Pride and Prejudice Summary
Jane Austen

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Pride and Prejudice Summary & Study Guide
63 Student Essay
1 Encyclopedia Article
19 Literature Criticism
1 Book Note
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30 Pride and Prejudice Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
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Pride and Prejudice Summary

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Perhaps the most famous opening lines from any nineteenth-century novel are the opening lines to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

These words are spoken by Mrs Bennet to Mr. Bennet on the news that a gentleman of fortune has just moved to Netherfield Park, a nearby estate. The Bennets begin this story with a peculiar problem: they have five unmarried daughters and no sons. Their estate is entailed, or restricted in inheritance, to Mr. Collins, a family cousin. Upon Mr. Bennet's death Mr. Collins will inherit the family lands, which will leave the Bennet daughters without a home or money. It becomes vital, therefore, that at least one of the daughters marries well in order to support and house their sisters (and mother if she... View more of the Pride and Prejudice Summary

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Encyclopedia Articles (1)

Pride and Prejudice

3,547 words, approx. 12 pages

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Despite her popularity, critics have argued that Jane Austen's works remain apart from the political, intellectual, and artistic revolutions of her era. Her Prid... Read more

Jane Austen Biography (4)

Jane Austen

12,465 words, approx. 42 pages

Biography EssayJane Austen stands not only as a novelist central to the Romantic period but as one of the supreme prose fiction writers of all literature written in English. Her many admirers include ... Read more

Jane Austen

1,266 words, approx. 5 pages

The English writer Jane Austen (1775-1817) was one of the most important novelists of the 19th century.In her intense concentration on the thoughts and feelings of a limited number of characters, Jane... Read more

Jane Austen

4,856 words, approx. 17 pages

"It is a truth universally acknowledged," wrote Jane Austen in the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice, "that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." With this st... Read more

Jane Austen

16,199 words, approx. 54 pages

Jane Austen is one of the few novelists in world literature who is regarded as a "classic" and yet is widely read. As the contemporary novelist Fay Weldon puts it, for generations of students and the ... Read more

Essays & Analysis (82)

Critical Essay by Joseph Wiesenfarth

10,290 words, approx. 35 pages

In the following essay, Wiesenfarth defends the aesthetic greatness of Pride and Prejudice, arguing that its plot is a sophisticated method of erecting an ideal value system. Pride and Prejudice has l... Read more

Critical Essay by Jean Ferguson Carr

8,765 words, approx. 30 pages

In the following essay, Carr analyzes the role of the mother in Pride and Prejudice, focusing on Mrs. Bennet's exclusion from the social world. She was a woman of mean understanding, little inf... Read more

Critical Essay by Joseph Litvak

6,273 words, approx. 21 pages

In the following essay, Litvak explores the ideas of disgust and pleasure in the various contexts in which they are presented in Pride and Prejudice. Let it be understood in all senses that what the w... Read more

Critical Essay by Gordon Hirsch

7,808 words, approx. 27 pages

In the following essay, Hirsch discusses Pride and Prejudice in the light of modern psychology, focusing on the role of shame in the novel. Elizabeth Bennet's great moment of psychological insi... Read more

Critical Essay by Matthew Schneider

4,975 words, approx. 17 pages

In the following essay, Schneider argues that card-playing serves as an apt metaphor for the courtship ritual in Pride and Prejudice. Henry Austen's casual observation that his novelist sister ... Read more

Critical Essay by Julia Prewitt Brown

5,065 words, approx. 17 pages

In the following essay, Brown discusses the ways in which Austen's novel depicts early nineteenth-century society, arguing that Austen explores the defining historical realities of her era. In ... Read more

Critical Essay by William Christie

10,722 words, approx. 36 pages

In the following essay, Christie finds that in Pride and Prejudice, a novel deeply concerned with the pressing political issues of the day, Austen's compromise between conservatism and progress... Read more

Critical Essay by Sandra Peña Cervel

10,453 words, approx. 35 pages

In the following essay, Cervel analyzes Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, a conceptual model for reality that, Cervel argues, Austen's novel exhibits. 1. Introd... Read more

Critical Essay by Susan Reilly

7,153 words, approx. 24 pages

In the following essay, Reilly stresses that, through her portrayal of the ideal and picturesque private estate at Pemberley, Austen reinforces English nationalism and decries the “dangerous en... Read more

Critical Essay by Barbara K. Seeber

2,973 words, approx. 10 pages

In the following essay, which applies Mikhail Bakhtin's linguistic theory of dialogism to Austen's works, Seeber concludes that Pride and Prejudice remains “haunted” by the... Read more

Critical Essay by Nora Foster Stovel

8,290 words, approx. 28 pages

In the following essay, Foster Stovel examines Elizabeth's first impressions of Mr. Darcy, claiming that the reader knows they are destined for each other from the beginning because of Austen&#... Read more

Critical Essay by Kenneth L. Moler

10,092 words, approx. 34 pages

In the following essay, Moler discusses the relationship between Pride and Prejudice and the novels of Fanny Burney and Samuel Richardson. In Pride and Prejudice, it is generally agreed, one encounter... Read more

Critical Essay by Judith Lowder Newton

7,132 words, approx. 24 pages

In the following essay, Newton examines the power dynamic in Pride and Prejudice, arguing that although men dominated Austen's society in economic and social privilege, Elizabeth Bennet represe... Read more

Critical Essay by A. Walton Litz

2,409 words, approx. 9 pages

In the following essay, Litz discusses Austen's use of landscape in Pride and Prejudice, focusing on how she employs “picturesque moments” to establish meaning and form. When I le... Read more

Critical Essay by Gary Kelly

8,043 words, approx. 27 pages

In the following essay, Kelly explores the role of reading in Pride and Prejudice, drawing a parallel between Elizabeth's inclination to read her world like a book and the reader's epist... Read more

Critical Essay by Dvora Zelicovici

4,743 words, approx. 16 pages

In the following essay, Zelicovici concentrates on the third volume of Pride and Prejudice, contending that it is vital in developing Mr. Darcy's and Elizabeth's reversals of conviction.... Read more

Critical Essay by Anne Waldron Neumann

15,244 words, approx. 51 pages

In the following essay, Neumann studies the speech and thought of Pride and Prejudice, calling attention to Austen's use of “double-voiced verbs,” or verbs that “conflate n... Read more

Critical Essay by Bruce Stovel

4,177 words, approx. 14 pages

In the following essay, Stovel asserts that Austen's novel allows for the interpretation that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relationship is an example of ideal love, as well as the view that... Read more

Critical Essay by Rachel M. Brownstein

5,437 words, approx. 19 pages

In the following essay, Brownstein focuses on several of Austen's novels, including Pride and Prejudice, to support her argument that Austen uses irony to convey a “discursive authority&... Read more

Pride and Prejudice

4,844 words, approx. 17 pages

Jane Austen was born in 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, a small town in southwest England, where she spent most of her life. She was the seventh of eight children and was raised in the middle class soci... Read more

Love or Money

1,249 words, approx. 5 pages

The18th century Society plays a very important role in an `ideal marriage'. In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, she illustrates that an `idea marriage' is hard to find. She demonstrates the co... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: Social Class

1,563 words, approx. 6 pages

Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813 and it depicts key themes in society and the impact these themes had on life for the characters in the novel. One of these themes is social class, whi... Read more

Ideas about Marriage from Campion and Austen

1,263 words, approx. 5 pages

Jane Austen expresses significant views on marriage in "Pride and Prejudice", but does so in very subtle and delicate ways. She is very critical of society's expectations of women in relation to the i... Read more

How Material Wealth and Social Class Affect Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

2,515 words, approx. 9 pages

The idea of how much marital decisions are affected by material wealth is instilled in a reader's mind during the first line, "it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of... Read more

Darcy's Letter in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,168 words, approx. 4 pages

Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, is aggressively denied, and is left shocked. He claims he "was not then master enough of [himself] to know what could or ought not to be revealed" (197), and returns home... Read more

Mrs. Bennet's Utter Nonsense

816 words, approx. 3 pages

Jane Austen, in her novel, Pride and Prejudice; creates deep and interesting characters with unique personalities. The distinctive tone and diction with which each character speaks reveals the temper... Read more

Pride and Prejudice

1,636 words, approx. 6 pages

The novel of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, was a love story in which two complete opposite characters overcame their pride and prejudice and fell deeply in love. The story to... Read more

Pride and Prejudice Love Letters

603 words, approx. 3 pages

In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, there were many letters. The letters were very important ways of communication. The letters reveal characters and love, one of the main themes in Pride and Preju... Read more

A Perfect Marriage

664 words, approx. 3 pages

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice brings together the li... Read more

Moral Ambiguity in "Pride and Prejudice"

647 words, approx. 3 pages

Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the wealthy Mr. Darcy is a character of moral ambiguity. Although inclined by his good looks and high income to think him benevolent and worthy of their time, the Bennet ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: A Critical Analysis

639 words, approx. 3 pages

The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is about a bright young woman named Elizabeth, and an elitist man named Fitzwilliam Darcy. The book centers on the feelings of Darcy's pride and Elizab... Read more

Compare Elizabeth Bennet's Attitude to Love and Marriage with That of Three Other Characters

2,204 words, approx. 8 pages

In Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, love and marriage are important issues in the lives of all the characters. Marriage for the gentry, at the time the novel was written, was very influential... Read more

The Impact of Wealth on Love Relationships in Pride and Prejudice

1,556 words, approx. 6 pages

In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice the effect of money propels the development of love relationships more than any other factor. There are three burgeoning relationships in the novel that can... Read more

Maturation in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,298 words, approx. 5 pages

Learning to block the next time someone throws a punch at you, never touching the hot stove after it scalded your hand, or learning that quitting does not get you anywhere are all examples of people l... Read more

Choice Vs. Chance in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,097 words, approx. 4 pages

Joel Weinsheimer's article "Chance and the hierarchy of marriages in Pride and Prejudice" defines chance as "ignorance of causes and consequences" and supposes it to be the driving force behind the... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: Lady Catherine

1,026 words, approx. 4 pages

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses Lady Catherine as a stereotyped character to develop one of her major themes - that gentility should be based upon manners, morals, persona... Read more

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

1,064 words, approx. 4 pages

Jane Austen says of Charlotte, Chapter 22, after she had accepted Mr. Collins proposal: `Without thinking highly of either men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only ho... Read more

Cultural Context and Values

1,228 words, approx. 5 pages

Jane Austen's description of the involvement and feelings of ordinary eighteenth century life is realistically recreated as an urban satire of modern human relations. The parallels to be distinguished... Read more

Ideas about Marriage in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"

906 words, approx. 4 pages

Jane Austen expresses significant views on marriage, but does so in very subtle and delicate ways. We, the readers, are frequently required to re-evaluate our own views on the role of marriage in the ... Read more

The Constraints of Society on the Caracters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

2,022 words, approx. 7 pages

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is written with the purpose of showing the reader the importance of society in the novel's time. Miss Elizabeth Bennet is lively woman whose family's finan... Read more

Love and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

658 words, approx. 3 pages

"I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable . . . You have widely mistaken my character, if you think I can be worked on by such persuasions as these... but you certainly have no ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice and Falling in Love

1,984 words, approx. 7 pages

One of the most famous extracts from the novel, Austen allows her two protagonists to take each other on in a battle of words and wits, showing up the intellectual superiority of the two in sharp cont... Read more

Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice

1,016 words, approx. 4 pages

Feminism became a recognized movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but it didn't effect the lives of many women until the twentieth century. Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice, b... Read more

Pride and Prejudice, a Critical Analysis

2,387 words, approx. 8 pages

In Jane Austen's `Pride and Prejudice' the main character is Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth receives two proposals, one from Mr Collins and the other from Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy is a wealthy man who is a fri... Read more

Power, Pride and Prejudice

686 words, approx. 3 pages

In Pride and Prejudice the author uses two main types of power. Power is not a prominent part of the book and is quite subtle. The first type of power is the power of money in the period the book is ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Collins' Proposals

3,204 words, approx. 11 pages

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a novel about marriage and the different attitudes people had towards it, the social conventions of the time, and the role of women in society. Austen wrote pride ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: An Examination of Mr. Bennet

314 words, approx. 2 pages

"Mr. Bennets Characteristics" Everyone has their own unique qualities and differences. In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Mr. Bennet, the father of five daughter and husband to Mrs. Bennet, has h... Read more

