Pride and Prejudice (6 Parts)

To the Teacher;

This study guide is divided into ten sections for easier use. The following eight sections are divided by themes found in Pride and Prejudice and may be used as discussion questions, homework assignments, individual work or group work. The ninth section consists of projects and the final section uses class activities to take a closer look at important quotes in the novel and program. This study guide is appropriate for history or English classes focused on grades 9 - 12. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, written in 1813, examines life in the mind and the heart of late Georgian England. While Pride and Prejudice takes place in the 19th century, Austen touches on many issues and characters which one may encounter in today’s society. A&E’s Pride and Prejudice program sticks closely to the novel, bringing to life the humor, intelligence and insight found in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

19th Century Society: Questions 1-3

Marriage: Questions 4-6

Gender Issues: Questions 7-9

Class Issues: Questions 10-11

Images of Beauty: Questions 12-13

Pride and Conceit: Questions 14-15

Predjudice and Caprice: Questions 16-18

Envirmonment: Questions 19-20

1. Social customs and traditions played an important role in 19th century daily life. What are social customs and traditions? Give examples from Pride and Prejudice. Why do you think people observe traditions and customs?

2. Make a time line of historic events in England from 1800 to 1840. Do any of these events effect Jane Austen’s narrative? If so, how?

3. Create a chart explaining the laws which applied to women in the early 1800’s in Britain, the United States, and/or Canada. Compare these laws to the ones which applied to women in the early 1900’s and today.

4. What were different reasons why people married in the 19th century? What was the role of material wealth, family, social connections and love in 19th century marriages? What are different reasons why people marry today?

5. Is happiness in marriage simply a matter of chance in the 19th century? Is happiness in marriage simply a matter of chance in today’s society? Compare and contrast at least two marriages from Pride and Prejudice and one current marriage in answering the question.

6. n the beginning of the novel, Lizzy states she would only marry for the “deepest of love.” Why were so many characters upset by Lizzy’s betrothal to Mr. Darcy? Were her actions consistent with her feelings? Why or why not?

7. Compare and contrast the notion of an accomplished woman in 19th century society and today. What are the differences and similarities? Were men held to the same standards in the 19th century? Today? Were men and women equally rewarded for their merits or efforts in 19th century society? Today? Use examples to support your answers.

8. During Lydia’s elopement, Mary says that “loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable.” How does this quote relate to Lydia’s elopement? Why was everyone outraged by this situation? Whom does the elopement effect?

9. What was the importance of having a son in the 19th century? Why does Mr. Bennet complain of not having a son?

10. What different classes do you see evidence of in Pride and Prejudice? Do the different classes interact? If so, how? How do the different classes regard each other? If you were born into one class in 19th century Britain, the United States or Canada did you necessarily remain in that class throughout your life? Were class boundaries more flexible in Canada and/or the United States than in Britain?

11. Compare and contrast the aristocracy and the upper middle class as represented in Pride and Prejudice. What are the values of the aristocracy and the upper middle class? Name four characters who represent each class. How do you know what characters are members of which class?

12. Jane Austen describes the character Jane as the most beautiful of all the Bennet girls. However, in many film versions of Pride and Prejudice, the actress who portrays Lizzy is much prettier than the actress who portrays Jane. Why do you think this is so? Does the central character in a film have to be physically attractive? Would your impression of the program change if Jane were cast as more beautiful than Lizzy?

13. Compare your impression of Mary from the novel to your impression of her from the program. Were these two impressions different or similar? What is the role of Mary’s sermons throughout the program?

14. Define the words proud, pride, vanity and conceit. What are the differences and similarities between conceit and pride? In what, if any, circumstances does one have a right to be proud? In what, if any, circumstances does one have a right to be conceited?

15. Why do you think Lizzy’s “conceited independence,” (as Miss Bingley called it) was looked upon as a negative quality? What was meant by conceited independence? What are Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst’s attitude towards Lizzy and Jane?

16. What is the importance of the opinions of friends and family in making one’s own decisions? How do the opinions of those we value, or don’t value, effect our own opinions and judgments? Use examples from the novel/program.

17. Describe two judgments of people that were correct and two judgments of people that were incorrect in Pride and Prejudice. Include in your answer who made the judgment and whom the judgment was about. Why do people judge each other? Do people form judgments about others before they speak with the person they are judging or after they get to know the person in question? Why or why not?

18. Define the words caprice and capricious. Can you find evidence of caprice in Pride and Prejudice? Cite examples. Why do people change their opinions quickly?

19. Look at Pemberly, Longbourn, Rosings, the Collins’s parsonage, Netherfield, the Lambton Inn and the English countryside. Compare and contrast two or more of these places. What are the reactions of the different characters to these places? What are the different atmospheres of each place? What are the behaviors each place condones?

20. What are the differences and similarities between the city and the country as they are represented in Pride and Prejudice? Compare and contrast the opinions of the Bingley sisters and the Bennet sisters concerning the country and the city.

1. The different characters in Pride and Prejudice display a wide variety of character traits. Make a chart of five characters and choose one outstanding characteristic that each character possesses (do not repeat). Include in your chart evidence supporting why you think the character possesses this trait (cite evidence). Also include the positive and negative outcomes of each trait as seen in the program. After completing your chart, answer the following questions: a) How do you determine a person’s character traits? b) What do one’s actions reveal about one’s character?

2. Create a book jacket or advertisement for Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, that might have been used in marketing the novel in the 1850’s and another for the 1950’s.

3. Choose one character from Pride and Prejudice and write a series of diary entries that s/he might have written at the time.

4. Interview an older woman--preferably from your grandmother’s generation. Ask her what the politics, social expectations, attitudes, clothing and lifestyles were concerning women when she was growing up. Ask her how these things have changed over her lifetime and why she thinks these changes have taken place. Present your findings in essay, chart or a creative form.

5. Choose a selection of quotes from Pride and Prejudice. Divide into cooperative learning groups and assign a different set of quotes to each group. Explain the meaning or significance of each quote. Share the results at the end of class. Below are a few suggestions.

6. “The only honorable provision for a well-educated woman of small fortune is marriage.”

7. “There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil--a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.” “And your defect is a propensity to hate everyone.” “And yours,” he replied, with a smile, “is willfully to misunderstand them.”

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

Related Videos

Air Dates

• December 17, 2004
• December 20, 2004
• December 21, 2004
• December 22, 2004
• December 23, 2004
• December 24, 2004