Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice": Few selected Questions – Answers

Q . what are the admirable qualities of Elizabeth Bennet ?

The second daughter in the Bennet family, and the most intelligent and quick-witted protagonist of Pride and Prejudice,  Elizabeth has many admirable qualities —she is lovely, clever, and, in a novel defined by dialogue, she converses as brilliantly as anyone. Her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society.   

                                                   

Q. How does the prejudice in Elizabeth Bennet break free?   

                                     

Pride and Prejudice is essentially the story of how Elizabeth Bennet overcomes all obstacles—including their own personal failings—to find romantic happiness. Elizabeth  had her own mistaken impressions of Darcy, which initially lead her to reject his proposals of marriage. As she gradually comes to recognize the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him.

Q. How does the pride in Darcy break free?

    Intelligent and forthright, Darcy had a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth made him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. It was his pride. Indeed, his haughtiness made him initially bungle his courtship.

Q. Is Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley match is foil to Elizabeth and Darcy relationship?

   Bennet and Charles Bingley are cheerful, friendly, and good-natured, always ready to think the best of others. They have no prickly egotism of Elizabeth and Darcy. Jane’s gentle spirit serves as a foil for her sister’s fiery, contentious nature, while Bingley’s eager friendliness contrasts with Darcy’s stiff pride.

Q. Make a comment on Mrs. Bennet‘s character.

Mrs. Bennet is a miraculously tiresome character. Noisy and foolish and almost a comic, she is a woman consumed by the desire to see her daughters married and seems to care for nothing else in the world. Ironically, her single-minded pursuit of this goal tends to backfire, as her lack of social graces alienates the very people (Darcy and Bingley) whom she tries desperately to attract.

Q. Write a short note on Pride and Prejudice as a love story.

Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in English literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. After overcoming their pride and prejudice as well as countless other smaller obstacles they are happily married.   

                                                             

Q. What are the major Courtship in the novel, Pride and Prejudice? 

In a sense, Pride and Prejudice is the story of two courtships—those between Darcy and Elizabeth and between Bingley and Jane. Within this broad structure appear other, smaller courtships: Mr. Collins’s aborted wooing of Elizabeth, followed by his successful wooing of Charlotte Lucas; Miss Bingley’s unsuccessful attempt to attract Darcy; Wickham’s pursuit first of Elizabeth, then of the never-seen Miss King, and finally of Lydia.

Q. What does Pemberley estate symbolize?

Pemberley, Darcy’s estate, sits at the center of the novel, literally and figuratively, as a geographic symbol of the man who owns it. Elizabeth visits it at a time when her feelings toward Darcy are beginning to warm; she is enchanted by its beauty and charm, and by the picturesque countryside, just as she will be charmed, increasingly, by the gifts of its owner as well as his personality.  

Q. Write a short note on Jane Austen’s narrative technique. 

                                                            

This novel is written in the third person narrative voice. Austen uses irony in her narrative as a means of showing the truth about situations and people. Irony is a means of moral and social judgment. She also makes use of humour as a tool to entertain and sometimes to satirize.

Q. what is the central topic of this novel?

Throughout this novel relationships between men and women are a central topic. It becomes evident that the right selection of a marriage partner is a critical and a central choice to be made in life. The novel shows us the development of various relationships between different types of people and how they culminate in marriage.  

Q. Critically comment on the title of the novel, Pride and Prejudice.

                               

It should be pointed out that the qualities of the title word are not exclusively assigned to one or the other of the protagonists; both Elizabeth and Darcy display pride and prejudice. This pride can be seen however more in the figure of Darcy. Intelligent and forthright, Darcy had a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth made him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. Darcy changes throughout the novel and becomes more humble and acknowledges that his pride governed his behaviour and he is prepared to rectify. Similarly as Elizabeth gradually comes to recognize the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him.

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