Dignified Men in Pride and Prejudice

321 words, approx. 2 pages

"Two men both alike in dignity" (line 1, prologue of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare) describes two similar but very different men in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. There we are... Read more

Central Characters and Concerns in Pride and Prejudice

2,183 words, approx. 8 pages

The first sentence of the novel `Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen is that "it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Th... Read more

Pride and Prejudice, a Plot Summary

564 words, approx. 2 pages

Pride and Prejudice is about two wealthy men, and five daughters. Jane and Elizabeth are the two oldest of the Bennets. The Bennets are a middle class family, with five daughters. Mr. Bingley and Mr ... Read more

Scene Analysis in Pride and Prejudice

1,221 words, approx. 5 pages

This passage occurs shortly after Elizabeth has received a letter from mr.darcy. The reason for the writing of the letter comes from the fact that Elizabeth had accused Darcy of two main issues. The... Read more

Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

2,169 words, approx. 8 pages

At the time Jane Austen wrote `Pride and Prejudice,' in 1813, a successful marriage was considered one in which both parties, but particularly the woman, benefited financially and socially, as social ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: The Fine Line Between Love and Hate

2,052 words, approx. 7 pages

Samantha Weis 2-9-05 English IV 1st hour Fine Line Between Love and Hate The line between love and hate is truly tested when referring to Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy's relationship in Pride ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice

635 words, approx. 3 pages

Characters and events that take place in novels mean things to the reader, helping them learn things about life, or further develop things that have already happened in their life. The novel Pride an... Read more

Conventions of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

2,588 words, approx. 9 pages

Jane Austen uses the relationships of the characters in Pride and Prejudice to accurately satirize the convention of marriage. To contradict the conventional ideals and beliefs of society, she concen... Read more

Jane Austen's Middle-class Female

1,235 words, approx. 5 pages

Dan Owen Essay B3 Jane Austen's Middle-Class Female Jane Austin insightfully portrays the class mentalities of the middle and upper classes during the early nineteenth century in her novel Pride an... Read more

Reader Sympathy For Elizabeth in "Pride and Prejudice"

520 words, approx. 2 pages

Sympathy In Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", it seems as though Elizabeth has a tendency of violating the rules of society, and making everyone disapprove of her actions. To the modern day re... Read more

Narrative Techniques of Ivan Turgenev and Jane Austen

1,630 words, approx. 6 pages

In this essay, I attempt to show that both Elizabeth and Arkady exist in different eras of the century, however, they are not totally affected by the predominant social perceptions widely adopted by t... Read more

Satire in Pride and Prejudice

666 words, approx. 3 pages

In her Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses satire to convey the social commentary of the book. Austen pokes fun at many aspects of the culture and conventions of her time, and almost no facet of soc... Read more

Character Analysis of "Pride and Prejudice"

1,046 words, approx. 4 pages

Pride and Prejudice The characters and general setting in Jane Austen's;" Pride and Prejudice", portray life in the rural society of the day. Austen is very clear in setting up the social classes of... Read more

Bumbing Mrs. Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice"

792 words, approx. 3 pages

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, portrayed as the fool of the novel, has a lack of originality and character: that is, she is quite mainstream in her actions and her opinions. This a... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: An Evaluation of Natures

567 words, approx. 2 pages

In a novel that describes a town crazed with the superficial qualifications for marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy offer contrast, not only by ignoring the boundaries of social class but also by analyzing... Read more

Elizabeth's Rebellion in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,930 words, approx. 7 pages

Jane Austen, a writer in 19th Century England, wrote about what she knew; namely the societal norms of her era and class. In a time where men were given all the status and privileges, she wrote novels... Read more

"The Distance Is Nothing When One Has a Motive"

465 words, approx. 2 pages

Pride and Prejudice In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen writes: "The distance is nothing when one has a motive." This comment is seen and experienced by everyone who becomes successful in their lif... Read more

Pride & Prejudice

2,013 words, approx. 7 pages

Pride & Prejudice "We are to be the happiest couple in the World." The representation of the individual within society is inherently linked to the context of a text creation. However this does not i... Read more

