pride and prejudice key quotes

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”

• theme: love & marriage

• time: chapter 1

• speaker: narrator

• analysis: here, the narrator satirically presents the “universally acknowledged” Regency social norms surrounding marriage (marriage for material concerns, not love) and introduces the themes of marriage and wealth for the rest of the novel

• it ironically highlights how this “universal truth” underlines the inherent materialism of the Regency marriage system

“Jane should therefore make the most of every half hour in which she can command his attention. When she is secure of him, there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chuses”

• theme: love & marriage

• time: chapter 6

• speaker: charlotte lucas

• analysis: suggests a strategic and calculated approach to marriage, emphasising the importance of making the most of every opportunity to capture a man’s attention

• the use of the phrase “every half hour” suggests that women (Jane, in this case) have limited time to capture a man’s attention, adding a sense of urgency and turning courtship into a tactical opportunity - charlotte sees mr bingley’s time and attention as valuable resources for Jane to manipulate to her advantage

• the phrase “secure of him” underlines the importance of marriage to women’s future security, and reflects the social pressure women were under at the time

• shows how a woman’s success & prosperity were intrinsically linked to her marital prospects

“My situation in life, my connections with the family of De Bourgh, and my relationship to your own, are circumstances highly in my favour; and you should take it into farther consideration that in spite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you”

theme: love & marriage

time: chapter 19

speaker: mr collins

analysis: through mr collins, austen presents the view that marriage depends entirely on the material worth of either partner - wealth, land, and social connections all being examples. he views his “situation in life” as a definite advantage to his marriageability / desirability

mr collins highlights how lizzy should be flattered by his proposal, given the implication that his situation in life is superior to hers

his proposal carries an undertone of manipulation which reveals the sly side of mr collins; the uncertainty of future marriage is used to pressure her into accepting

austen uses mr collins’ proposal to mock 19th-century ideas of marriage based on social and monetary advantage rather than emotional connection

“Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved”

• theme: social class

• time: chapter 29

• speaker: mr collins

• reflects Mr Collins’s ubiquitous inclination to defer to Lady C’s preferences

• suggests that lady cdeb values distinctions in social rank and expects individuals to dress in a way that reflects that, demonstrating its importance in Regency society

• sets the stage for lizzy and lady c’s conflict over social rank later on

• while lady c accepts “simply dressed” people, she does not allow the lines to blur between each social class, as her superiority must be maintained

“Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?”

• theme: social class

• time: chapter 34

• speaker: Mr Darcy

• after proposing to Elizabeth and being rejected, these sentiments express Darcy’s clear class prejudice, as he refers to the “inferiority” of lizzy’s connections

• he reveals his beliefs in a rigid social structure and his sense of superiority based on his own social status and wealth

• he displays a thinly veiled disgust of lizzy’s degrading social connections, which he considers to be “beneath” him

“All this she must possess... and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading”

• theme: gender roles

• time: chapter 8

• speaker: Mr Darcy

• analysis: