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth explaining his actions. First, he says he steered Mr. Bingley away
from Jane because he believed Jane did not love him, and because the actions of Elizabeth's
family were boorish. Second, he explains that he did not cheat Mr. Wickham out of his inheritance;
rather, Mr. Wickham squandered the money that Mr. Darcy gave him and tried to seduce his little
sister.
Mr. Darcy is pleasant and inviting when he meets Elizabeth and the Gardiners on his estate,
Pemberley. He introduces Elizabeth to his little sister. His entire character and manner have
changed. He secretly arranges to pay for Mr. Wickham's debts and bribes him to marry Lydia
Bennet. Mr. Darcy comes back to visit the Bennets with his friend Mr. Bingley and, finding that
Elizabeth has learned to love him, he proposes for a second time and she accepts.
Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley: Elizabeth’s beautiful elder sister and Darcy’s wealthy best friend, Jane
and Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies a central place in the novel. They first meet at the ball in
Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual attraction. They are spoken of as a potential couple throughout
the book, long before anyone imagines that Darcy and Elizabeth might marry. Despite their centrality to the
narrative, they are vague characters, sketched by Austen rather than carefully drawn. Indeed, they are so
similar in nature and behaviour that they can be described together: both are cheerful, friendly, and good-
natured, always ready to think the best of others; they lack entirely the prickly egotism of Elizabeth and
Darcy. Jane’s gentle spirit serves as a foil for her sister’s fiery, contentious nature, while Bingley’s eager
friendliness contrasts with Darcy’s stiff pride. Their principal characteristics are goodwill and compatibility,
and the contrast of their romance with that of Darcy and Elizabeth is remarkable. Jane and Bingley exhibit
to the reader true love unhampered by either pride or prejudice, though in their simple goodness, they also
demonstrate that such a love is mildly dull.
Mr. Bennet: Mr. Bennet is the husband of Mrs. Bennet and the father of Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Kitty, and
Mary. He is a man driven to exasperation by his ridiculous wife and difficult daughters. He reacts by
withdrawing from his family and assuming a detached attitude punctuated by bursts of sarcastic humour.
He is closest to Elizabeth because they are the two most intelligent Bennets. Initially, his dry wit and self-
possession in the face of his wife’s hysteria make him a sympathetic figure, but, though he remains likable
throughout, the reader gradually loses respect for him as it becomes clear that the price of his detachment
is considerable. Detached from his family, he is a weak father and, at critical moments, fails his family. In
particular, his foolish indulgence of Lydia’s immature behaviour nearly leads to general disgrace when she
elopes with Wickham. Further, upon her disappearance, he proves largely ineffective. It is left to Mr.
Gardiner and Darcy to track Lydia down and rectify the situation. Ultimately, Mr. Bennet would rather
withdraw from the world than cope with it.
Mrs. Bennet: Mrs. Bennet is a miraculously tiresome character. Noisy and foolish, she is a woman consumed
by the desire to see her daughters married and seems to care for nothing else in the world. Ironically, her
single-minded pursuit of this goal tends to backfire, as her lack of social graces alienates the very people
(Darcy and Bingley) whom she tries desperately to attract. Austen uses her continually to highlight the
necessity of marriage for young women. Mrs. Bennet also serves as a middle-class counterpoint to such

Pride and Prejudice
upper-class snobs as Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley, demonstrating that foolishness can be found at every
level of society. In the end, however, Mrs. Bennet proves such an unattractive figure, lacking redeeming
characteristics of any kind, that some readers have accused Austen of unfairness in portraying her—as if
Austen, like Mr. Bennet, took perverse pleasure in poking fun at a woman already scorned as a result of her
ill breeding.
George Wickham: A seemingly perfect gentleman from a poor family, Wickham turns out to be the Bennet
family's worst nightmare.
If Darcy's deal is learning to be a gentleman on the outside and not just the inside, then Wickham is the total
reverse of that. He is super-charming, really good-looking, great to be with, and generally delightful to all
the senses. We're pretty sure he smells nice, too. Anyway, it's no wonder that she immediately believes
everything he says, like that Darcy is a no-good jerk. It's only after Darcy himself has cleared his own
character and pointed out that Wickham isn't quite the angel he seemed that she realizes he's been taken
in. In retrospect, Wickham's manners were actually, well, kind of bad (36.5) In other words, he's a liar, a
coward, and a conman. Gee. We almost feel sorry for Lydia.
 Mr Wickham’s timeline:
Mr. Wickham arrives in Meryton with his regiment. He entertains Elizabeth with stories about the
despicable Mr. Darcy, who denied him his rightful inheritance and made him a penniless beggar
who had to join the military for his living. Mr. Wickham charms the entire town of Meryton. After Mr.
Darcy leaves the neighborhood, he spreads his sob story about Darcy's cruelty far and wide.
Elizabeth learns that Mr. Wickham had tried to seduce Mr. Darcy's fifteen-year-old sister the summer
before. He is nervous to learn that Elizabeth spent time with Mr. Darcy while she was visiting Mr. and
Mrs. Collins. Mr. Wickham and Lydia run off together. Mr. Darcy bribes Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia.
Mr. Wickham and Lydia visit Longbourn before they leave for the north, where he is now stationed.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FOR BOTH LIZZY AND DARCY
Darcy’s proud of his social rank and his family connections. He looks down on other people of lower social
class. Lizzy’s pride is more personal, meanwhile Darcy’s more social.
Anyway, personal pride is more dangerous (appears clearly in the novel) because Darcy’s the first who
changes his opinion and his way of acting. He’s aware of his pride; he thinks pride is good and necessary.
He feels it is a kind of protection.
Lizzy becomes aware of her pride after Reading the letter and realizes she was wrong about Darcy. Darcy’s
a loyal man and a good friend. He’s a kind person with his relatives and workers (ex. Darcy’s sister,
Georgiana). Lizzy can’t really see through him until she reads the letter.
STYLE IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
The narrator is influenced by Lizzy’s thoughts and emotions.
-Diction: type of vocabulary used in the novel. The narrator uses abstract words, very few references to
sensorial sensations. There are no physical descriptions; temperament and personality of characters are
more likely to be described along the story.
There are very Little figurative language, it only refers to ‘blindness’ in a moral term (Lizzy’s pride don’t allow
her to look through Darcy and see him as he really is).
The style is formal, elegant and educated. Passive and informal forms of language are mainly used by the
author.

