Pride and Prejudice Study Guide
Novel Review
1)
What specific genre does Pride and
Prejudice belong to? How does it add to the
greater significance of Austen’s work?
2)
What is the setting the novel? Describe time,
place, and the culture of the characters in the
novel.
3)
What is the name of the social class Austen
and her characters belong to? What was the
criteria to be considered part of the class?
4)
Describe the expectations for a young man
of Austen’s social class in this time period. How
were they supposed to act? What were they
supposed to do? What should they have desired
from life?
5)
Describe the expectations for a young
woman of Austen’s social class in this time
period.
How were they supposed to act? What were they
supposed to do? What should they have desired
from life?
Plot Review
1) When Mr. Bingley moves to Netherfield Park, why is Mrs. Bennet so excited?
2) How does Darcy and Elizabeth’s first meeting go?
3) Why does Mrs. Bennet not allow Jane to take the carriage to the Bingley estate upon
being invited?
4) What do the Bingley sisters think of the Bennet sisters? Why?
5) Mr. Collins asks, in a letter, to visit the Bennets. What is his supposed reason for doing so,
and what is his actual reason for doing so?
6) Elizabeth meets a charming army boy named Mr. Wickham, who happens to know Mr.
Darcy. What does he tell Elizabeth about their past?
7) When Elizabeth is invited to visit the Collins estate, how does Lady Catherine treat her?
How about Mr. Darcy?
8) Darcy proposes to Elizabeth while she is staying with the Collinses. How does she react,
and why?
9) Darcy writes a very important letter to Elizabeth – what does he confess in it? What is the
thematic significance of this letter – why did we discuss it as the major turning point of
the novel?
10) Elizabeth returns home and soon grows bored. She is taken on a trip northwards, to
Derbyshire, by Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. What is significant, thematically speaking, about
their social class?
11) Describe how Darcy acts at Derbyshire. How does he treat Elizabeth and her family?
What reasons might we have for supposing he is acting this way so suddenly?
12) Elizabeth receives yet another important letter, informing her Lydia has eloped with Mr.
Wickham. Why does this shock her so? Why it such a big deal?
13) Once the dust has settled from the whole Wickham and Lydia debacle, Elizabeth learns
from her aunt the true story of how the marriage was settled. Describe those events
briefly.
14) Bingley returns to Hertfordshire, with Darcy in tow. He eventually summons the courage
to propose to Jane. How does Jane and her family react?
15) Describe Elizabeth’s apology to Darcy for the way her family has treated him, and thanks
for everything he’s done. What is Darcy’s response?
16) Once Elizabeth and Darcy decide their intentions to marry, who is the last person’s
consent they require? What does Elizabeth say to convince him – why is this important to
understanding Jane Austen’s ideas about love and marriage?
1) List five major themes of the novel, and provide a quote from the text that illustrates this
theme.
2) Choose three of those themes and explain how Jane Austen uses them to critique the
society of her time.
3)