Pride and Prejudice, Volume 1

Discussion Questions:

  1. Complete the quotation: “It is a truth universally acknowledge, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a ______.”
  2. The Bennet Family lives in the village of ______.
  3. Mr. Bingley, when he attends the ball in Meryton, seems to be quite taken with ______.
  4. Explain what indirect characterization reveals about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Chapter 1.
  5. According to Mr. Bennet, what does Elizabeth have that his others daughters do not possess?
  6. How does Darcy respond when he sees that Elizabeth needs a dance partner? How does Elizabeth react?
  7. Elizabeth’s best friend is named ______.
  8. Why does Jane’s visit to the Bingleys end up lasting for days?
  9. What does Elizabeth’s refusal to wait for a carriage in her haste to nurse Jane reveal about her character?
  10. How is Mr. Collins connected to the Bennets? What is Mr. Collins’s primary reason for visiting Longbourn?
  11. What does it mean that Mr. Bennet’s property is entailed?
  12. Explain how Darcy and Wickham are acquainted. According to Wickham, why is their relationship strained?
  13. Explain the irony in Mrs. Bennet’s indiscreet comments at Netherfield ball.
  14. How is the theme of pride and prejudice illustrated in Elizabeth’s opinions of Darcy and Wickham?
  15. After Elizabeth refuses him, Mr. Collins proposes to another woman. Who is she, and what is Elizabeth’s response to the engagement? Why does she react this way?
  16. To which Bennet daughter does Mr. Collins propose?
  17. Whom does Mr. Collins marry?
  18. Why does Miss Bingley dislike Elizabeth?
  19. Where do the Bingleys and Darcy go for the winter?
  20. Who has “taken” or let Netherfield Park?
  21. List the Bennet sisters.
  22. For what are the Bennet sisters known?
  23. What characteristic of Elizabeth’s first attracts Darcy?
  24. Who said, “My good opinion, once lost is lost forever”?
  25. What does Caroline Bingley do to try and attract Darcy’s attention?
  26. To whom does Mr. Bennet refer when he says, “who, when I am dead, may turn you all out of this house…”?
  27. In whom is Mr. Collins first interested as a potential wife?
  28. To whom does he quickly change his intentions after a discussion with Mrs. Bennet?
  29. What qualities of Wickham’s influence Elizabeth to think favorably of him?
  30. Who is Mr. Darcy’s aunt?
  31. Who does Elizabeth not see at the Netherfield ball?
  32. List four ways Elizabeth’s family embarrasses her at the Netherfield ball.