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Idea of balance: Jane Austen tries to create sentences with balance, syntactical structures are repeated
(SYMETRY).
Ex. pag. 274 Mary talking about Lydia (who had run away with Wickham) in a very cold, moral way, as
she wasn’t a member of her family, her own sister. She uses balanced sentences, structured sentences in
four parts, but the message is the same (Mary speaks a lot but says very little).
This fragment is part of an oral conversation. The language is perfectly used with each character.
Example Mary is identified with art, in a negative way. She’s acquired her own personality.
However. Lydia is identified with nature, she follows her emotions and attractions and speak as things come
to her mind.
Lydia’s speech explains a lot of her personality. She doesn’t think about consequences. She’s immature,
selfish and immoral. Her speech is full of colloquialism, informal. She uses lots of exclamations and simple
structures, often ungrammatical. She doesn’t behave as a proper lady. She’s a good example of
hyperbolic character.
On the other hand, we have Elizabeth and Darcy. They have an educated and formal way of talking and
behaving, but they’re not that emotional.
We could say they’re in the middle, they’re balanced characters. They are able to use a great variety of
vocabulary; they talk in a very fluid way when they have to give reasons or in order to express themselves.
They also tend to use generalisations. Darcy’s, for example, never uses his sense of humour or irony in the
way Lizzy does.
In Jane Austen’s style, the education depends on the social level of the family and the importance that
family gives to education. Not just at school but at home too (only for men, women weren’t able to be
educated as men did). Women just had basic notions of language and maths, maybe music but not as
much as men.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE THEMES
LOVE
There are a lot of marriages, but not much love to go around. That's because most marriages are based
either on economic necessity or on lust—and economic necessity might be a slightly better reason for
marrying than lust, but it's still mediocre at best. Romantic love is a privilege that most people never earn.
And we do mean earn: love is an emotion available only to intelligent, mature adults. It's the crowning
achievement of a good character. Of the entire Bennet family, only Jane and Elizabeth are capable of true
romantic love.
Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in English literature: the courtship
between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous
stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride
makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s
poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. (Of course, one could also say that Elizabeth
is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride—the title cuts both ways.)
Austen, meanwhile, poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and
Darcy, including Lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingley’s snobbery, Mrs. Bennet’s
idiocy, and Wickham’s deceit. In each case, anxieties about social connections, or the desire for better
social connections, interfere with the workings of love. Darcy and Elizabeth’s realization of a mutual and
tender love seems to imply that Austen views love as something independent of these social forces, as

Pride and Prejudice
something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of hierarchical
society. Austen does sound some more realist (or, one could say, cynical) notes about love, using the
character of Charlotte Lucas, who marries the buffoon Mr. Collins for his money, to demonstrate that the
heart does not always dictate marriage. Yet with her central characters, Austen suggests that true love is a
force separate from society and one that can conquer even the most difficult of circumstances
Love’s quotations
- It sounds like someone (Mr. Darcy) has a little crush on Lizzy. What, exactly, does he like about her?
Her "intelligent" expression; her "light and pleasing" figure; and the "easy playfulness" of her
manners—in other words, her brains, her body, and her personality. That's the full package, and
that's one way we know this marriage is going to last.
But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face,
than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To
this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more
than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and
pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught
by their easy playfulness’. (6. P24)
- Lizzy is trying to convince Jane that Bingley really does love her, but Miss Bingley is trying to keep
them apart. Notice Austen uses "affection" almost as a synonym for "love." We usually think of
"affection" as a pretty mild emotion, but does it mean something stronger for Austen
"Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me. No one who has ever seen you together can doubt his affection. Miss
Bingley, I am sure, cannot. She is not such a simpleton. Could she have seen half as much love in Mr. Darcy for
herself, she would have ordered her wedding clothes. But the case is this: We are not rich enough or grand
enough for them" (21.18)
- Here, Charlotte is accepting Mr. Collins. Obviously, this passage is dripping with sarcasm: "in as short
a time as Mr. Collins' long speeches with allow," "the lady felt no inclination to trifle with his
happiness," the "pure and disinterested desire of an establishment"—. But what really grabs our
attention is that phrase "pure and disinterested." On the one hand, this is heavy irony: Charlotte's
desire to have her own home is the exact opposite of pure and disinterested (meaning "not
influenced by personal advantage"). On the other hand, "love" is pretty much the pinnacle of being
"interested"—i.e., having a personal investment in something or someone. So, by not being in love
with Collins, Charlotte is being disinterested—but not uninterested. Charlotte is practical in order to
status and money.
‘In as short a time as Mr. Collins' long speeches would allow, everything was settled between them to the
satisfaction of both; and as they entered the house he earnestly entreated her to name the day that was to
make him the happiest of men; and though such a solicitation must be waived for the present, the lady felt no
inclination to trifle with his happiness. The stupidity with which he was favoured by nature must guard his
courtship from any charm that could make a woman wish for its continuance; and Miss Lucas, who accepted
him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment, cared not how soon that establishment
were gained’. (22. P120)
- This passage demonstrates Elizabeth's idealism—one should marry out of love and respect, not for
material comfort. Luckily Elizabeth gets her wish in the form of Darcy. But in addition to love, she also
bags the richest guy in the book. Lizzy is practical in order to pursuit her happiness.
‘Elizabeth quietly answered "Undoubtedly;" and after an awkward pause, they returned to the rest of the family.
Charlotte did not stay much longer, and Elizabeth was then left to reflect on what she had heard. It was a long
time before she became at all reconciled to the idea of so unsuitable a match. The strangeness of Mr. Collins'
making two offers of marriage within three days was nothing in comparison of his being now accepted. She
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had always felt that Charlotte's opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own, but she had not supposed it
to be possible that, when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly
advantage. Charlotte the wife of Mr. Collins was a most humiliating picture! And to the pang of a friend
disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that
friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen’. (22. P123)
MARRIAGE
In the early nineteenth century (and in most parts of most centuries in most parts of the world), marriage was
the only option for respectable young women. There was no such thing as moving out of your parents'
house, no such thing as building a career in your twenties and worrying about marriage later and
(importantly) no such thing as divorce, except in really extreme, unusual circumstances. (How extreme?
Divorce required an act of Parliament—like having the Senate vote on whether or not you could break up.)
Marriage was literally the most important decision a woman could make. It could ruin you (Lydia, Mrs.
Bennet); set you up for life (Jane, Lizzy); or condemn you to a mediocre but independent existence
(Charlotte).
There are four types of marriage: economical, love, status and passion.
Pride and Prejudice argues against the idea of love at first sight and suggests that the better kind of love
develops slowly. Although both Jane and Elizabeth have happy marriages, the narrator approves more of
Elizabeth's.
Marriage’s quotations
- Men may have had it a little easier than women when it came the whole marrying thing, since they
wouldn't be ruined without it. But they weren't supposed to stay swingin' singles forever, either. There
was a lot of social pressure on men with money and/ or estates to marry and have children—it was
their duty. Austen is bringing the snark here, but it works for a reason: it kind of was a universal truth
that rich, single men needed to marry.
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a
wife.’ (1. P5)
- For Charlotte, there's no "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Mr. Bingley pushing the
baby carriage." Instead, it's "First comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage"—and love is just a
bonus.
"Though Bingley and Jane meet tolerably often, it is never for many hours together; and, as they always see
each other in large mixed parties, it is impossible that every moment should be employed in conversing
together. Jane should therefore make the most of every half-hour in which she can command his attention.
When she is secure of him, there will be more leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses." (6.5-6)
- All is about Mr. Collins' felicity, and not about his prospective wife's.
"Pardon me for interrupting you, madam," cried Mr. Collins; "but if she is really headstrong and foolish, I know not
whether she would altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for
happiness in the marriage state. If therefore she actually persists in rejecting my suit, perhaps it were better not
to force her into accepting me, because if liable to such defects of temper, she could not contribute much to
my felicity." (20.P108)
- She's from an unhappy home, because her father married for all the wrong reasons: lust, i.e. youth
and beauty. And notice what's wrong with the marriage—there's no respect, esteem, or
confidence. Marriage isn't about undying love or great sex: it's about respecting and trusting your
partner. Marriage based on passion.

Pride and Prejudice
‘Had Elizabeth's opinion been all drawn from her own family, she could not have formed a very pleasing
opinion of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort. Her father, captivated by youth and beauty, and that
appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak
understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.
Respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever; and all his views of domestic happiness were
overthrown’. (42.P228)
WEALTH
Money makes the world go 'round, especially if you're a young woman trying to get married in Regency
England. The five Bennet daughters have almost no money, which means no way to entice men to marry
them and no way to support themselves after their father dies and their house in handed over to Mr. Collins.
So, was everyone in the early nineteenth century just out for money? Well, kind of. But can you blame
them? For men, there were very, very few paths to financial independence without either (1) inheriting or (2)
marrying money.
Some got rich in the army or through business, but that was super rare. For women, the options were even
more limited: inherit or marry. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennet girls are trying to marry for money because
they don't want to live on the early nineteenth-century equivalent of the streets.
Wealth’s quotations
- Lady Catherine likes to look socially superior to her guests. That's a bit vain.
"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that
elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I could advise you merely to put on
whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest—there is no occasion for anything more. Lady Catherine will not
think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved." (29.6)
- Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth is more about how he's losing class by proposing to her than it is about
he, you know, loves her.
He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed; and he was not more eloquent
on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family
obstacles which had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the
consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit. (34. P185)
- When so much revolves around class status, what one person does affects the whole family. When
Lydia runs off, she actually casts shame on her sisters.
"The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this. […] Howsoever that may be,
you are grievously to be pitied; in which opinion I am not only joined by Mrs. Collins, but likewise by Lady
Catherine and her daughter, to whom I have related the affair. They agree with me in apprehending that this
false step in one daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others; for who, as Lady Catherine herself
condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family" (48. P281-282)
- Lady Catherine has just come to tell her exactly why she's not worthy to marry Darcy, and Lizzy sums
up exactly why she is: "He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter." Sure, he has more money—
but her birth and character are just as good as him.
"In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a
gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal." (56.51)

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- Here's one reason to care about the family of the person you're marrying: they might constantly be
asking for money. But here we see how important marriage is to maintaining your class status.
Elizabeth is still a gentlewoman; Lydia, not so much. (If she ever was.)
- "MY DEAR LIZZY,
I wish you joy. If you love Mr. Darcy half as well as I do my dear Wickham, you must be very happy. It is a great
comfort to have you so rich, and when you have nothing else to do, I hope you will think of us. I am sure
Wickham would like a place at court very much, and I do not think we shall have quite money enough to live
upon without some help. Any place would do, of about three or four hundred a year; but however, do not
speak to Mr. Darcy about it, if you had rather not.
"Yours, etc." (61. P365)
REPUTATION
Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance. A woman
is expected to behave in certain ways. Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to
ostracism.
This theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and arrives with muddy skirts, to the
shock of the reputation-conscious Miss Bingley and her friends. At other points, the ill-mannered, ridiculous
behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined (and snobbish) Darcys and
Bingleys.
Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in these examples, but later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with
Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter. By
becoming Wickham’s lover without benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places herself outside the social pale,
and her disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family. The fact that Lydia’s judgment, however terrible, would
likely have condemned the other Bennet sisters to marriageless lives seems grossly unfair.
Why should Elizabeth’s reputation suffer along with Lydia’s? Darcy’s intervention on the Bennets’ behalf thus
becomes all the more generous, but some readers might resent that such an intervention was necessary at
all. If Darcy’s money had failed to convince Wickham to marry Lydia, would Darcy have still married
Elizabeth? Does his transcendence of prejudice extend that far? The happy ending of Pride and Prejudice is
certainly emotionally satisfying, but in many ways it leaves the theme of reputation, and the importance
placed on reputation, unexplored. One can ask of Pride and Prejudice, to what extent does it critique social
structures, and to what extent does it simply accept their inevitability?
SOCIETY AND CLASS
The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly regimented nature of life for the
middle and upper classes in Regency England. The lines of class are strictly drawn.
While the Bennets, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they are
clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this kind of class-consciousness,
particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron,
Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the only one to hold
such views. His conception of the importance of class is shared, among others, by Mr. Darcy, who believes
in the dignity of his lineage; Miss Bingley, who dislikes anyone not as socially accepted as she is; and
Wickham, who will do anything he can to get enough money to raise himself into a higher station. Mr.
Collins’s views are merely the most extreme and obvious. The satire directed at Mr. Collins is therefore also
more subtly directed at the entire social hierarchy and the conception of all those within it at its correctness,
in complete disregard of other, more worthy virtues. Through the Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane
marriages, Austen shows the power of love and happiness to overcome class boundaries and prejudices,
thereby implying that such prejudices are hollow, unfeeling, and unproductive. Of course, this whole
discussion of class must be made with the understanding that Austen herself is often criticized as being a

Pride and Prejudice
classist: she doesn’t really represent anyone from the lower classes; those servants she does portray are
generally happy with their lot. Austen does criticize class structure but only a limited slice of that structure.
In Pride and Prejudice, class determines the characters' social situation but it doesn't mean anything about
their behavior. The novel suggests that class is an arbitrary—and ultimately less meaningful—distinction
between people.
PRIDE
Almost everyone's guilty of pride, with maybe the exception of Jane and Bingley. From obvious candidate
Darcy to Mr. Collins—who totally doesn't deserve to be proud about anything—to Mr. Darcy's servant,
everyone we meet takes pride in something. The question for Lizzy and for us, as we all learn to be better
judges of characters, is when is that pride deserved, and when is it just plain ego?
In Pride and Prejudice, pride goes before a fall. Lizzy and Darcy both have to be humbled before they can
get together.
In the best-case scenario, pride can encourage people to behave better.
Pride’s quotations
- When Lizzy needles Darcy about his pride, he fights back: it's fine to have a big ego if you actually
have the skills to support it.
"Where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation." (11.18)
- She berates herself for her "vanity"— the vanity of thinking that she's actually a good judge of
character (her "discernment"). Instead, she's been swayed by Wickham's pretty face and his flirty
attentions.
"How despicably I have acted!" she cried; "I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued
myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in
useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I
could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the
preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I
have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this
moment I never knew myself." (36. P201-202)
(THEME: SELF KNOWLADGE)
- First time that Darcy admits some of his pride might not have been justified. In fact, it may have been
a lot more like conceit.
‘I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit’. (50.24)
PREJUDICE
All forms of prejudice are based on the same principle: you pre-judge somebody based on one most likely
irrelevant fact, and you refuse to change your opinion based on actual, observable fact. It's the opposite of
rational, liberal-minded thinking. We mean liberal in the way Austen used it: open-minded, willing to change
your ideas, and interested in facts rather than opinions. You know—exactly the opposite of prejudiced.
Prejudice’s quotation
- When she thinks back, Lizzy admits that she was totally prejudiced toward Wickham. It's a good
reminder that prejudice doesn't always mean disliking someone ahead of time; it can also mean
deciding to like someone without any good reason.
‘As to his real character, had information been in her power, she had never felt a wish of inquiring. His
countenance, voice, and manner had established him at once in the possession of every virtue’. (36. P200)
Pride and Prejudice
She's admitting to herself that she's been exactly the kind of silly, prejudiced person she's always
mocked.
‘She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling she had
been blind, partial, prejudiced, and absurd’. (36.P201)
- Little by little, Lizzy has dropped her prejudices against Darcy. Do you think that she's learned her
lesson about not judging people? Or is this a one-time-only deal? (We like to think that she's learned
her lesson.
‘She explained what its effect on her had been, and how gradually all her former prejudices had been
removed’. (50.19)
SYMBOLISM
PEMBERLEY
Pride and Prejudice is remarkably free of explicit symbolism, which perhaps has something to do with the
novel’s reliance on dialogue over description. Nevertheless, Pemberley, Darcy’s estate, sits at the center of
the novel, literally and figuratively, as a geographic symbol of the man who owns it. Elizabeth visits it at a
time when her feelings toward Darcy are beginning to warm; she is enchanted by its beauty and charm,
and by the picturesque countryside, just as she will be charmed, increasingly, by the gifts of its owner.
Austen makes the connection explicit when she describes the stream that flows beside the mansion. “In
front,” she writes, “a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial
appearance.” Darcy possesses a “natural importance” that is “swelled” by his arrogance, but which
coexists with a genuine honesty and lack of “artificial appearance.” Like the stream, he is neither “formal,
nor falsely adorned.” Pemberley even offers a symbol-within-a-symbol for their budding romance: when
Elizabeth encounters Darcy on the estate, she is crossing a small bridge, suggesting the broad gulf of
misunderstanding and class prejudice that lies between them—and the bridge that their love will build
across i It was a large,
‘handsome stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in
front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its
banks were neither formal nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which
nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They
were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might
be something! (43.3)
Pemberley is grand, but it's also natural. Check out the way the "stream of some natural importance"
(translation: a little creek that was already there) has been "swelled into great, but without any artificial
appearance." In other words, the gardeners have taken the natural features of the landscape and
just improved them. They're not draining wetlands to make a park. They're working with what they were
given to make it better. It sounds familiar, because it's a big, fat symbol for Darcy himself.
LETTERS
In a novel where the spoken word rules the day, and where private thoughts don't have too much
presence on the page, letters are a stand-in for the interior lives of the characters. Look at Mr. Collins' first
letter:
As a clergyman, moreover, I feel it my duty to promote and establish the blessing of peace in all families within
the reach of my influence; and on these grounds I flatter myself that my present overtures are highly
commendable, and that the circumstance of my being next in the entail of Longbourn estate will be kindly
overlooked on your side, and not lead you to reject the offered olive-branch. I cannot be otherwise than

Pride and Prejudice
concerned at being the means of injuring your amiable daughters, and beg leave to apologise for it, as well as
to assure you of my readiness to make them every possible amends—but of this hereafter. (13.P61)
And then compare it to Mr. Darcy's letter to Lizzy:
Be not alarmed, madam, on receiving this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those
sentiments or renewal of those offers which were last night so disgusting to you. I write without any intention of
paining you, or humbling myself, by dwelling on wishes which, for the happiness of both, cannot be too soon
forgotten; and the effort which the formation and the perusal of this letter must occasion, should have been
spared, had not my character required it to be written and read. You must, therefore, pardon the freedom with
which I demand your attention; your feelings, I know, will bestow it unwillingly, but I demand it of your
justice.(35.P191)
Mr. Collins is all "me," just like he is in real life. But Mr. Darcy's letter is different. Sure, he talks about himself—
but only in relationship to Lizzy. His letter is all about making connections and trying to communicate. Lizzy
doesn't exactly fall in love with him after this letter, but it doesn't take much longer.
BALLS
In the early nineteenth century, fancy people living in London during the social season could go to weekly
balls held at a private club. But the stakes were high: it was one of the only places for young men and
women to find eligible marriage partners. In fact, it was so notoriously designed just for that reason that it
was called the Marriage Martket.
The people living in and around the small country town of Meryton aren't spending much time at
fashionable balls, but they are interested in getting married—and getting the news, and playing cards, and
dancing, and generally doing other things than sitting around in a drawing-room after dinner with their
families.
The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter
much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been
distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way.
Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl
in the neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough never to be without partners,
which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned, therefore, in good spirits to
Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. (3.6)
What's going on here is a lot more than dancing with boys, although that's definitely important. The balls are
a way to form, strengthen, and test community bonds.
The Lucases' ball introduces Darcy and Bingley, setting the plot in motion; and the Netherfield ball
convinces Darcy to book it out of town, setting up all the complications of the second act.
PLOT ANALYSIS
INITIAL SITUATION
The Bennets have five single daughters, one very pushy mother, no money, no marriage prospects. Then a
young, rich, single man moves into the neighbourhood. This is clearly an initial situation because there's way
too much instability in this system.
The Girl From the Wrong Side of Tracks
Bingley starts falling for Jane, but his sisters and friend don't approve. An obstacle in the path of true love
and familial happiness! To make matters worse, Darcy has developed a crush on Jane's sister Elizabeth, and
all the objections he has to Bingley marrying Jane (her lower class, crazy family) also apply to the prospect

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of him marrying Elizabeth. It's cool, though: Lizzy hates Darcy so much that we're pretty sure they're never
going to get together. Not.
COMPLICATION
Bingley's sisters and Darcy convince Bingley not to marry Jane, and Lizzy meets a cute, sexy guy named
Wickham who drips (figurative) poison about Darcy in her ear. This is definitely complicated.
CLIMAX
So many feels in this climax. Darcy finally proposes to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth essentially tells him that she
wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth.
(That's not the end of the climax!) Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter that exonerates him from all the charges she
leveled against him. Both of our heroes start to question themselves: can Elizabeth really be such a good
judge of character if she was fooled by Darcy and Wickham's exterior masks? This is the climax of the novel
because the greatest attitude shifts come here. It's smoother (not quite smooth) sailing from here on out for
our two main characters.
SUSPENSE
Lydia runs off with Wickham (fallen woman), which potentially destroys any chance at happiness for
Elizabeth and Jane. No respectable man will marry a woman whose sister lived in sin with some guy she
never even ended up marrying. Don't know about you, but we're biting our nails.
DENOUEMENT
Mr. Darcy uses money to force Wickham to marry Lydia. The Bennet family's reputation is saved, which
means Bingley and Darcy can propose to their ladies.
CONCLUSION
Our two favorite married couples are happy and rich, and Jane moves to an estate practically next door to
Pemberley.
ANALYSIS BY CHAPTER
CHAPTER 1
One of the most famous lines in literature, the opening establishes the pursuit of marriage as central to the
social world of the English gentry. In addition, the claim that a wealthy man must be looking for a wife shows
how desperately important it was for women to marry wealthy men. In Austen's time, they had no other
means of support. In terms of taking an interest in their daughters' futures, Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet are
polar opposites: she gets involved while he remains distant and makes jokes. Active themes: family, class
and marriage
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a
wife’.
CHAPTER 2
It was inappropriate for women to seek a direct introduction to men, so Mr. Bennet must initially act as the
mediator. Mr. Bennet's visit shows that even he recognizes the importance of making a match.
An early sign of Mrs. Bennet's fickle character. She can snap from disapproval to approval.
Active themes: family and marriage
CHAPTER 3
Austen focuses on just a few families of different status—the extremely wealthy upper class (Bingley and

