Chapters 1–5

With the opening line, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’, Austen introduces the theme of marriage through her signature use of irony; the line establishes the man as the active subject, but an alternative reading could just as easily position the woman as the active subject: ‘Everyone knows a wealthy man will be sought after by women wanting to be his wife.’

In rural, Hertfordshire county, the Bennet family of Longbourn estate are pleased with the news that Mr Bingley, a wealthy, single gentleman, has rented nearby, Netherfield Park. Mrs Bennet urges Mr Bennet to visit Mr Bingley in the hope that one of their five daughters may be introduced as a potential suitor. Austen uses dialogue to comically contrast the different natures of Mr and Mrs Bennet; the chatty Mrs Bennet does not even register the slight derisions of her husband who appears to enjoy annoying his wife. Some clear favouritism in the family is shown through Mr Bennet favouring Elizabeth’s cleverness and Mrs Bennet favouring Jane’s beauty and Lydia’s wit.

Mr Bennet had always intended of visiting Mr Bingley, though presented as indifferent, and withholds the details of such visit from his family for a time, enjoying the delay of his gratification at their astonishment. As expected, Mrs Bennet and her five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth (Lizzy), Mary, Catherine (Kitty) and Lydia are thrilled with their father’s news but try as they might, are unable to extract any further information from him about Mr Bingley. Mr Bingley repays the visit to Mr Bennet but does not meet the Longbourn daughters, who will instead have to wait until the Meryton ball to meet the mysterious man.

Mr Bingley attends the ball with his two sisters, Caroline and Mrs Hurst, brother-in-law Mr Hurst, and friend Mr Darcy. While Mr Bingley is immediately liked by all for his warm personality and easy nature, Mr Darcy is judged as arrogant and disagreeable, none more so than by Elizabeth when she overhears him refusing Mr Bingley’s suggestion that Mr Darcy dance with her. Mr Bingley spends much of the party conversing with Jane and dances with her twice.

After the ball, Jane and Elizabeth discuss the party. Jane admits to having feelings for Mr Bingley and while Elizabeth approves, she cautions her sister about her tendency to view people too positively while failing to see their flaws, something Elizabeth is not guilty of, being more critical in her observations. The otherwise close sisters also differ in their views on Mr Bingley’s sisters; Jane sees them as charming, Elizabeth as calculating. Austen reveals background information about Bingley, his inheriting his late father’s wealth and his long-time friendship with Mr Darcy despite their ‘great opposition of character’. Mr Bingley, his sisters and Mr Darcy also discuss the ball, and all agree Jane to be beautiful and sweet, thus establishing her as a suitor for Mr Bingley.

The daughters and wife of Sir William Lucas, onetime merchant, now knighted and overly proud neighbour of the Bennets, pay the Longbourn ladies a visit to discuss the ball. All acknowledge Mr Bingley’s interest in Jane and their criticism of Mr Darcy. Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s close friend, sympathises with Mr Darcy’s arrogant treatment of Elizabeth but concedes his wealth and status give him the right to be proud. Elizabeth agrees but resents that his right has come at the expense of her own pride. Charlotte’s assessment of Mr Darcy highlights society’s views at the time regarding the wealthy, while Mary’s comments introduce the theme of pride as universal to human nature but differentiated from vanity.

Chapter 1–5 Quotes

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife. Chapter 1

‘… but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.’ (Mr Bennet) Chapter 1

‘… You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion for my poor nerves.’
‘You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these last twenty years at least.’ (Mr & Mrs Bennet) Chapter 1

Mr Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Chapter 1

Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. (about Mrs Bennet) Chapter 1

The business of her [Mrs Bennet] life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. Chapter 1

‘She is a selfish, hypocritical woman, and I have no opinion of her’. (Mrs Bennet about Mrs Long) Chapter 2

‘…What say you, Mary? For you are a young lady of deep reflection … and read great books and make extracts.’
Mary wished to say something sensible, but knew not how. (Mr Bennet to Mary) Chapter 2

Mr Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. Chapter 3

Mr Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien [appearance], and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. Chapter 3

His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again. (about Mr Darcy) Chapter 3

She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. (Elizabeth on Mr Darcy’s refusal to ask her to dance) Chapter 3

‘… 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 being in your life.’ (Elizabeth to Jane) Chapter 4

Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced, their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. (Jane talking to Elizabeth about Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley) Chapter 4

He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well-bred, were not inviting. In that respect his friend had greatly the advantage. Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offense. (about Mr Darcy) Chapter 4

That the Miss Lucases and the Miss Bennets should meet to talk over a ball was absolutely necessary … Chapter 5

‘His pride … does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud.’ (Charlotte Lucas about Mr Darcy) Chapter 5

‘Pride … is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary.’ (Mary) Chapter 5

‘Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.’ (Mary) Chapter 5

Chapters 6–10

Mr Bingley’s sisters exchange visits and become better acquainted with Jane and Elizabeth, though they do not have a high regard for Mrs Bennet. The Bennet sisters also see more of Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy. Charlotte stresses to Elizabeth that Jane should not conceal her feelings for Bingley lest he lose interest but Elizabeth disagrees and contends that more than four dates are needed to understand someone’s character.

