Pride and Prejudice: chapter quizzes with answers

B. Mrs. Bennet passes on Mrs. Long's news: he came down on Monday in a chaise and four, liked the place, and agreed with Mr. Morris at once.

“that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately;”

D. Twelve fashionable ladies from London would compete with them for partners and for Bingley's notice. So they are comforted the day before the ball to hear he has brought only six, and five arrive in all.

“a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a number of ladies; but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing that, instead of twelve, he had brought only six with him from London,”

A. "Attacked him in various ways" and "eluded the skill of them all" describe an assault from several sides that he escapes. Beaten, the ladies have to fall back on Lady Lucas's second-hand report.

“They attacked him in various ways, with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour, Lady Lucas.”

C. He says he is fond of superior society, "but I did not feel quite certain that the air of London would agree with Lady Lucas." He pauses for an answer, and Darcy gives none.

“I had once some thoughts of fixing in town myself, for I am fond of superior society; but I did not feel quite certain that the air of London would agree with Lady Lucas.”

A. The honor gave him a disgust for his business and his market town, and he moved to Lucas Lodge to think with pleasure of his own importance. The narrator adds that it did not make him supercilious, which rules out the harsher readings.

“It had given him a disgust to his business and to his residence in a small market town;”

“where he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and, unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world.”

D. Elizabeth has told Charlotte that Darcy keeps listening to her conversation and that she will let him know she sees it. Charlotte defies her to say so, and the dare is what provokes her.

“But if he does it any more, I shall certainly let him know that I see what he is about.”

“Miss Lucas defied her friend to mention such a subject to him, which immediately provoking Elizabeth to do it, she turned to him and said”

D. Earlier that chapter Lydia hoped to see Captain Carter, "as he was going the next morning to London." On the walk she says that if they hurry they may see him "before he goes."

“her hope of seeing him in the course of the day, as he was going the next morning to London.”

““If we make haste,” said Lydia, as they walked along, “perhaps we may see something of Captain Carter, before he goes.””

B. To be suffered to do something is to be allowed to do it. Mrs. Bennet admits, in front of the Netherfield party, that Elizabeth's lively talk goes unchecked at Longbourn.

“Lizzy,” cried her mother, “remember where you are, and do not run on in the wild manner that you are suffered to do at home.”

C. She follows the guess at once with a boast: she keeps servants who do their own work, and her daughters are brought up differently. The mince-pies are a dig at the Lucases' household.

“I fancy she was wanted about the mince-pies. For my part, Mr. Bingley, I always keep servants that can do their own work; my daughters are brought up differently.”

A. Mr. Hurst goes to sleep on a sofa, Darcy and Miss Bingley take up books, and Mrs. Hurst is "principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings," joining in her brother's talk with Jane now and then.

“and Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings, joined now and then in her brother’s conversation with Miss Bennet.”

C. Bingley says he would not pay Darcy half so much deference if he were not "such a great tall fellow." "Awful" keeps its older sense: a figure who inspires awe. Darcy smiles, but Elizabeth thinks him rather offended.

“I assure you that if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow, in comparison with myself, I should not pay him half so much deference.”

“I declare I do not know a more awful object than Darcy on particular occasions, and in particular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening, when he has nothing to do.”

B. Darcy smiles, but Elizabeth thinks she can perceive that he is rather offended, "and therefore checked her laugh." Miss Bingley, meanwhile, scolds her brother for talking nonsense.

“Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended, and therefore checked her laugh.”

B. Lydia reports that if her uncle turns Richard away, Colonel Forster will hire him; her aunt told her so on Saturday.

“my uncle Philips talks of turning away Richard? and if he does, Colonel Forster will hire him. My aunt told me so herself on Saturday.”

D. He had been "nominally engaged with one of the largest folios" while really talking to Mr. Bennet about his house and garden. A man better fitted for walking than reading shuts the book gladly.

“there he would continue, nominally engaged with one of the largest folios in the collection, but really talking to Mr. Bennet, with little cessation, of his house and garden at Hunsford.”

“Mr. Collins, being in fact much better fitted for a walker than a reader, was extremely well pleased to close his large book, and go.”

A. Nobody saw the Longbourn carriage go out for them, so the news did not reach Meryton that way. She learned it only when the shopboy said no more draughts were to be sent to Netherfield.

“which, as their own carriage had not fetched them, she should have known nothing about, if she had not happened to see Mr. Jones’s shopboy in the street, who had told her that they were not to send any more draughts to Netherfield, because the Miss Bennets were come away,”

C. He assures her the money is a trifle: he is not in circumstances to make five shillings any object, and Lady Catherine has removed him far beyond regarding little matters. The name catches Wickham's attention.

“happily I am not in such circumstances as to make five shillings any object.”

“but, thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I am removed far beyond the necessity of regarding little matters.”

A. "Happy" here means fortunate. Wickham is the man every woman watches, and Elizabeth is the woman he chooses to sit by; the sentence says nothing of their moods.

“Mr. Wickham was the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned, and Elizabeth was the happy woman by whom he finally seated himself;”

D. Miss Bingley admits she does not know the particulars. Elizabeth says the only charge she has heard is that he is the son of Mr. Darcy's steward, and Wickham told her that himself.

“for I have heard you accuse him of nothing worse than of being the son of Mr. Darcy’s steward, and of that, I can assure you, he informed me himself.”

D. She "dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for the end of the conference," and goes in to congratulate him the moment Elizabeth passes her on the way to the stairs.

“for Mrs. Bennet, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door and with quick step pass her towards the staircase,”

B. The narrator names it: the idea of Mr. Collins, "with all his solemn composure," being run away with by his feelings. The phrase promises passion just as he settles down to list his reasons.

“The idea of Mr. Collins, with all his solemn composure, being run away with by his feelings, made Elizabeth so near laughing that she could not use the short pause he allowed in any attempt to stop him farther,”

C. Elizabeth says no one who has seen Bingley with Jane can doubt his affection, and Miss Bingley is no simpleton. Half that much love from Darcy would be enough for her to start buying wedding clothes, so she cannot honestly believe her brother indifferent.

“No one who has ever seen you together can doubt his affection; Miss Bingley, I am sure, cannot: she is not such a simpleton.”

“Could she have seen half as much love in Mr. Darcy for herself, she would have ordered her wedding clothes.”

A. He has promised to drop no hint, and the family's direct questions take ingenuity to evade. To "publish" here is to make known, which is exactly what he longs to do and must not.

“A promise of secrecy was of course very dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty;”

“he was at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to publish his prosperous love.”

C. The whole Lucas family is overjoyed. The younger girls hope to come out "a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done," and the boys stop fearing that Charlotte will die an old maid.

“The younger girls formed hopes of coming out a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done;”

B. Jane understands at once and begs Elizabeth not to think "that person" to blame, then defends a lively young man's conduct. Elizabeth goes on to charge Bingley with want of resolution.

“I have met with two instances lately: one I will not mention, the other is Charlotte’s marriage.”

“I cannot misunderstand you, but I entreat you, dear Lizzy, not to pain me by thinking that person to blame, and saying your opinion of him is sunk.”

B. He does not only live by trade; he lives where he can see his business. That is exactly what the Netherfield ladies would despise, and the narrator sets it against his good breeding.

“The Netherfield ladies would have had difficulty in believing that a man who lived by trade, and within view of his own warehouses, could have been so well-bred and agreeable.”

D. Jane supposes that her last letter from Longbourn was lost by some accident. When she calls, Caroline reproaches her for giving no notice of her coming, and Jane takes that as proof.

“She accounted for it, however, by supposing that her last letter to her friend from Longbourn had by some accident been lost.”

“I was right, therefore; my last letter had never reached her.”

A. The conviction is that "handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain." Kitty and Lydia still think a handsome officer is above such motives, so they take his defection to heart.

“They are young in the ways of the world, and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome young men must have something to live on as well as the plain.”

C. To be in the commission of the peace was to be an appointed justice. Lady Catherine held no such office, yet acted as a magistrate anyway, settling the cottagers' differences and silencing their complaints.

“Elizabeth soon perceived, that though this great lady was not in the commission of the peace for the county, she was a most active magistrate in her own parish, the minutest concerns of which were carried to her by Mr. Collins;”

A. Lady Catherine is boasting of the families she has supplied with governesses. Lady Metcalfe called to thank her because "She finds Miss Pope a treasure."

“It is wonderful how many families I have been the means of supplying in that way.”

“Mrs. Collins, did I tell you of Lady Metcalfe’s calling yesterday to thank me? She finds Miss Pope a treasure.”

D. She could not understand "the sacrifice of so many hours" until she remembered that there might be other family livings to be disposed of. Staying in favor keeps Mr. Collins in line for more.

“and till Elizabeth recollected that there might be other family livings to be disposed of, she could not understand the sacrifice of so many hours.”

D. She thinks it "not unlikely to be Lady Catherine" and starts putting away her half-finished letter to escape impertinent questions. It is Mr. Darcy, alone.

