Pride and Prejudice

Set in the early nineteenth century, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice tells the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth's ambitious but...

From early on in the novel, it can be seen that Darcy falls victim to Elizabeth Bennet's "dark eyes," and yet it is clear that when he makes his first proposal, he may be in love with her, but his...

A great deal of Austen's wit is actually seen through the use of irony. In Pride and Prejudice, we see all three types of irony displayed: verbal, situational, and dramatic.The use of verbal irony...

In chapter 1:14, Mr. Collins provides a list of three reasons for marrying Elizabeth. Mr. Collins does not list the reasons in the most romantic way, and they are not the most romantic reasons....

Elizabeth's falling in love with Mr. Darcy is a gradual process; it doesn't take place in a single moment. Over a period of time, Elizabeth starts to see the real Darcy, the Darcy beneath the...

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen. It was first published in 1813 and deals with the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. According to the first sentence...

A Domestic Novel is a type of fiction that was prevalent in the early-to-mid-nineteenth century, and was primarily read by women. The Domestic Novel has certain defining characteristics, among...

The main theme of the novel is that perception is not reality. Elizabeth's prejudice and Darcy's pride are both forms of blindness. Elizabeth forms an implacable prejudice against Darcy the first...

Dancing is a central metaphor in Pride and Prejudice, as Azar Nafisi points out in her book Reading Lolita in Tehran. In particular, Nafasi teases out the particulars of eighteenth-century (and...

The opening sentence, while intriguing in itself, reveals further depths of meaning retrospectively. Its richness stems in large part from the teasing ambiguities of the narrative point of view. As...

Charlotte takes a very practical, rather than romantic, view on marriage. She is twenty-seven years old with no prospects, and she faces the very real danger of becoming a spinster. She seems to...

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are both round and dynamic characters. Indeed, the novel is largely about how they both change. When Mr. Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth while she is staying at...

The irony of Elizabeth's actions hits Darcy over the head. He is not used to women refusing him, he is accustomed to women falling all over him because of his social position and financial status....

At the dance where she first meets Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is sitting down because there are not enough male partners. She overhears Bingley urging Darcy to ask her to dance. Darcy says that Elizabeth...

Another point to add is to consider how Elizabeth represents the title of the novel. Where and why is she prideful and what are her prejudices? How do those qualities and notions affect her...

The central theme of the novel Pride and Prejudice is basically the consistent search of true love despite every obstacle that comes our way. The main character of the story, Elizabeth Bennet,...

In Chapter 21, Jane receives a letter from Caroline Bingley informing her that she and her brother have left the countryside for London, where, she says, her brother will be happy to be reunited...

Charlotte, who is in her mid-to-late twenties, is already an "old maid" by the standards of her day. She points out that she is not as fair as many of her friends; in addition, she has...

Both terms in the title of Jane Austen’s novel can apply to several individual characters and, more generally, to English society overall. Both terms have primarily negative connotations, and...

The main climax in the novel Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is the moment when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth. Surely there are several moments of suspense and intensity in the novel, but a...

The turning point in a story is officially called the climax. The climax occurs the moment a story's conflict reaches its point of greatest intensity and the story's resolution is in sight. All...

Pride and Prejudice is famous for its use of irony. In irony, the intended or literal meaning of words is different from their actual meaning. Pride and Prejudice's first line is often cited as the...

Austen, unlike her contemporaries of the Romantic movement, actually prefers not spend a great deal of time describing either setting or characters. As far as descriptions go, she only says what is...

I love the Netherfield Ball in chapter 18. Here, Elizabeth gets her chance to come back at Darcy for his treatment of her at the first ball. She has the upper hand in terms of their conversation...

Main ideas are usually attributed to short stories, since they are more concise and focus on dealing with one or two specific themes. Novels, especially one as lengthy and complex as Pride and...

We can find many different moral lessons in Pride and Prejudice depending on which subplot we analyze. The moral lesson of Lydia’s story is different from that of Charlotte Lucas’s, for instance....

Austen's novels often suggest strong themes in her titles, occasionally including two seemingly opposing concepts against one another, such as "pride and prejudice" or "sense and sensibility" (also...

Jane's happiness on her engagement to Bingley: "Jane could have no reserves from Elizabeth, where confidence would give pleasure; and instantly embracing her, acknowledged, with the liveliest...

After all the various twists and turns, the numerous setbacks and misunderstandings, the conclusion to the story is generally a happy one. Jane and Elizabeth fulfill society's expectations by...

The ultimate goal for a young woman in Victorian London and during Jane Austen's time was to come out into society, meet a suitable gentleman to take care of her, provide her a home, and make her...

In answering this question, consider the character of Mr. Collins and then his reaction to Lady Catherine. His past and his current living as the rector of Hunsford both have an impact on the...

Colonel Fitzwilliam is a younger son of Mr. Darcy's uncle, a lord, and so he is not entitled to inherit much because the family estate will pass on to his older brother. Further, at Lady...

Mood is the emotional feeling that the reader perceives when reading a work. Mood is the way the author wants you to feel as you follow the characters and actions of the story. Of course, mood may...

I don’t agree. Pride and Prejudice defies easy categorization, as “domestic novel” or anything else, for that matter. A “domestic novel” is defined by a few characteristics of plot and character....

[eNotes editors are only permitted to answer one question per posting. Additional questions must be posted separately.] You are correct when you say that this is a timeless piece of writing that is...

Near the end of the novel, Mr. Darcy explains his "grumpy" behavior: "As a child ...I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles but left to follow them in pride and...

Satire exaggerates or pokes fun at the weaknesses or wrongs of people or society. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen satirizes a number of characters to shine a light on problems in the marriage market...

Formal dances are a crucial part of the social scene in Pride and Prejudice. In such a straight-laced society, this was one of the few opportunities for men and women to get together (respectably,...

Lady Catherine de Bourgh says this when she hears Elizabeth is to marry Darcy. Among her other objections, Lady Catherine mentions that Lydia, Elizabeth's sister, had a "patched-up" marriage to...

For most of the book, Elizabeth does not like Mr. Darcy at all, but this changes as she begins to learn more about him. When she first sees Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth thinks he looks very severe and...

One of Jane Austen's most brilliant stylistic techniques is her skill in developing character through dialogue. As an example of this in Pride and Prejudice, recall Elizabeth's first conversation...

Elizabeth Bennet's ideas about marriage differ from the majority of others in her society because she believes that members of couples ought to get to know each other before making life-long...

Charlotte Lucas's marriage to Mr. Collins is more realistic and a more accurate representation of what marriage was like for women in 19th century England. Charlotte's marriage to Mr. Collins is...

Many critics have noted in Pride and Prejudice an emphasis on dialogue and lack of imagery, especially in the opening chapters. However, imagery, which is the use of the five senses of sight,...

Pride and Prejudice has a rich and meaningful plot, so there are multiple messages conveyed through the character development and conflicts. The most important one each reader will depend on their...

In the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bennet begins as a jaded woman. She, first of all, believes that traditional courting rituals and the idea of marriage are asinine and...

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the main conflicts is Character vs. Character. This is exhibited in Elizabeth's bad opinion of Mr. Darcy. It is also exhibited in Mr. Bingley's sisters...

In Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice, one could argue that Fitzwilliam Darcy symbolically represents pride while Elizabeth Bennet represents prejudice. Darcy is depicted as an...

Elizabeth marries Darcy in Pride and Prejudice because she truly loves him. She has come to know him, she understands him better than she did when they first met, and she has developed strong...

Jane Austen carefully establishes equality between the two characters but not always similarity. Their positive qualities largely complement each other. One quality they share in equal amounts is...