Pithy Points from 'Pride and Prejudice' Quiz

Answer: Elizabeth Bennet

This line from the novel's heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, came up during a conversation about the ball where the local families had first met the rich Mr. Bingley and his even richer friend, Mr. Darcy. The Bennet sisters discussed the events of the previous evening with their mother and their friend Charlotte Lucas, noting that while Mr. Bingley had been friendly and danced with all the ladies, his friend had rudely described Elizabeth as "tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me" while refusing to be introduced to her.

Darcy's general demeanour and lack of interaction with anyone outside his own party led him to be described as both proud and disagreeable - Elizabeth's line "I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine" came in reaction to Charlotte declaring that Darcy may have the right to be proud due to being handsome, wealthy and from a prominent family.

Answer: Charlotte Lucas

Charlotte Lucas was the eldest daughter of the Bennets' neighbours, Sir William and Lady Lucas, and a close friend of Elizabeth Bennet despite their differences in age. While Elizabeth was twenty years old at the beginning of the novel, Charlotte was around twenty-seven and generally considered to be heading for life as a poor spinster.

As a result she had a rather practical view of love and marriage, which influenced the advice she gave her friends on what she felt were necessary steps to "secure" a husband. One of these included suggesting that Jane Bennet needed to show her feelings for Mr. Bingley more openly if she wanted him to fall in love with her in return.

Answer: Charlotte Lucas

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance" was another of Charlotte Lucas' pieces of wisdom on the subject of love, romance and marriage from the early chapters of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Her comment reflected her view that it was best to secure a marriage proposal from a man as quickly as possible, regardless of how well a woman understood the details of her potential partner's character, as "it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life".

Elizabeth's response to these comments was to suggest that Charlotte would never actually act that way herself - however, she did just that when she became engaged to Mr. Collins just days after Elizabeth had refused him.

Answer: Mr. Darcy

During Jane and Elizabeth Bennet's stay at Netherfield Park, after Jane fell ill while visiting the Bingley sisters, Elizabeth ended up in a number of slightly tense conversations with its wealthy inhabitants. One of these revolved around what society required of an "accomplished woman", with Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley both setting out lists of the various skills and knowledge they thought necessary for a lady to meet this qualification.

After Elizabeth left the room to check on her sister, Miss Bingley used the opportunity to denigrate her perceived rival for Mr. Darcy's attention. His view however was that "there is meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable." - a line that could just as easily describe his thoughts of Miss Bingley's actions, rather than Elizabeth's!

Answer: Mr. Darcy

Another of the after-dinner conversations at Netherfield Park between Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley turned to the topic of Mr. Darcy's weaknesses. While Elizabeth hinted that one of them might be pride, Mr. Darcy refuted that on the basis that pride wasn't a weakness "where there is a real superiority of mind".

He did however acknowledge that one of his faults was resentfulness and a difficulty forgiving the actions of others, to the point that his "good opinion once lost, is lost forever".

Answer: Jane Bennet

Jane Bennet is often described as a somewhat naive character due to her quiet nature and tendency to only see the good in people, while her sister Elizabeth appeared to have a much more forceful, outgoing and lively personality. However, this statement where Jane subtly informed Elizabeth that she wouldn't allow her opinion to be overruled, showed that Jane also had the strength of belief to defend her point of view when she thought she was in the right.

The disagreement between the sisters in this instance was Elizabeth's belief in Mr. Darcy's cruelty to Mr. Wickham, which Jane viewed as impossible as "no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it". In the end of course it turned out that Jane was correct, even if her reasoning might not have been fully logical.

Answer: Mr. Bennet

Mr. Bennet made a number of apparently uncaring and callous statements about his wife and daughters during the course of 'Pride and Prejudice' and this was one of them - although it was not said directly to the affected daughter's face. It actually appeared during a conversation between him and Elizabeth about Jane's heartbreak following Mr. Bingley's departure from Netherfield and a letter from Miss Bingley hinting that her brother was instead expected to marry Mr. Darcy's young sister.

Mr. Bennet's words suggest that he appeared to believe Jane would eventually find some consolation in her disappointment, but he was also clearly being sarcastic as he then encouraged Elizabeth to fall for Mr. Wickham so he could "jilt" her "credibly" and avoid her being "long outdone by Jane".