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Darcy) and the less wealthy country gentry (the Bennets)—in order to reveal the class dynamics of her
society on a small scale. (A.T: Family and class)
Balls were among the few socially acceptable venues for mingling between the sexes. Here the locals
make character judgments based on appearances and first impressions. (A.T: Pride, prejudice, marriage).
Initially prideful, Darcy doesn't think these country people are good enough for him. Elizabeth has pride, too:
though looks aren't everything to her, Darcy's insult still stings. (A.T: Pride and class)
‘His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped
that he would never come there again’.
Mrs. Bennet's attitude toward Darcy and Bingley is already fixed, showing how strong prejudices can be
once formed. (A.T: Prejudice, family, marriage)
The importance of appearance. Balls= marriage market.
CHAPTER 4
Comparison of Elizabeth (realistic) and Jane (candid) by showing. Another comparison is pf Darcy and
Bingley (easily manipulated) by narrating. Bingley's lack of a home reflects his immaturity and lack of
confidence in his decisions. (Jane and Bingley are foils characters).
Elizabeth is quick to judge and is unimpressed by the higher class. On the other hand, Jane refuses to
judge anyone badly, which makes her seem angelic but also naïve. (Pride, prejudice, family, marriage
class)
‘Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the
world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human...’
Novels about marriages are frequently concerned with bringing two parties with different characteristics
into harmony. Friends like Bingley and Darcy are also opposites: each has some admirable and some weak
traits that the other helps to expose and resolve. (Prejudice)
CHAPTER 5
The Lucas family can sympathize with the Bennets because their daughters will also need husbands. (Family,
marriage) Here Charlotte suggests that pride isn't always bad. Indeed, pride can help protect a family
reputation, or can provide the motivation to help people. Charlotte also implies that sometimes men's faults
have to be overlooked when you're on the hunt for a husband. (Pride, prejudice, marriage, class)
Mary represents a very strict by-the-book type of morality that, Austen makes clear, needs to be tempered
with experience. (Pride, family).
CHAPTER 6
Social interaction among gentry had to follow precise guidelines, making it difficult to discern how people
really felt. Elizabeth must read between the lines. (Prejudice, marriage, class)
Elizabeth believes that an individual should act with dignity and follow his or her feelings. In Charlotte's view,
one's dignity and emotions must come second to the pragmatic concerns of finding financial security
through marriage. (family, marriage).
Darcy was prejudiced against Elizabeth because of her lower social standing, but time and exposure starts
to change his first impressions. This shift shows Darcy's capacity to change. Even so, he still deplores
Elizabeth's family's behavior and can't imagine joining their family through marriage. (pride, prejudice)
CHAPTER 7
Compared to gentlemen like Bingley and Darcy, military officers offered a slightly less but still respectable
option for marrying. (family, marriage, class)
Mrs. Bennet is so desperate to get Jane married to a wealthy man that she's willing to risk her daughter's
health by denying her shelter from the storm. (marriage, family)
While Elizabeth displays great loyalty to her sister, her appearance strikes Bingley's sisters as undignified.
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Darcy might have thought the same thing before, but now his view of Elizabeth is influenced by his growing
feelings for her. (pride, prejudice, family, class)
CHAPTER 8
Elizabeth continues to value character over class. She seems to have good intuition about people's true
character. (Prejudice, family, class)
The high class women show their prejudice. Though Mrs. Hurst speaks as if in sympathy with Jane, she's
deviously trying to ruin the chances of either Bennet sister by mentioning their "family situation." (Pride,
prejudice, family, marriage, class).
By choosing books over the social fluff of cards, Elizabeth shows her inner substance. Plus she has the
common sense to recognize the foolishness of society's unreasonable ideals about women. And she has the
courage to say so in company. These characteristics distinguish her more than useless accomplishments
would. (pride, family, class)
Ironic, because that's actually what Caroline is doing. Caroline wants Darcy, and puts down others to
elevate herself in his eyes. (prejudice, class)
CHAPTER 9
Mrs. Bennet continues her ridiculous and manipulative campaign to ‘win’ Bingley for Jane. (Family,
marriage).
By talking up the Bennets' status, Mrs. Bennet actually degrades it by seeming crass, foolishly proud, and
clearly not of the best class or character. If you're high class, you don't need to tell others about it—they just
know. (Pride, prejudice, family, class)
Lydia's insistence is impolite. Bingley, with his better breeding, turns it into a compliment to Jane. (marriage).
CHAPTER 10
Darcy reiterates his pride in his own beliefs. Elizabeth pridefully believes that she considers other people's
views, but events will show that she really just follows her own prejudices. (Pride, prejudice)
Elizabeth attracts Darcy by standing up to him. Yet class and pride are so important for Darcy that
attraction alone won't suffice. (pride, marriage, class)
Caroline (Bigley’s sister) tries to exploit Darcy's pride in the integrity of his family to protect her chances with
him. (pride, prejudice, family, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 11
Conversation, books, walks: these are the few tools of seduction in Austen's world. Caroline has to work to
get Darcy's attention. But by doing what comes natural to her, Elizabeth gets it anyway. Sexual attraction in
the novel are expressed only in little comments like these. But it's definitely there. Darcy incorrectly identifies
his own flaw, which is the immense pride he takes in himself and his social standing. But he correctly
diagnoses Elizabeth's: she believes so fully in her own ability to see to the heart of things that she becomes
subject to her prejudices and blinds herself to the truth. (Marriage, pride, prejudice).
CHAPTER 12
Mrs. Bennet's schemes to get Jane married to Bingley force her daughters to be beggars, making the
Bennet family as a whole look bad. (Family, marriage, class)
Darcy has not overcome his prejudice against the Bennet's low connections. (prejudice).
Mr. Bennet wants to ignore his younger daughters' interest in the regiment, to remain detached from
anything that strikes him as ridiculous. This will come back to haunt him. (family)
CHAPTER 13
Collins is Mr. Bennet's heir because women weren't allowed to inherit. This explains Mrs. Bennet's obsession
about getting her daughters married. It was the only way to ensure their financial security, and her own if
her husband died before she did. Thanks to his letter we know how he is. (Family, class)
Mr. Collins gets ahead in the world not through his own virtues, but by sucking up to the rich and by his

Pride and Prejudice
almost arbitrary future inheritance of the Bennet's property. (pride, family, class).
Austen makes Mr. Collins a ridiculous comic figure, in the process mocking all suck-ups. (pride, family)
CHAPTER 14
Although a clergyman, Mr. Collins is obsessed with the worldly glories of wealth and rank. Mr. Collins himself
seems to have no center. He lives only to please Lady De Bourgh. (Pride, family, class)
Austen uses Mr. Collin's distaste for novels to poke fun at the then-common prejudice against the immorality
of novels. But Mr. Collins' readiness to play a board game instead of reading the scripture shows his shallow
commitment to the gospel. (Prejudice, family).
CHAPTER 15
Mr. Collins' plan falls far short of providing the Bennet girls with any kind of self-determination. In addition,
though he poses as a man of convictions, his love interest can change in the blink of an eye. (Pride, family,
marriage).
Wickham is a master of first impressions. As such, he tests Elizabeth's belief that she can see through lies and
falseness to uncover the truth in things. He is a soldier, but he wanted to be clergyman. Wickham is
manipulating Lizzy, he is trying to make Lizzy about Mr. Darcy. Lizzy likes Wickham because he looks nice and
like a good person, not like Mr. Darcy who does not fit in the terms of society and was proud. Wickham
sounds like ‘wicked’ (pride, prejudice)
Austen creates tension here: the details Elizabeth most wants to know are the one she can't ask about, out
of politeness. At this point, Elizabeth seems to like Wickham in part because he causes Darcy discomfort.
(prejudice).
CHAPTER 16
On the surface, Wickham is pleasant and well-mannered. Elizabeth will remember later that while Wickham
says he withholds an opinion on Darcy, he soon goes ahead and gives one. But Elizabeth is under his spell
and does not notice now. (Prejudice, family)
With close relations to her own siblings and a keen sense of justice, Elizabeth is predisposed to believe
Wickham's story. The story also fits perfectly with her own existing prejudices about Darcy. (prejudice, family)
This is a lie, but Wickham is on a roll. He's trying to separate himself from his former victim and degrade her,
too.(pride, family)
Such an arranged marriage would have been no surprise to Elizabeth. Lady Catherine seems to share
Darcy's pride in their extreme high class status. (pride, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 17
Elizabeth dismisses Jane for only seeing the good in people. Yet at the same time, Elizabeth bases her own
preference for Wickham entirely on his looks and on her own pride in her ability to read people. (Prejudice,
pride)
Dancing is the closest thing to intimate physical contact allowed between unmarried people. It's a thrill.
(marriage)
CHAPTER 18
Because Elizabeth is set in her own prejudice, she interprets everything against Darcy and blames him for
everything. Darcy's dance invite shows his growing feelings for Elizabeth. But now Elizabeth's prejudice
against him is in full effect. (Prejudice)
Elizabeth now has evidence, from various sources, that it was Wickham, not Darcy, in the wrong. But
Elizabeth pride fully chooses to go with her prejudices against Darcy and for Wickham. (Pride, prejudice)
Elizabeth and Jane have a social grace that their family members sorely lack. If Darcy's major concern
about Elizabeth was her family, the Bennets do everything to prove that his prejudice against them is
accurate. (pride, prejudice, family, marriage, class)
Darcy wants to prevent Elizabeth from Wickham (he is in love).

Pride and Prejudice
CHAPTER 19
Mr. Collins wants to marry because of outside pressures. As he explains his reason for marrying, it becomes
clear that his wife will be merely an ornament in the "respectable" life he's creating for himself. Mr. Collins
makes a valid point: based on her family and situation, Elizabeth isn't likely to get a better offer. By declining
his offer, she is giving up her family's best hope to hold on to their home. Even so, Elizabeth believes too
strongly in love to agree to marry a man whom she doesn't even like. (Pride, family, marriage, class).
CHAPTER 20
Although women could refuse a proposal, they were not expected to. Elizabeth shows her dedication to
her happiness. (Family, marriage).
Mr. Bennet deeply respects his daughter's intelligence. They share an ability to perceive the absurdity in the
world. (pride, family, marriage).
In contrast, Mrs. Bennet doesn't really care about Elizabeth's happiness. She treats her daughters like chess
pieces in a match-making game. Only marriage matters to her. (Pride, prejudice, family, marriage).
CHAPTER 21
Mr. Collins wastes no time in changing the object of his shallow affection yet again. (Pride).
Since she's interested in Wickham, Elizabeth believes everything he says. An introduction to her parents is
significant: it sets the stage for courtship. (Prejudice, family).
Elizabeth can read between the lines to discern what's really going on. Caroline wants to prevent Jane from
going any further with her brother because she does not want her own family associated with the Bennets
for two reasons: she disdains them; and she believes that by marrying her brother to Georgiana she will
improve her own chances with Georgiana's brother, Darcy. (pride, prejudice, family, marriage, class).
CHAPTER 22
Charlotte contrasts with Elizabeth in putting her future financial security before love. She knows that
marriage is her only option to guard against a hard life. (Marriage, class).
Elizabeth thinks she could never marry just for financial advantage. But the reasons to marry are
complicated. Even Elizabeth will later have a strong attraction to Darcy's magnificent estate. (prejudice,
family, marriage).
CHAPTER 23
Lydia and Mrs. Bennet are ignorant of social graces. Elizabeth constantly has to set the example for her
family. Mrs. Bennet is so angry because Elizabeth's rejection of Collins eliminates her only guarantee that she
would be able to stay in her house if Mr. Bennet should die. (Pride, family, marriage).
Elizabeth senses that Bingley is not completely confident and might be swayed by the prejudices of others.
(prejudice)
CHAPTER 24
Jane again insists on seeing only the bright side, denying even her own hurt feelings. It's the opposite of
prejudice, but it makes her just as blind as the prejudiced Elizabeth. Elizabeth complains that Bingley can't
direct his own true feelings. This is ironic since Elizabeth's affections and prejudices are being guided by
Wickham's suave lies. (pride, prejudice)
Mr. Bennet continually fails to understand what will be good for his daughters. (family, marriage)
CHAPTER 25
The Gardiners represent the established middle class. They are a "lowly" family connection that might hurt
the Bennet sisters' prospects of marrying well. Mrs. Gardiner takes the place of Mrs. Bennet in soothing and
restoring the family. She represents a stronger, sympathetic, and more sensible mother figure for the girls.
Because of their class, the Gardiners live in a very different part of town and travel in different social circles
than Bingley and his family and friends. (Family, class).

Pride and Prejudice
CHAPTER 26
Mrs. Gardiner recognizes the hard reality of needing to marry into a secure situation. Elizabeth is not
convinced, and still is focused mainly on finding love. Elizabeth thinks that anyone who gives up the hope of
love in exchange for stability (particularly with a fool like Collins) can't be anything but miserable. Caroline
knows that Jane and Bingley, if they saw each other, would rekindle the spark. So while being careful to
conform to the niceties of high class social interaction, she at the same time does everything she can to
discourage and denigrate Jane. A double standard: Elizabeth judged Charlotte harshly for marrying for
money, but excuses Wickham for seeking a fortune in marriage. (Pride, marriage, class, prejudice)
CHAPTER 27
All the major characters in the novel grow and change: after her experiences in London, Jane starts to
admit that people can have cruel and deceitful intentions. (prejudice)
Apparently it's okay—even necessary—to marry for money, but not okay to make it obvious. Elizabeth points
out the contradiction in what is considered socially acceptable behaviour. (family, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 28
A parsonage home is the home given to a parish clergyman. But for a clergyman, Mr. Collins is obsessed
with rank and riches. He seems to have things only in order to show them off. Elizabeth realizes that while
Charlotte's choice may mean that she doesn't have love, she has found contentment. Miss De Bourgh is the
exact opposite of Elizabeth. She has all the class and wealth, but none of Elizabeth's beauty or intelligence.
(Pride, prejudice, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 29
Class rank is not about personal substance: it is all about the outward and arbitrary. Lady Catherine has
more pride than anyone in the book. She is also friendless and can only interact by commanding people.
Lady Catherine, like Darcy, believes in a set of "accomplishments" for women. In contrast, Elizabeth is self-
made and proud of having determined her own character. (pride, prejudice, class).
CHAPTER 30
Charlotte's contentment in marriage is based on being as separate from Mr. Collins as possible. Lady
Catherine believes so strongly in her high-class superiority that she thinks nothing of telling "lower class"
people what to do. (pride, marriage, class)
Lady Catherine wants nothing but the best for Darcy, which of course means her own high-class daughter.
Elizabeth's prejudice toward Darcy for breaking up Jane and Bingley remains, and Darcy's reaction shows
her attack is on target. (pride, prejudice, family, class)
CHAPTER 31
Colonel Fitzwilliam seems at first like another potential love interest for Elizabeth. While Elizabeth lacks the
musical accomplishments to recommend her to Lady Catherine, her conversation is sharp and witty,
highlighting her independence of spirit. Here Darcy is trying to apologize to Elizabeth. He suggests that they
share underlying similarities. He has gotten past his pride and can now perceive their fundamental
compatibility. (Pride, prejudice)
Lady Catherine sees quality where it isn't there in her daughter. Pride and class prejudice make her blind.
(pride, prejudice, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 32
Elizabeth's barbed questions show that she blames Darcy for steering Bingley away from Jane. That Darcy
doesn't quite understand her question implies that she may not be entirely right. In Charlotte's observation,
Elizabeth is once again presented with evidence that she doesn't believe because of her prejudice against
Darcy. Yet Darcy is an intensely private person, which makes him hard to read. (Prejudice, marriage).
CHAPTER 33
Darcy tries to figure out if Elizabeth will accept him and move to Pemberley, which is nearby Rosings. But her
Pride and Prejudice
prejudice against him leads Elizabeth to an entirely different interpretation. (Prejudice, marriage)
Unlike Wickham, Colonel Fitzwilliam is a good man. But just like Wickham, Fitzwilliam must take into account
financial concerns when thinking about marriage. (marriage, class).
Predisposed to think of Darcy as prideful, Elizabeth's opinion of him only gets worse when she hears the story.
She can't imagine that Darcy may have had legitimate concerns about Jane or the Bennets and sincerely
wanted to protect his friend. (pride, prejudice, marriage).
CHAPTER 34
It's not very romantic to reassure someone that you're no longer bothered by their inferiority. Darcy may love
Elizabeth, but he's still prideful, and Elizabeth responds harshly. Elizabeth unleashes the full force of her
prejudice against Darcy, finally letting him see what she truly thinks of him. Darcy, his pride insulted,
responds with the same lack of composure. Although he isn't smooth, he is at least honest. Elizabeth's
rejection of Darcy is the climax of her prejudice against him. Yet her crying indicates that she still may have
deeper feelings for him. (Pride, prejudice, class, marriage):
CHAPTER 35
In Chapter 6, Charlotte warned Elizabeth that Jane needed to show her affections for Bingley. It turns out
she was right, and that Darcy interpreted Jane's reserve as a lack of love for Bingley. In conjunction with the
Bennets' tastelessness at the ball, he believed that the marriage was not in Bingley's interest. However, he
does not admit he crossed the line by lying to Bingley. Wickham turns out to be a classic example of a
corrupt, directionless opportunist. In this case, Darcy's pride meant that he refused to meet Wickham's
demands. In other words, he wouldn't let Wickham use him. Wickham tried to seduce and marry Georgiana
merely for her money. Darcy keeps it secret because even Georgiana's willingness to run off with Wickham
could ruin her reputation and wreck her own chance at a good marriage. (Pride prejudice, family,
marriage, class).
CHAPTER 36
At first, Elizabeth misreads the letter just as she has misread Darcy. But then she realizes that her prejudice
caused her to misread Wickham without challenging his flimsy story or motives, as she always had done with
Darcy. Elizabeth realizes her errors and faults, and begins to rebuild her character. She doesn't realize it yet,
but Darcy is undergoing a similar process (Pride, prejudice).
Everything looks different when prejudices are removed. But at least Elizabeth has the strength to face and
accept her failures. (pride, prejudice, family, marriage)
Elizabeth thinks she'll never see Darcy again because she had so wrongly insulted him. (marriage)
CHAPTER 37
Lady Catherine thinks that because she is so high class she has the right to instruct other people about even
the most insignificant things, such as how to pack. Her intrusions on such petty matters make her seem
ridiculous. (Pride, class)
Elizabeth is too ashamed of herself to want to see Darcy again.
CHAPTER 38
Mr. Collins's delusion is ludicrous: Charlotte's contentment is based on avoiding him. Elizabeth's recognition
that Charlotte has found comfort, despite her earlier belief that Charlotte would be miserable, shows
Elizabeth's growth. (Pride, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 39
Lydia is completely blind to the reality of Wickham's situation. Like Elizabeth, she doesn't care about
marrying for money. But she also doesn't seem to care about marrying for love. She just seems to be "boy
crazy." (family, marriage)
A portrait of the Bennet family's different interests. Elizabeth's desire to avoid Wickham highlights her own
embarrassment for being wrong about him. (prejudice, family).

Pride and Prejudice
CHAPTER 40
Elizabeth now realizes the immense challenge involved in trying to know people beyond their appearances.
In a social world that so values reputations, Jane and Elizabeth make the same choice that Darcy did to
keep quiet about Wickham. It's ironic that their silence about past scandal will only create more scandal in
the future. (Pride, prejudice, marriage).
CHAPTER 41
Elizabeth is motivated by having lost Bingley and Darcy to the Bennet's foolishness. She urges Mr. Bennet to
act like the father he's never been. But Mr. Bennet sits back and passes the job to someone else. (Pride,
family, class)
Elizabeth cannot be directly insulting to Wickham, but she lets him know that she knows about his sketchy
past. She also admits to realizing and respecting why Darcy is the kind of man he is. (pride, prejudice)
CHAPTER 42
Elizabeth shares certain traits with her father, especially humor and intelligence, but she knows these won't
suffice. She'll add a sense of responsibility and compassion to them. (Family, marriage)
Elizabeth's hesitation about visiting Pemberley reflects her new concern for Darcy. She does not want her
presence to embarrass him. (pride, class)
CHAPTER 43
Rosings is showy, but Pemberley is tasteful. Pemberley and the high life it represents make Elizabeth fantasize
about marriage. Darcy is Austen's ideal upper class man, balancing power and compassion, community
involvement and dedication to family. Pemberley makes Elizabeth see Darcy differently. (prejudice)
Elizabeth feels like a stalker who just got caught. But Darcy steps in and smooths out the awkward situation—
a social skill Elizabeth herself possesses. Pemberley brings out an entirely different side of Darcy. It is now
clear that Darcy is still interested in Elizabeth; she's getting a second chance. Darcy's bad reputation had
prejudiced the Gardiners, but here his real character shines. (prejudice, marriage)
CHAPTER 44
Elizabeth learns much more from her extended personal encounters than she ever did from reports, rumors,
and her own snap judgments based on prejudice. Darcy's attitude toward the Gardiners—an example of
Elizabeth's "lowly" connections—indicates how Darcy has grown. In his marriage proposal, he said he could
overlook them. Now, he wants to engage them as Friends. (Pride, prejudice, class)
CHAPTER 45
Darcy's growth is highlighted by the Bingley women's lack of growth—they still look down on Elizabeth.
Caroline knows that she can't compete with Elizabeth on substance, so she once again tries to drive a
wedge between them by exploiting Darcy's pride. But this effort only reveals her selfish, nasty character. Like
Mrs. Bennet's schemes, Caroline's backfire because they are motivated by selfishness. (Pride, prejudice,
marriage)
CHAPTER 46
While Lydia's running off to marry without permission is a scandal, the major threat is to Lydia herself: society
placed a huge importance on a woman's chastity before marriage. An unmarried couple living together
for any length of time was considered immoral. Lydia's reputation would be ruined and would taint the rest
of her family's reputation as well. Because of pride, Elizabeth and Darcy both tried to take the moral high
ground with Wickham. Elizabeth mistakenly interprets Darcy's seriousness as an attempt to distance himself
from her. She knows that if Lydia brought shame to the Bennets, Darcy would not marry into her family.
(Family, pride, class, marriage).
CHAPTER 47
Elizabeth knows from Darcy's story that Wickham has no morals and is therefore capable of anything. Only
marrying him can save Lydia's reputation, and that of her entire family. Mrs. Bennet always tries to keep