Meanwhile, oblivious to Elizabeth, Mr Darcy’s interest in her is increasing; Austen outlines the transformation of his feelings from ‘scarcely allow[ing] her to be pretty’ to ‘the beautiful expression of her dark eyes’, the ‘easy playfulness’ of her manners, and finally, his ‘wish to know more of her’. At a large gathering at Sir William Lucas’, Elizabeth is coerced into singing, before being succeeded by an eager Mary, and then is forcefully presented as a dance partner to Mr Darcy, whom she steadfastly refuses. Mr Darcy’s confession of his admiration for Elizabeth to Miss Bingley astonishes the latter and compels her to criticise the Bennet family, which Mr Darcy ignores.

Austen introduces the subject of ‘entails’, an old British custom which designated that inheritances passed to male family members or relatives in order to keep them in the bloodline, and which in the present case meant that Mr Bennet was unable to leave Longbourn to his daughters.

The narrative turns to Lydia and Kitty who are known to visit their aunt, Mrs Phillips, in Meryton a few times a week. The sisters have shown interest in a group of militia soldiers that are stationed there over the winter so it is likely their visits are to increase.

Jane receives a dinner invitation from the Bingley girls and is cunningly directed by Mrs Bennet to attend on horseback rather than carriage, in the hope it will rain and Jane will be forced to spend the night, thus have further association with Mr Bingley. Mrs Bennet’s plan miraculously works and not only does it rain but Jane becomes ill and is urged by the Bingleys to stay at Netherfield until she recovers. On learning of Jane’s situation by letter, and there being no available carriage to transport her, Elizabeth walks the three miles to check on her sister. Elizabeth’s dishevelled state on arrival, as predicted by Mrs Bennet, shocks the Bingley sisters but gives her a healthier complexion, in Mr Darcy’s opinion. Meanwhile, with Jane’s condition worsening, Elizabeth is invited to stay at Netherfield to care for her.

Elizabeth has dinner then returns to care for Jane in her room. In her absence, the Bingley sisters set about criticising Elizabeth’s manners and style, and the state in which she arrived to Netherfield. Tempering these negative comments are those of the more considerate Mr Bingley, who commends Elizabeth’s devotion to her sister and that of the class-conscious Mr Darcy, who pities the reduced chances of the Bennet sisters marrying well given their low family connections.

After Jane goes to sleep, Elizabeth joins the group, who are now playing cards, but instead decides to read until her interest is piqued by their conversation. Miss Bingley asks after Mr Darcy’s younger sister which segues into a conversation about the merits that characterise an accomplished woman. Elizabeth challenges the extensive criteria put forward by Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley, contending she has never met such a woman. Elizabeth’s witty dialogue is matched only by Mr Darcy’s as Austen reveals the chemistry between them. The kind-hearted Mr Bingley praises women for having the patience in attaining to the ideal.

The following day, Elizabeth requests that her mother visit Jane. Mrs Bennet arrives, accompanied by Kitty and Lydia, and is pleased that Jane is not too ill but unwell enough that the apothecary recommends she stay longer at Netherfield. Mrs Bennet’s unrestrained behaviour, as she chatters incessantly and even insulting Mr Darcy, embarrasses Elizabeth who tries to divert her mother’s thoughts until she finally leaves. Mr Darcy offends Mrs Bennet with a comment that suggests all people who live in the country are similar.

In the evening, Mr Darcy writes to his sister, while having to subvert the flirtations and flattery of Miss Bingley. When Mr Bingley’s character is referred to as humble, a debate is sparked, mainly between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, about the virtue of yielding to a friend’s persuasion. As the evening progresses, and the Bingley sisters play the piano and sing, Elizabeth notices Mr Darcy frequently look at her, disapprovingly she assumes, so that when he asks her to dance, she wittily refuses, robbing him of what she thinks is his intention to deride her. A jealous Miss Bingley witnesses the interaction and later teases Mr Darcy about the idea of him marrying into the lower-classed Bennet family.

Chapters 6–10 Quotes

‘Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.’ (Charlotte Lucas) Chapter 6

… Mary, who having, in consequence of being the only plain one in the family, worked hard for knowledge and accomplishments, was always impatient for display. Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached. Chapter 6

‘From all that I can collect by your manner of talking, you must be two of the silliest girls in the country. I have suspected it some time, but I am now convinced.’ (Mr Bennet about Kitty and Lydia) Chapter 7

‘But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world …’ (Mr Darcy, on the low family connections of the Bennet sisters) Chapter 8

‘It is amazing to me … how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are.’ (Mr Bingley) Chapter 8

‘A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the world will be but half-deserved.’ (Miss Bingley on the ‘accomplished woman’) Chapter 8

‘All this she must possess … and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading’. (Mr Darcy, adding to Miss Bingley’s assessment of the accomplished woman) Chapter 8

‘I did not know before … that you were a studier of character. It must be an amusing study.’
‘Yes, but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at least that advantage.’ (Mr Bingley to Elizabeth) Chapter 9

‘The country … can in general supply but a few subjects for such a study. In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society.’ (Mr Darcy, assuming rural people are all the same) Chapter 9

