Pride and Prejudice

If you liked...Suggestions for further reading

Pride and Prejudice

• Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility (1811)
  With her usual gentle wit and satire, Austen tells the story of two sisters: Marianne, the younger, who subscribes to the prevailing concept that one who does not share her emotions for all to see, does not truly feel; and Elinor, whose calm demeanor and dignified behavior cover her deep feelings.
• Jane Austen, Mansfield Park (1814)
  Fanny Price is a poor relative raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia, but is always treated as inferior to them; only Edmund shows her real kindness. A young man, Henry Crawford, arrives in the village and begins to trifle with the affections of the local young ladies, but falls genuinely in love with Fanny. His proposal of marriage and her refusal leave her family dumbfounded.
• Jane Austen, Emma (1816)
  Prior to starting this novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." Emma Woodhouse, an intelligent but somewhat pampered and headstrong young lady, takes it upon herself to arrange her friends’ romantic lives. This book was the basis for the movie Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone.
• Jane Austen, Persuasion (1817, published posthumously)
  Anne Elliot is the overlooked middle daughter of the vain Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet who is all too conscious of his good looks and rank and spends excessive amounts of money. Anne's mother, a sensible woman, is long dead, and her elder sister, Elizabeth, resembles her father in temperament and delights in the fact that as the eldest daughter she can assume her mother's former position in their rural neighborhood. The return of her former fiancé, with whom she had been persuaded to break her engagement because of his poor prospects, to the neighborhood leads to a renewal of old feelings and the awakening of some new ones.
• Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1817, published posthumously)
  Of all Austen’s books, this is the closest to laugh-out-loud funny. A clever satire on the “Gothic” novels that curdled the blood of susceptible young ladies during Austen’s lifetime, Northanger Abbey takes seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland on a visit to the stately home of some new acquaintances, the Tilney family. The house, Northanger Abbey, is unchangingly pleasant and un-Gothic, but Catherine persists in her search for the mysteries she is sure must exist under its deceptively calm exterior.
• Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
  Although published much later than Jane Austen’s novels, Jane Eyre is a fine example of the Gothic genre that Austen satirized in Northanger Abbey. Orphan Jane Eyre accepts a post as governess at Thornfield and soon meets her employer, the mysterious, brooding Edward Rochester. Eerie, unexplained laughter at midnight, fires supposedly started by a servant (who is not discharged), startling screams, and strange injuries to a guest are only some of the occurrences that alarm and puzzle Jane.
• Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Book Club (2004)
  The plot here is deceptively slim: five women and one enigmatic man meet on a monthly basis to discuss the novels of Jane Austen, one at a time. As they debate Marianne's marriage to Brandon and whether or not Charlotte Lucas is gay, they reveal nothing so much as their own "private Austen(s)": to Jocelyn, an unmarried "control freak," the author is the consummate matchmaker; to solitary Prudie, she's the supreme ironist; to the lesbian Allegra, she's the disingenuous defender of the social caste system, etc. The book club's conversation is variously astute, petty, obvious and funny, but no one stays with it: the characters nibble high-calorie desserts, sip margaritas and drift off into personal reveries. Like Austen, Fowler is a subversive wit and a wise observer of human interaction of all stripes ("All parents wanted an impossible life for their children: happy beginning, happy middle, happy ending. No plot of any kind"). She's also an enthusiastic consumer of popular culture, offsetting the heady literary chat with references to Sex and the City, Linux and "a rug that many of us recognized from the Sundance catalog." - Publisher’s Weekly
• Emily Auerbach, Searching for Jane Austen (2004)
  In this revolutionary study of Jane Austen's life and writings, Emily Auerbach
  surveys two centuries of editing, censorship, and fiction that created a pious, wistful, romantically pining, and frustrated Austen, and serves up an antidote to that icon – a dynamic, brave, and buoyant writer – by examining subtle self-portraits in the author's works.
  - http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/3390.htm
• Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor: Being the First Jane Austen Mystery (1996)
  For everyone who loves Jane Austen...a marvelously entertaining new series that turns the incomparable author into an extraordinary sleuth! On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband – a gentleman of mature years – is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune, as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery…and murder. Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords – a trail that may well place Jane's own person in the gravest jeopardy. – Syndetic Solutions