Answer: Elizabeth Bennet

This exclamation from Elizabeth was part of her reaction to being invited by her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, to accompany them on their planned sight-seeing trip around the Lake District. It reflected her great appreciation for the outdoors and beautiful scenery, but also her ongoing dislike of Mr. Darcy and her disappointment in his friend Mr. Bingley for having both abandoned Netherfield Park and his attentions to her sister, Jane. Earlier in the conversation she had also stated "I have a very poor opinion of young men who live in Derbyshire; and their intimate friends who live in Hertfordshire are not much better".

Answer: Elizabeth Bennet

This statement was not Elizabeth's response to being subjected to the scornful comments of the Bingley sisters or the nosy questions of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, but instead stemmed from Mr. Darcy choosing to stand and watch her playing the piano at Rosings Park.

Elizabeth had previously noted Darcy's tendency to stare at her in public and assumed (incorrectly) that it stemmed from a desire to find fault with her. That might, if her statement had been serious, have explained why she saw his actions as intimidation. However, she said it in jest and openly attributed it to having heard his sister described as a very talented piano player. Darcy probably more accurately identified it as part of her habit of teasing others by "occasionally professing opinions which, in fact, are not your own."

Answer: Mr. Darcy

This was one of the better lines from Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal to Elizabeth Bennet at the parsonage in Hunsford. Unfortunately he followed it up with explanations of her "inferiority" and the acknowledgement that marriage to her was a "degradation", which led to him receiving an angry rejection.

He was also unaware at the time that his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, had unwittingly told Elizabeth all about Darcy's success in saving Mr. Bingley from "an imprudent marriage" to her sister Jane. That knowledge - and her misplaced belief in his cruelty to Mr. Wickham - meant that she would never have accepted him. His rudeness just spared her from feeling sorry for rejecting him, had he "behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner".

Answer: Jane Bennet

Jane asked this, presumably rhetorical, question of her sister Elizabeth immediately after becoming engaged to Mr. Bingley. It reflects the kind, generous and happy nature of the eldest Bennet sister, as the happiness in question wasn't just her own at getting the chance to marry the man she loved, but also the happiness that she knew the event was bringing to her family.

Answer: Mr. Bennet

This line belonged to the sardonic Mr. Bennet and neatly describes his view of the role of gossip in their society. The question was aimed at his daughter Elizabeth, who hadn't appeared to show a suitable amount of enjoyment in the gossipy contents of a letter from their foolish cousin Mr. Collins.

As the gossip contained rumours that Elizabeth was soon to be engaged to Mr. Darcy (when she wasn't, but wanted to be) and her father instantly believed that even the idea of Elizabeth and Darcy as a couple was ludicrous, it was hardly surprising that Elizabeth struggled to laugh at this particular situation.

Answer: Elizabeth Bennet

"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure" is described by Elizabeth as being part of "her philosophy". She suggested that Mr. Darcy should learn to apply it when thinking back about the tumultuous course of their relationship prior to their engagement - specifically the events surrounding his first proposal (complete with insults about her family) and her vehement rejection of it (complete with false accusations about his treatment of George Wickham).

Darcy however refused to accept this approach because he needed to recall what had happened, as her words had ultimately led him to re-evaluate his pride and the way he had previously looked down on people he considered to be socially inferior.

Answer: Mr. Darcy

This line followed directly on from Darcy and Elizabeth's conversation about thinking "only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure" and was part of his explanation to Elizabeth about how he had previously developed great pride in himself and his family and disdain for others who were not as wealthy or influential.

In summary, his thoughts suggested that these tendencies had begun in early childhood and were probably the result of having been the spoiled only son of his parents - a wealthy landowner and the daughter of an earl - who appeared to share some of the same characteristics, despite being described as "good", "benevolent" and "amiable" people.

Answer: Jane Bennet

These words were spoken by a concerned Jane Bennet, who had just been told of her sister Elizabeth's engagement to Mr. Darcy. While Elizabeth had told Jane about her rejection of Darcy's previous proposal, she hadn't been open with her about her changing opinion of him or that the regret she felt in having previously misjudged him had since turned into love and respect. Jane therefore was left to interrogate her sister for the details, and refused to accept anything less than Elizabeth's "solemn assurances of attachment".