Pride and Prejudice Study Questions (adapted from a guide by Norah Ashe)
Austen gives fairly precise information about the financial status of her characters. Pay attention to it and try to place the characters on the income ladder.
Another great topic of Austen's is class. What defines class allegiance? Why is Mr Darcy, for instance, somehow better than his friend Bingley.
The original title for the novel was First Impressions. What role do they play in the novel?
Who is guilty of pride and who of prejudice? Could it be the other way round than the most obvious explanation?
The characteristic feature of Austen's technique is omitting to mention certain things and counting on her readers' intelligence. Why does militia arrive at Meryton? What implications does it have for young ladies' marital prospects (both good and bad!)?
Austen is a great innovator when it comes to the narrative technique. Consider the novel's famous opening sentence. Who utters this “truth”?
Another narrative technique Austen pioneered was free indirect discourse. What is it and how does it work?
What is the source of Elizabeth's attraction to in Mr. Wickham? What role does he play in her attraction to Mr. Darcy? What is the significance of his own amatory adventures?
What role does Mr Bennet play? Is he a positive or negative character?
How does the visit to Pemberley affect Elizabeth's feelings towards Mr. Darcy? What does she learn about Mr. Darcy as a result of her visit?.
At what moment does Elizabeth begin to fall in love with Mr. Darcy"
Why does Austen call Elizabeth by her first name and Mr. Darcy by his last name throughout the novel? What is the effect of this naming? What are its social implications?
Consider the final resolution of the novel. Is the ending a fairy tale one (recall that fairy tales end with "and they lived happily ever after")? How does the novel expand upon and complicate this ending? Does the ending play up the romance, or the social satire? What is the final message, which the novel leaves us with?
What is the significance of the pairings and doublings, which Austen gives us: Jane and Elizabeth, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, Kitty and Lydia, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet? How do those pairings shift through the course of the novel?
Both Mr Bennet and Lady Catherine believe that future spouses should be equal. In what way do their definitions of equality differ?
What views on marriage does the novel seem to voice? In what way are they different or similar to the predominant views of the era? Consider not only Lizzie's marriage but other couples in the novel as well.