Elizabeth Benett: a Challenge to Convention

1,378 words, approx. 5 pages

Elizabeth Bennet: A Challenge to Convention "Girls have long been evaluated on the basis of appearance and caught in myriad double binds: achieve, but not too much, be polite, but be yourself, be fem... Read more

The Matrimonial Value Orientation in Pride and Prejudice

4,556 words, approx. 16 pages

Money and Marriage----The matrimonial value orientation in Pride and Prejudice [Abstract] Pride and prejudice is a very popular novel written by Jane Austen and it is read widely all over the world. ... Read more

Pride and Prejudice

2,912 words, approx. 10 pages

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife... There was a tendency to marry for money in early 19th century England. It was ve... Read more

The Marriage of the Bennets in "Pride and Prejudice"

324 words, approx. 2 pages

The marriage of Mr and Mrs Bennet in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is the first marriage in the novel. There were many faults in this marriage. One of the faults is that Mr Bennet does not show ... Read more

Critique of a Fraiman's Criticism of "Pride and Predjudice"

1,254 words, approx. 5 pages

Susan Fraiman's The Humiliation of Elizabeth Bennet is a completely different analysis of Jane Austen's "Emma" than most before it. She introduces revolutionary ideas that deal with Emma's relationsh... Read more

"Bridget Jones's Diary" Parallels with "Pride and Prejudice"

1,406 words, approx. 5 pages

To be single and 'running against time' is not the cocktail a woman in her thirties wants to be having. Instead, she should be at home with her 1.7 children and her career making husband to support th... Read more

First Impressions

1,042 words, approx. 4 pages

First Impressions The original title for Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was First Impressions. Even though Pri... Read more

Movie or Book, That Is a Question

1,077 words, approx. 4 pages

Too often, movie versions of great works of literature are not faithful to the book. Sometimes, directors dilute the original author's intent and make the viewing experience less enjoyable. Such did n... Read more

Love and Marriage in "Pride and Prejudice"

2,427 words, approx. 9 pages

Jane Austen was born into a family that consisted of boys apart from her elder sister who was two years older than her. The social status of the family was not unlike the Bennets in Pride and Preju... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: A Feminist Perspective

1,013 words, approx. 4 pages

Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice is a story teeming with social criticisms of 19th century British society. One of the main targets of Austen's criticism is the repressive role taken towards wo... Read more

The Symbolism of Elizabeth and Lydia in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,137 words, approx. 4 pages

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the five Bennet sisters clearly divide into two groups. Elizabeth is head of the well-behaved girls and her equivalent Lydia, represents the badly behaved. Lydi... Read more

Analysis of Chapter 11 of "Pride and Prejudice"

1,077 words, approx. 4 pages

Chapter 11 of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen opens with two lines from the third person, or omniscient narrator, who is focalizing through Elizabeth Bennett. Focalizing, meaning that it is the n... Read more

Pride and Prejudice: First Impressions

631 words, approx. 3 pages

Pride and Prejudice, though now considered a classic, was not always known by its current title. When originally published, Jane Austen's novel was titled First Impressions. Though later renamed, fi... Read more

Elizabeth in 'Pride and Prejudice' and Jane Eyre in 'Jane Eyre'

742 words, approx. 3 pages

Being published in the nineteenth century in England, the two famous novels Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte both focus on the issues of love and marriage. Especial... Read more

Comparison of Novel and Film Versions of "Pride and Prejudice"

1,466 words, approx. 5 pages

Upon comparing and contrasting the movie and the book of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, I have found many contrasts between them. These changes do not alter the plot and the theme of Pride and Pr... Read more

The Rise of the Middle Class in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,027 words, approx. 4 pages

Throughout the history of civilized nations, revolution has been the only true catalyst for change within the system of government. In America, our ancestors revolted against the British to gai... Read more

Society's Moral Development through Reform in "Pride and Prejudice"

1,881 words, approx. 7 pages

Jane Austen is seen as a social scientist. In her novels she explores, comments and at times reveals the underlying conventions of her immediate society, the upper middle class of 19th century England... Read more

Free Book Notes (1)

Pride and Prejudice

18,575 words, approx. 62 pages

Pride and Prejudice Book Notes is a free study guide on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Browse the summary below: Author Biography / Context of the Work One-Page Plot Summary &... Read more

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