Major Character List

Pride and Prejudice

• Mr. Bennet: Father of five daughters, he is a gentleman landowner whose greatest pleasures in life seem to be his library and making gentle fun of his neighbors and certain members of his family. One of his great regrets is that he did not father a son, meaning that his estate, which can pass only to a male relative, cannot provide for his family after his death. His given name is never mentioned.
• Mrs. Bennet: Wife of Mr. Bennet (we never learn her given name), her major employments in life are matchmaking for her daughters, indulging in nervous fits, and vicariously enjoying the frivolous behavior of her two youngest daughters, especially Lydia.
• Jane Bennet: Twenty-two when the book opens, Jane is the oldest of the five Bennet daughters; she is also considered the most beautiful. Pleasant, dignified, and somewhat reserved, she knows that it is her duty to marry well.
• Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzy, Eliza): Second of the Bennet daughters, Elizabeth is twenty at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice. The female protagonist of the book, she is intelligent, witty, attractive, and independent. She is also her father’s favorite of all the daughters.
• Mary Bennet: Mary is the third oldest daughter. Prosy, prim, priggish and preachy, she spends much of time reading “improving” books and practicing the piano. She finds the social pursuits of her other sisters vapid and immature.
• Catherine Bennet (Kitty): Next youngest Bennet daughter, Kitty is Lydia’s closest companion and partner in most of her escapades. Kitty is devastated when Lydia is invited to visit Colonel Forster’s wife and she is not, but what seems at first to be Kitty’s loss turns out to be her gain.
• Lydia Bennet: Youngest Bennet daughter, Lydia is her mother’s favorite; together with her older sister Kitty, they comprise what their father describes as “two of the silliest girls in England.” Lydia is taken in by the wiles of handsome George Wickham; her elopement, while it scandalizes most of her family, soon becomes her mother’s pride as Lydia becomes first of the daughters to marry.
• Charles Bingley: The “single man in possession of a good fortune” of the opening sentence, Mr. Bingley is the tenant of Netherfield Hall. He quickly also becomes the object of Jane Bennet’s affections, but allows stronger-minded friends to dissuade him from pursuing the relationship.
• Fitzwilliam Darcy: Male protagonist of Pride and Prejudice, rich, handsome Mr. Darcy would seem to be the ideal prospective spouse, but his pride and apparent arrogance quickly prejudice almost everyone against him. Although he believes Elizabeth’s relatives make her unsuitable for marriage to him, he learns to love her, almost against his will.
• William Collins: Mr. Bennet’s cousin, he will inherit Mr. Bennet’s house and land due to the entail upon the estate. To “make amends for the injury” this will do to his “fair cousins” (the Bennet daughters), he determines to marry one of them. He first settles upon Jane, but upon learning that Mrs. Bennet expects Jane to become engaged to Mr. Bingley, decides that Elizabeth will make him the perfect wife. Elizabeth disagrees.
• George Wickham: George Wickham is the classic cad – handsome, narcissistic, and unprincipled. His story of unfair treatment at the hands of Mr. Darcy rouses the sympathy of all who hear it, especially if they are young ladies. The son of the steward upon the Darcy estate, he was reared almost as a brother to Fitzwilliam Darcy, and a distinguished career was planned for him, but Wickham prefers to enlist as an officer in the British Army and look for a rich woman to marry, while he attempts to seduce young women whose incomes don’t match his ambitions.
• Charlotte Lucas: Elizabeth’s good friend, Charlotte attracts the attention of Mr. Collins after Elizabeth refuses him. Her acceptance of Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal, and Elizabeth’s subsequent visit to their home, set the stage for Elizabeth’s eventual reconciliation with Mr. Darcy.
• Georgiana Darcy: Mr. Darcy’s ward and younger sister, she is one of Wickham’s earliest targets for both seduction and marriage. Mr. Darcy spoils those plans, but his pride forbids his sharing his knowledge of Wickham’s unprincipled character, putting other young ladies in danger of succumbing to Wickham’s charm.
• Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Mr. Darcy’s aunt and Mr. Collins’s patroness, she planned while Darcy and her own daughter were still babies for them to marry and merge their great estates. Mr. Darcy has no intention of following her matrimonial plans for him, and Lady Catherine’s visit to Elizabeth when she hears a rumor of Elizabeth’s being engaged to Mr. Darcy is both one of the funniest scenes in Pride and Prejudice and a pivotal plot point.
• Caroline Bingley: Mr. Bingley’s unmarried sister, she hopes to make a match between her brother and Georgiana Darcy, in the hope that it will smooth the way for her to marry Mr. Darcy. She pretends friendship for Jane Bennet but actually falls in with Mr. Darcy’s campaign to separate Jane and Mr. Bingley.

Discussion Questions

Pride and Prejudice

1. Pride and Prejudice opens with "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." How does this set the tone for the story to come?
2. If Pride and Prejudice is considered as an allegory, Mr. Darcy is often considered to represent Pride and Elizabeth Bennet, Prejudice. Do other characters symbolize those traits? Who? Why? Do Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth share both pride and prejudice?
3. What quality does Jane Bennet, the oldest daughter, represent?
4. What do you think of Charlotte Lucas’ decision to accept Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal upon such short acquaintance? What does this say about the status and role of women during this period?
5. Does Mr. Bennet’s disrespect for his wife contribute to Lydia’s elopement with Wickham? Why or why not? If so, how?
6. What one concept or idea in Pride and Prejudice did you find hardest to understand? Did it reduce your enjoyment of the novel? How would you find out more about this idea?
7. Would you like to have lived in Jane Austen’s world? Why or why not?
8. Do you think any of the Bennet daughters represents Austen herself? Which one? Why?
9. Landowning was an important circumstance during the era of Pride and Prejudice, and estates usually passed only father to son, or nearest male relative. What do you think of this system of inheritance? What effect do you think it had on the status of women?
10. Mrs. Bennet is a silly, ignorant woman, but it could be argued that her behavior is integral to the plot. Do you think so? Why or why not?
11. An interesting facet of Pride and Prejudice is that there are few truly “minor” characters – everyone has a part to play. Aside from the “main” characters, which do you think is most important? Why?
12. Austen’s stories are often described as character-driven, rather than action-driven. What do you think of this writing style?
13. Austen is often admired for her humor and gentle satire. How are these traits manifested in Pride and Prejudice?
14. Really, once you have seen the BBC / A & E video version of Pride and Prejudice, should anyone besides Colin Firth ever be allowed to play Mr. Darcy again?