“As she had heard no carriage, she thought it not unlikely to be Lady Catherine; and under that apprehension was putting away her half-finished letter, that she might escape all impertinent questions,”

B. Her own knowledge could not tell her whether Darcy was always this silent; his cousin's laughing "proved that he was generally different." So she looks for a cause, and hopes it is love for Eliza.

“Colonel Fitzwilliam’s occasionally laughing at his stupidity proved that he was generally different, which her own knowledge of him could not have told her;”

C. Believing he dislikes her, she reads his turning back to walk with her as a punishment he lays on himself. Ill-nature would be spoiling her walk on purpose; penance would be suffering her company.

“She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought;”

“for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal inquiries and an awkward pause and then away, but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her.”

A. "The mess" is the regiment's officers eating together. His only credit is that the neighborhood approved of him and his fellow officers liked his company, which is charm, not character.

“but she could remember no more substantial good than the general approbation of the neighbourhood, and the regard which his social powers had gained him in the mess.”

C. Darcy writes that his father paid for Wickham at school and at Cambridge, which mattered because Wickham's father was "always poor from the extravagance of his wife."

“My father supported him at school, and afterwards at Cambridge; most important assistance, as his own father, always poor from the extravagance of his wife, would have been unable to give him a gentleman’s education.”

B. The awkwardness of asking holds her back first. Then she is convinced that Darcy "would never have hazarded such a proposal" without being sure his cousin would bear him out.

“At one time she had almost resolved on applying to him, but the idea was checked by the awkwardness of the application, and at length wholly banished by the conviction that Mr. Darcy would never have hazarded such a proposal, if he had not been well assured of his cousin’s corroboration.”

B. Darcy's letter in Chapter 35 told Elizabeth that Wickham followed Georgiana to Ramsgate and talked her into agreeing to an elopement. For all Lady Catherine's care about servants, the danger came from elsewhere, and she knows nothing of it.

“When my niece Georgiana went to Ramsgate last summer, I made a point of her having two men-servants go with her.”

D. Lydia says Mrs. Forster asked the two Harringtons, "but Harriet was ill, and so Pen was forced to come by herself." Then they dressed up Chamberlayne in woman's clothes.

“she asked the two Harringtons to come: but Harriet was ill, and so Pen was forced to come by herself;”

A. To overset is to upset or overturn. One militia regiment and Meryton's monthly balls have already thrown the family into disorder; a camp at Brighton would "completely do for us at once."

“that would be a delightful scheme, indeed, and completely do for us at once.”

“Brighton and a whole campful of soldiers, to us, who have been overset already by one poor regiment of militia, and the monthly balls of Meryton!”

C. Mrs. Bennet calls Charlotte "an excellent manager" and adds a dig at Lady Lucas: if Charlotte is half as sharp as her mother, she is saving enough.

“Charlotte is an excellent manager, I dare say. If she is half as sharp as her mother, she is saving enough.”

A. Wickham is certain the match is something Darcy "has very much at heart." Elizabeth knows Darcy proposed to her at Hunsford, so the claim only shows how little Wickham knows, and she answers with a slight bow of the head.

“a good deal is to be imputed to his wish of forwarding the match with Miss de Bourgh, which I am certain he has very much at heart.”

“Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered only by a slight inclination of the head.”

D. "Restored" and "usual" make this her ordinary condition: calm by her standards, which still means complaining. The two words pull against each other on purpose.

“After the first fortnight or three weeks of her absence, health, good-humour, and cheerfulness began to reappear at Longbourn.”

“Mrs. Bennet was restored to her usual querulous serenity;”

D. From the paintings visible below she had willingly turned to some drawings of Miss Darcy's, in crayons, "whose subjects were usually more interesting, and also more intelligible."

“In the former were many good paintings: but Elizabeth knew nothing of the art; and from such as had been already visible below, she had willingly turned to look at some drawings of Miss Darcy’s, in crayons, whose subjects were usually more interesting, and also more intelligible.”

B. Mrs. Gardiner presumes that "this studied avoidance" means a momentary embarrassment, not dislike, and with her husband willing she engages for Elizabeth's attendance on the day after next.

“Presuming, however, that this studied avoidance spoke rather a momentary embarrassment than any dislike of the proposal, and seeing in her husband, who was fond of society, a perfect willingness to accept it, she ventured to engage for her attendance,”

C. The sentence before says Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley noticed the visitors "only by a courtesy" and let the silence fall. Mrs. Annesley's effort to start a conversation shows her better bred than those two.

“By Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley they were noticed only by a courtesy; and on their being seated, a pause, awkward as such pauses must always be, succeeded for a few moments.”