Lydia was a stout, well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured countenance; a favourite with her mother, whose affection had brought her into public at an early age. Chapter 9

‘You appear to me, Mr Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection. A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.’ (Elizabeth) Chapter 10

Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry; but there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any women as he was by her. (When Elizabeth rejects Mr Darcy’s offer to dance) Chapter 10

‘I hope … you will give your mother-in-law a few hints … as to the advantage of holding her tongue; and if you can compass it, do sure the younger girls of running after officers …’
‘Have you anything else to propose for my domestic felicity?’
‘Oh! yes. Do let the portraits of your uncle and aunt Phillips get placed in the gallery at Pemberley. Put them next to your great-uncle the judge. They are in the same profession, you know, only in different lines.’ (Miss Bingley teasing about Mr Darcy marrying into Elizabeth’s family) Chapter 10

Chapters 11–15

Jane is well enough to join the others for tea after dinner, where she and Mr Bingley become further acquainted. Elizabeth, Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley read, though Miss Bingley spends most of her time unsuccessfully trying to get the attention of Mr Darcy, until she asks Elizabeth to take a turn around the room with her, which causes him to look up. Mr Darcy’s character comes up for discussion during which he candidly presents his flaws, including his tendency to be resentful, that his ‘good opinion once lost, is lost forever’. Elizabeth chastises his inability to move beyond first impressions and Mr Darcy perceptively responds that it is she who wilfully misunderstands people.

With Jane now recovered, she and Elizabeth ask their mother to send the coach to collect them but Mrs Bennet refuses, hoping the girls will stay on. Mr Bingley’s coach is borrowed and the Bennet sisters leave Netherfield to the ‘real sorrow’ of Mr Bingley but to the relief of Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley, the former, who is falling for Elizabeth, the latter, who welcomes the removal of her rival.

At Longbourn the following day, Mr Bennet announces the expected arrival of Mr Collins, a male cousin to whom Longbourn is entailed. He reads aloud a letter from Mr Collins stating he has recently been ordained a clergyman through the patronage of Lady Catherine De Bourgh and wished to extend an olive branch to the family to make amends to the Bennet daughters for the entail.

Mr Collins arrives punctually and is received politely, though Mr Bennet says little. The servility and self-importance Mr Bennet had detected in Mr Collins’ letter is on display when, at dinner, Mr Collins first announces he has come ‘prepared to admire’ the Bennet daughters, then apologises for ‘about a quarter of an hour’ for offending Mrs Bennet, having assuming dinner had been cooked by one of her daughters thereby suggesting she was unable to afford a cook.

During dinner, Mr Bennet invites Mr Collins to speak about his patroness, Lady Catherine. Mr Collins is lavish in his praise for Lady Catherine’s affability, despite her high rank, and describes his obligation of pleasuring her with delicate compliments about Ms de Bourgh, her charming, yet sickly, daughter. The conversation ends with Mr Bennet’s expectations confirmed: Mr Collins is ‘absurd’. After dinner, Mr Collins reads three pages of a book of sermons ‘with very monotonous solemnity’ until an interruption by Lydia offends him and he admonishes her behaviour before leaving the ladies to their own devices and turning to a game of backgammon with Mr Bennet.

Austen provides background on Mr Collins, who was raised by an ‘illiterate and miserly father’ and had chanced upon a fortunate association with Lady Catherine’s. Mr Collins is simultaneously humble and self-important, and the amends he intends to make to the Bennet daughters for the loss of their estate is to marry one of them. Learning from Mrs Bennet that Jane is to be engaged, he sets his sights on Elizabeth, and Mrs Bennet delights at the prospect of two married daughters.

Mr Collins joins Elizabeth and her sisters on their walk to Meryton, with Lydia and Kitty excited to see some officers based there. The group is introduced to a new officer, Wickham, whose good looks, charming manners, and easy conversation impress Elizabeth, and contrast that of Mr Darcy. Shortly after, when Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy unexpectedly pass by and the parties greet, Elizabeth notices an awkwardness between Mr Darcy and Wickham that intrigues her.

Chapter 11–15 Quotes

‘I hope I never ridicule what is wise and good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies, do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.’ (Elizabeth to Mr Darcy) Chapter 11

‘.. it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule.’
‘Such as vanity and pride.’
‘Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride – where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.’ (Darcy to Elizabeth) Chapter 11

He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention. (Mr Darcy, starting to having feelings for Elizabeth) Chapter 11

‘He must be an oddity, I think. … I cannot make him out. There is something very pompous in his style. And what can he mean by apologising for being next in the entail? We cannot suppose he would help it if he could…’ (Elizabeth about Mr Collins) Chapter 13

His cousin was as absurd as he had hoped, and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment, maintaining at the same time the most resolute composure of countenance, and, except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in his pleasure. (Mr Bennet on Mr Collins) Chapter 14

…the young man wanted only regimentals to make him completely charming. His appearance was greatly in his favour; he had all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address. … a happy readiness of conversation— a readiness at the same time perfectly correct and unassuming… (Wickham) Chapter 15

Mrs. Phillips was always glad to see her nieces … Chapter 15