Plot and Action
Plot summary: What happens in Pride and Prejudice?
Volume 1: The Bennets and their neighbours, Hertfordshire, Volume 2: A visit to Kent, Hunsford Parsonage and Rosings Park, Volume 3: To Pemberley and home again, Revision focus: Know the timelineVolume 1, chapters 1–2: Life at Longbourn
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Marriage and money, Key characters: Mr and Mrs Bennet, Top tip: Writing about styleVolume 1, chapters 3–5: First impressions
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Pride and PrejudiceVolume 1, chapter 6: Second impressions?
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Key language: Irony, Aiming high: Analysing characters’ actionsVolume 1, chapters 7–9: Country life in winter
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key context: Country life, Exam focus: Characteristic speechVolume 1, chapter 10: Another evening at Netherfield
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Key characters: Caroline Bingley, Aiming high: Exploring simple events, Key quotation: Darcy is bewitchedVolume 1, chapters 11–12: Jane’s recovery
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key language: Comedy, Revision focus: Observing character developmentVolume 1, chapters 13–14: Mr Collins invites himself to Longbourn
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key context: A patriarchal society, Revision focus: Characters and their reactionsVolume 1, chapters 15–17: Eligible bachelors?
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Aiming high: Appearance and reality, Key character: Introducing Mr Wickham, Key quotation: Mr WickhamVolume 1, chapter 18: The Netherfield ball
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Key context: Family as a social unit, Exam focus: Writing about Prejudice, Key quotation: Narrative ironyVolume 1, chapters 19–21: Mr Collins proposes
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key character: Mr Collins as caricature, Revision focus: Mr Collins’s egotism, Key context: Elizabeth demands respect, Key quotation: Balanced sentencesVolume 1, chapters 22–3: Mr Collins achieves his purpose
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Views on marriage, Key context: Marriage and familyVolume 2, chapters 1–3: Disappointment for Jane
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key quotation: Free indirect speechVolume 2, chapters 4–5: To Hunsford Parsonage
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Class, Key character: Elizabeth, Key form: The three-volume novel, Aiming high: Austen’s dictionVolume 2, chapters 6–7: Dinner at Rosings
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key character: Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Top tip: Writing about servantsVolume 2, chapters 8–10: Gentlemen visitors
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Revision focus: Darcy and ElizabethVolume 2, chapter 11: Darcy proposes
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Key character: Darcy, Key theme: Manners, Exam focus: Making linksVolume 2, chapters 12–13: A turning point for Elizabeth
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Prejudice, Key language: Use of negatives, Key quotation: Elizabeth’s moment of truth, Aiming high: Austen’s social worldVolume 2, chapters 14–17: Home to Longbourn
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key characters: The Bennet family, Top tip: Writing about appearance and realityVolume 2, chapters 18–19: Lydia’s triumph
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Marriage and family, Aiming high: Setting and structureVolume 3, chapter 1: Pemberley at last
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Top tip: Writing about Darcy, Key setting: Pemberley, Exam focus: Analysing body languageVolume 3, chapter 2: Elizabeth’s hopes rise
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Key context: Manners and social conventions, Key language: Sentence structuresVolume 3, chapter 3: Poor Miss Bingley
Summary, Why is this chapter important?, Top tip: Writing about about manners, Key language: The narrator’s voiceVolume 3, chapters 4–6: Bad news
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key structure: The importance of letters, Exam focus: Mrs Bennet as caricatureVolume 3, chapters 7–8: The cost of a wedding
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key quotation: ‘Ten thousand pounds!’, Key context: The pressure to marryVolume 3, chapters 9–10: An unexpected guest
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key character: Lydia Bennet, Key quotation: Family tiesVolume 3, chapters 11–13: Bingley returns to Netherfield
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key character: Mr Wickham, Aiming high: Making comparisonsVolume 3, chapters 14–15: Lady Catherine is ‘most seriously displeased’
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key language: Dialogue, Aiming high: Linking wordsVolume 3, chapters 16–17: ‘That disagreeable Mr Darcy’
Summary, Why are these chapters important?, Key theme: Pride and Prejudice, Top tip: Writing about the endingCharacters
Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth’s role in the novel, Elizabeth’s importance to the novel as a whole, Exam focus: Writing about Elizabeth, Top tip: Writing about Elizabeth as heroine, Revision focus: Elizabeth’s change of heartMr Fitzwilliam Darcy
Mr Darcy’s role in the novel, Exam focus: Writing about Mr Darcy, Top tip: Writing about Darcy as hero, Key quotation: Marriage and money, Key quotation: Darcy’s first proposalJane Bennet
Jane Bennet’s role in the novel, Top tip: Writing about Jane, Exam focus: Writing about JaneMr Charles Bingley
Mr Bingley’s role in the novel, Exam focus: Writing about Bingley, Top tip: Writing about BingleyMr and Mrs Bennet
The role of Mr Bennet in the novel, The role of Mrs Bennet in the novel, Top tip: Writing about Mr and Mrs BennetMr William Collins
Mr Collins’s role in the novel, Exam focus: Writing about Mr Collins, Key quotation: Marriage and Mr CollinsMr George Wickham
Mr Wickham’s role in the novel, Top tip: Writing about Mr Wickham, Exam focus: Writing about Mr WickhamThemes, Contexts and Settings
Themes
Love, marriage and money, The family as a social unit, Aiming high: Writing about families in context, Manners and class, Aiming high: Exploring manners and class, Pride and prejudice, Exam focus: Writing about themesForm, Structure and Language
Structure
Overlapping plots and coincidence, Letters, Top tip: Writing aboutPrideandPrejudiceas a romantic novelProgress Booster
Planning your answer
Plan quickly and efficiently, Stage 1: Generate ideas quickly, Stage 2: Jot down useful quotations (or key events), Stage 3: Plan for paragraphs