Pride and Prejudice
herself in the right, so she blames Colonel Foster rather than herself. And she's just as superficial and frivolous
as ever: how can she worry about dresses at a time like this?
If Lydia had not intended to marry, and was just after a sexual fling, she would be seen an indecent "fallen
woman." (Family, marriage, pride)
CHAPTER 48
Everyone was duped by Wickham's genial manners and handsome appearance. (Prejudice)
Lydia's actions are an extreme breach of rank and polite behavior, both of which are extremely important
to Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine. Mr. Bennet realizes his fault in the matter, but tries to remain isolated from
his family. He doesn't realize that everyone will suffer, not just him. (pride, prejudice, class, family)
CHAPTER 49
Mr. Bennet has no choice. Since Lydia and Wickham are already living together, Lydia's reputation is
already tarnished. Marriage to Wickham will salvage enough of it to save the other Bennet girls from the
stain. The last part of the novel concerns gratitude, and Mrs. Bennet is despicably ungrateful. With her fake
physical ailments, gossipy pride, and willingness to overlook Lydia's recklessness, which almost took down
the entire family, Mrs. Bennet is at her shallowest. (Pride, family, marriage, class).
CHAPTER 50
Lydia and Wickham reinforce each other's bad qualities. Elizabeth and Darcy, on the other hand, would
have complemented each other. Elizabeth's realization of this shows that she has really changed. Refusing
to allow Lydia and Wickham to visit would only advertise the scandal surrounding their marriage. Once
again, Elizabeth and Jane must intervene to ensure that their parents act in a socially respectable way.
(pride, prejudice, family, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 51
Lydia is as shallow and senseless as Mrs. Bennet. Wickham is just as crass, in his own way.
This is a marriage founded not on love, but on opportunity and poor decisions. Since divorces were very
uncommon, the relationship will only sour. (Marriage, class)
Darcy is the absolute last person Elizabeth would expect to be at Wickham's wedding. To be polite,
Elizabeth can't directly ask about it, furthering the mystery. (marriage, family, pride)
CHAPTER 52
Wickham is ready to abandon Lydia. Darcy realizes that this would wreck the Bennets' reputation and totally
prevent any future association he could have with them. As Mrs. Gardiner realizes, Darcy bribes Wickham in
order to preserve Elizabeth's reputation, not Lydia's. He then refuses the credit out of pride and respect for
Elizabeth. Elizabeth will be neither fooled by Wickham nor overly prejudiced against him. She shows
compassion in accepting Wickham into the family. (Pride, family, prejudice, class, marriage).
CHAPTER 53
Mrs. Bennet fails to welcome the person to whom she should be most grateful: Darcy. She commits another
social blunder by openly discussing Lydia's disgrace. Outside his Pemberley comfort zone, Darcy is a
different person. Elizabeth worries that her mother continues to offend him. As expected, Bingley and Jane
rediscover their affection when they're together. (Pride, prejudice, family, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 54
Bingley has come full circle and finally trusts his own decisions and emotions. Unlike Jane with Bingley,
Elizabeth has no chance to express herself to Darcy in person. Elizabeth's inner tumult makes her a richly
developed character. She is constantly reevaluating things. (Marriage, prejudice)
CHAPTER 55
The first non-proposal builds suspense. The second provides the payoff. In keeping with Jane's modesty,
Austen does not describe the proposal scene. Bingley and Jane's marriage, unlike Lydia's, will have a solid
foundation of respect and mutual admiration. Bingley is honest and discrete—qualities that Elizabeth shares.

Pride and Prejudice
Jane has matured to accept the malice in the world and uses her compassion to deal with it. (prejudice,
marriage, family)
CHAPTER 56
Lady Catherine's first instinct is to measure the Bennets' class rank by their property.
Lady Catherine's interrogation of Elizabeth is very rude. She feels her power exempts her from common
decency, and she can't believe that Darcy would choose Elizabeth. So, she thinks he must have been
tricked. Elizabeth boldly asserts her freedom of mind and freedom from the class concerns of Lady
Catherine. In doing so, Elizabeth suggests that individuals can define themselves regardless of class or social
prejudices. (pride, prejudice, class, marriage).
CHAPTER 57
The exact opposite of Elizabeth, Mr. Collins has no independent will to act outside of Lady Catherine's stuffy
social approval.
Mr. Bennet exemplifies how first impressions and prejudices can be so enduring. Elizabeth and Darcy have
each changed profoundly, and the Bennets owe Darcy everything. But all of these changes are under the
surface, so Mr. Bennet can't see them. In fact, even Elizabeth isn't entirely sure what's going on in Darcy's
heart. (Prejudice, marriage, class).
CHAPTER 58
Elizabeth has to be a little impolite in ignoring Darcy's request that Mr. Gardiner take the credit. But by
breaking the rules, Elizabeth allows for their climactic emotional exchange. While there is no explicit
marriage proposal from Darcy yet, everything hinges on Elizabeth's growth as a character and ability to
overcome her prejudice…
Selfish plans based on class prejudice all backfire in this novel (Darcy explains that he started to hope after
Lady Catherine informed him about Elizabeth's stubborn refusal to follow her commands.). (Prejudice,
family, marriage). Just as Elizabeth was humbled after she learned the truth about Darcy, so Darcy learned
humility in realizing that his pride injured her and prevented his own happiness. Darcy does penance for his
blatantly wrong decision to lie and must ask forgiveness: another example that Darcy has relinquished his
pride.
CHAPTER 59
Even the closest person to Elizabeth doesn't know her feelings, which shows how closely people guarded
their emotions. Mrs. Bennet here provides some comic irony with her misplaced prejudice against Darcy.
She should be encouraging him. Like the rest of his family, Mr. Bennet needs Elizabeth to interpret Darcy. This
serves as a metaphor for how Elizabeth helps Darcy identify and correct his own flaws, bringing out his best
attributes. Mrs. Bennet never changes. She measures her daughters' successes by the size of their husbands'
bank accounts. She doesn't recognize that Jane and Elizabeth have chosen their husbands for better
reasons. (Prejudice, family, marriage, class)
CHAPTER 60
Elizabeth and Darcy change gradually, through careful reflection and self-improvement. This gives their
marriage a solidity that Lydia's lacks. The web of letters sent indicates how Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage
affects everyone. The fact that the two most shallow and class-conscious characters—Lady Catherine and
Caroline—disapprove of the marriage makes it seem like a true union of equals based on respect, love, and
commitment. Darcy's pride is tempered by his new humility. Elizabeth looks forward to sharing the new
wealth she has gained. (Pride, prejudice, marriage).
CHAPTER 61
Elizabeth fulfills her daydreams about Pemberley and, as Darcy had hoped, eased her attachment to
Longbourn. Jane and Elizabeth were always the moral center of the family, and now they are rewarded.
Lydia is as opportunistic and shameless as ever. She married a useless man and spends beyond her means.
Elizabeth respects Darcy's pride, so she only uses her own savings. Marriage plots are about compromise.
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth and Darcy influence each other. Their marriage also softens Lady Catherine's prejudices and
Caroline's disappointment. The friendship between the upper-class Darcy and Elizabeth and the middle
class Gardiners shows that virtue and affection can overcome class prejudice. (Pride, prejudice, family,
marriage, class).

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PRIDE-AND-PREJUDICE.

Literatura Inglesa I (Novela)

2º Grado en Estudios Ingleses

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Reservados todos los derechos.

Jane Austen’s novels:

Main differences between Neoclassicism and Romantiscism:

Full title: Pride and Prejudice

Climax: Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth (Volume 3, Chapter 16)

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Mary Bennet - The middle Bennet sister, bookish and pedantic.

ANALYSIS: MAIN CHARACTERS

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 Elizabeth Bennet’s timeline:

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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FOR BOTH LIZZY AND DARCY

STYLE IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

The narrator is influenced by Lizzy’s thoughts and emotions.

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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE THEMES

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SOCIETY AND CLASS

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And then compare it to Mr. Darcy's letter to Lizzy:

The Girl From the Wrong Side of Tracks

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