“It was first broken by Mrs. Annesley, a genteel, agreeable-looking woman, whose endeavour to introduce some kind of discourse proved her to be more truly well-bred than either of the others;”

A. The narrator sets love from gratitude and esteem against love that arises "on a first interview" before two words are exchanged, and says Elizabeth tried the second with Wickham, which may excuse her now trying the first.

“in comparison of what is so often described as arising on a first interview with its object, and even before two words have been exchanged,”

“nothing can be said in her defence, except that she had given somewhat of a trial to the latter method, in her partiality for Wickham,”

C. Between her list of tremblings and spasms, she asks her brother to tell Lydia not to give any directions about her clothes till she has seen her, "for she does not know which are the best warehouses."

“And tell my dear Lydia not to give any directions about her clothes till she has seen me, for she does not know which are the best warehouses.”

B. Collins proposed to Elizabeth in November. Had she accepted, he would now be Lydia's brother-in-law and part of the family's disgrace, so he is glad she refused him.

“And this consideration leads me, moreover, to reflect, with augmented satisfaction, on a certain event of last November; for had it been otherwise, I must have been involved in all your sorrow and disgrace.”

B. He writes that, once given full powers, he will "immediately give directions to Haggerston for preparing a proper settlement." Mr. Stone is the man who calls him away on business on the wedding morning, in Lydia's story.

“If, as I conclude will be the case, you send me full powers to act in your name throughout the whole of this business, I will immediately give directions to Haggerston for preparing a proper settlement.”

D. Mrs. Bennet is the only one who regrets the short stay. For family members who think about what has happened, a crowd is a relief from sitting at home with the couple, so parties suit them even better than they suit the thoughtless.

“No one but Mrs. Bennet regretted that their stay would be so short; and she made the most of the time by visiting about with her daughter, and having very frequent parties at home.”

“These parties were acceptable to all; to avoid a family circle was even more desirable to such as did think than such as did not.”

A. He hopes that "among different people, where they may each have a character to preserve, they will both be more prudent." Far from Meryton and Brighton, nobody will know how the marriage began.

“It is an advantage to have it so far from this part of the kingdom. He promises fairly; and I hope among different people, where they may each have a character to preserve, they will both be more prudent.”

C. Her letter opens surprised that Elizabeth needs to ask at all, since she had taken her niece to be a party concerned. "Slyness seems the fashion" turns that back on Elizabeth, who has kept Darcy to herself.

“I must confess myself surprised by your application; I did not expect it from you.”

“I thought him very sly; he hardly ever mentioned your name. But slyness seems the fashion.”

A. Mrs. Nichols was going to order in some meat for Wednesday, "and she has got three couple of ducks just fit to be killed."

“She was going to the butcher’s, she told me, on purpose to order in some meat on Wednesday, and she has got three couple of ducks just fit to be killed.”

D. Darcy bears the seating "with noble indifference," and Elizabeth would have thought Bingley had his sanction to be happy, except for that glance. A man who already had his friend's approval would not look to him in alarm.

“and she would have imagined that Bingley had received his sanction to be happy, had she not seen his eyes likewise turned towards Mr. Darcy, with an expression of half-laughing alarm.”

D. Mary asks for the use of the Netherfield library; it is Kitty who begs for a few balls there every winter.

“Mary petitioned for the use of the library at Netherfield; and Kitty begged very hard for a few balls there every winter.”

B. It has walks and a hermitage, and they reach it by the gravel walk that leads to the copse. It is a planted, ornamental part of the grounds, not wild land.

“Go, my dear,” cried her mother, “and show her Ladyship about the different walks. I think she will be pleased with the hermitage.”

“They proceeded in silence along the gravel walk that led to the copse;”

C. "His dear Charlotte's situation" and a "young" olive-branch point to a baby. In his first letter Collins offered Mr. Bennet an olive branch of peace, which makes the reconciliation reading tempting but wrong.

“The rest of his letter is only about his dear Charlotte’s situation, and his expectation of a young olive-branch.”

A. He says he cannot tell exactly how soon other wishes came in, "but I believe in about half an hour after I had seen you."

“How soon any other wishes introduced themselves, I can hardly tell, but I believe in about half an hour after I had seen you.”

C. "He has more to give" treats Collins's loyalty as something for sale to the richer patron. It answers Collins's last letter, which warned against the match on Lady Catherine's behalf.

“But, if I were you, I would stand by the nephew. He has more to give.”

B. She has to go out more with her mother, who cannot sit alone, but "as she was no longer mortified by comparisons between her sisters' beauty and her own," Mr. Bennet suspects she accepts the change without much reluctance.

“as she was no longer mortified by comparisons between her sisters’ beauty and her own, it was suspected by her father that she submitted to the change without much reluctance.”