Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen

Introduction

Background

Discussion Starters

Menu

“It is a truth universally acknowledged,

that a single man in possession of a good fortunemust be in want of a wife.”

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Mrs. Bennet is eager to marry off her five daughters.

When a young, rich bachelor moves into an estate near their country home,

Mrs. Bennet begins to plan happily. Mr. Bingley must marry one of her girls!

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Jane, the oldest, is beautiful and kind.

Elizabeth, or Lizzie—the heroine of the story—is lively, smart, and quick-witted.

Lydia and Kitty are silly and impulsive.

Mary is a bit of a know-it-all.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

To his wife’s surprise and delight, Mr. Bennet pays a visit to Mr. Bingley.

Soon afterward, the Bennet women meet Bingley, his two sisters, and his friend Darcy at a ball.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Bingley turns out to be friendly and likeable—but Darcy is another story.

Darcy is rich and handsome but also rude and proud.

He seems to look down on everyone else—and he refuses to dance with Lizzie.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Eventually, Bingley begins to fall for Jane.

Jane likes Bingley too.

But their courtship will take a disastrous turn. Is Darcy somehow to blame?

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

But Lizzie has her own pride. She hasn’t forgotten how Darcy treated her and her family.

Meanwhile, the proud Darcy

finds himself more and more drawn to Lizzie.

He admires her honesty and spirit as well as her beauty.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

What kind of person is Darcy, really?

Or will she learn to let go of her prejudice—and swallow her pride?

Can Lizzie trust her first impression?

Jane Austen was born in a small village in south-central England in 1775.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

The Austens were respectable and well educated but not at all wealthy.

Her father was a country minister.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

In Pride and Prejudice, Austen describes the kind of people she knew well:

the English landed gentry, or upper-class families with country estates.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

With her subtle, ironic wit, Austen captures

• the importance of social status in English society

• the snobbery of the wealthy upper class

Pride and Prejudice: Background

Austen had much in common with her heroine, Lizzie Bennet.

Like Lizzie, she experienced being judged socially inferior by others.

Also like Lizzie, Austen observed her circumstances and surroundings with wry, playful good humor.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

Pride and Prejudice: Background

When she was twenty, Austen fell in love with a young man named Tom LeFroy.

Tom seemed to care for her too.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

However, Tom’s family disapproved of Jane.

Tom’s family separated him from Jane, and she never saw him again.

They expected him to marry a wealthy young woman.

Pride and Prejudice: Background

Social status is also a major problem between Lizzie and Darcy.

The Bennets are respectable country gentry.

However, compared with the wealthy, aristocratic Darcy, the Bennets may seem low-class.

Pride and Prejudice: Discussion Starters

Discuss (1)

• Mrs. Bennet is comical in her matchmaking frenzy. Why might an eighteenth-century mother go overboard in her efforts to marry off her daughters?

• What kind of lives might the Bennet daughters have had if they didn’t marry? How have circumstances changed for women today?

Pride and Prejudice: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)

• Think of a time when your first impression of someone turned out to be wrong. What made you change your mind about that person?

• Was it difficult to admit your mistake?