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Pride and Prejudice key quotes: every quotation analysed

42 quotations from Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), each with its speaker and scene, what the words are doing, the techniques at work and how to use it in a AQA GCSE English Literature essay. By character: Elizabeth Bennet (12), Fitzwilliam Darcy (12), Mr and Mrs Bennet (6), George Wickham (6), Lady Catherine de Bourgh (6). Indexed by theme below.

A quotation is worth marks only when it is exact and doing work. Pride and Prejudice is examined on 8702 Paper 1, Section B — The 19th-century novel (closed book; a printed extract, then the novel as a whole), and what scores is the analysis. Every entry here gives the analysis first: read the quotation, then the line on what it is doing, then close the page and say it back. The character studies linked from each section carry the readings and essay arguments the quotations serve; the Grade 9 Notes hold the whole text.

By theme

Class and rank (12) · Marriage and money (12) · Pride and prejudice (12) · First impressions and judgement (10) · Women, reputation and the entail (5)

Elizabeth Bennet — 12 quotations

Elizabeth Bennet: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 5

What it is doing. Her dislike of Darcy began with her own wounded pride.

Techniques. Balanced syntax

In an essay. Show that her prejudice grows from pride.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“There was truth in his looks.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 16

What it is doing. She trusts Wickham because of his face and manner.

Techniques. Dramatic irony

In an essay. Show Elizabeth deceived by Wickham's appearance.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

“had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner”

Elizabeth · Chapter 34

What it is doing. She tells Darcy his manner made acceptance impossible.

Techniques. Rebuke

Structure. The words Darcy later says tortured him.

In an essay. Link manners to the meaning of 'gentleman'.

Themes: Class and rank · Pride and prejudice

“How despicably I have acted!”

Elizabeth · Chapter 36

What it is doing. She condemns her own conduct after reading the letter.

Techniques. Exclamation

In an essay. Mark the turning point in her self-knowledge.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“Till this moment I never knew myself.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 36

What it is doing. She recognises her own prejudice for the first time.

Techniques. Short sentence · Epiphany

In an essay. Central evidence for her change.

Themes: Pride and prejudice · First impressions and judgement

“Vanity, not love, has been my folly.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 36

What it is doing. She names vanity as the cause of her misjudgement.

Techniques. Antithesis

In an essay. Show that she carries pride as well as prejudice.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“and of this place, I might have been mistress!”

Elizabeth · Chapter 43

What it is doing. At Pemberley she imagines what she refused.

Techniques. Exclamation · Free indirect speech

In an essay. Discuss whether her feelings change with the estate.

Themes: Marriage and money · Class and rank

“He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She claims equality of birth with Darcy.

Techniques. Parallelism · Tricolon

In an essay. Central evidence for any essay on class and rank.

Themes: Class and rank

“constitute my happiness, without reference to you”

Elizabeth · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She asserts her right to choose for herself.

Techniques. Formal assertion

In an essay. Show her independence against rank.

Themes: Women, reputation and the entail · Marriage and money

“I am not one of those young ladies (if such young ladies there are) who are so daring as to risk their happiness on the chance of being asked a second time.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 19

What it is doing. She insists to Collins that her refusal is real.

Techniques. Parenthesis · Irony

In an essay. Show her refusing security for principle.

Themes: Marriage and money

“Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.”

Charlotte Lucas (to Elizabeth) · Chapter 6

What it is doing. Charlotte's view, which Elizabeth laughs at.

Techniques. Aphorism

In an essay. Set Elizabeth's ideals against Charlotte's realism.

Themes: Marriage and money

“I am not romantic, you know; I never was.”

Charlotte Lucas (to Elizabeth) · Chapter 22

What it is doing. Charlotte explains her acceptance of Collins.

Techniques. Plain statement

In an essay. Show what Elizabeth's refusals cost by contrast.

Themes: Marriage and money · Women, reputation and the entail

Fitzwilliam Darcy — 12 quotations

Fitzwilliam Darcy: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

“She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me”

Darcy · Chapter 3

What it is doing. His insult to Elizabeth at the assembly.

Techniques. Understatement

In an essay. The origin of both faults.

Themes: Pride and prejudice · First impressions and judgement

“a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman”

Darcy · Chapter 6

What it is doing. His growing admiration of Elizabeth.

Techniques. Contrast with 'tolerable'

In an essay. Trace his change of feeling early.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.”

Darcy · Chapter 11

What it is doing. He describes his resentful temper.

Techniques. Self-description

In an essay. Show his pride as fixed — until it changes.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“In vain I have struggled. It will not do.”

Darcy · Chapter 34

What it is doing. He proposes as if confessing a weakness.

Techniques. Short sentences

In an essay. Analyse the condescension in the first proposal.

Themes: Pride and prejudice · Class and rank

“My feelings will not be repressed.”

Darcy · Chapter 34

What it is doing. His love overcomes his resistance.

Techniques. Declaration

In an essay. Set his passion against the pride he has fought.

Themes: Marriage and money

“I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.”

Darcy · Chapter 58

What it is doing. He admits his pride in conduct.

Techniques. Antithesis

In an essay. Central evidence of his change.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“You are too generous to trifle with me.”

Darcy · Chapter 58

What it is doing. His humble opening to the second proposal.

Techniques. Direct address

In an essay. Contrast with the first proposal.

Themes: Marriage and money

“neither gaudy nor uselessly fine”

Narrator (of Pemberley) · Chapter 43

What it is doing. Pemberley's furnishings reflect good taste.

Techniques. Description as characterisation

In an essay. Use the estate as evidence of his character.

Themes: Class and rank

“the best landlord, and the best master”

Mrs Reynolds · Chapter 43

What it is doing. His housekeeper praises him as landlord and master.

Techniques. Testimony

In an essay. Evidence that changes Elizabeth's view.

Themes: Class and rank · First impressions and judgement

“I was spoilt by my parents”

Darcy · Chapter 58

What it is doing. He explains how his pride was formed.

Techniques. Confession

In an essay. Show pride as upbringing, not nature.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous.”

Darcy · Chapter 58

What it is doing. He credits Elizabeth's refusal with his change.

Techniques. Antithesis

In an essay. Link the first proposal's refusal to the second.

Themes: Pride and prejudice

“his sense of her inferiority”

Narrator · Chapter 34

What it is doing. The first proposal dwells on her lower position.

Techniques. Free indirect speech

In an essay. Explain why the first proposal fails.

Themes: Class and rank

Mr and Mrs Bennet — 6 quotations

Mr and Mrs Bennet: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

“A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”

Mrs Bennet · Chapter 1

What it is doing. She values Bingley by his income at once.

Techniques. Exclamation

In an essay. Show marriage as money from the first chapter.

Themes: Marriage and money

“You have no compassion for my poor nerves.”

Mrs Bennet · Chapter 1

What it is doing. Her complaint, a running comic motif.

Techniques. Comic motif

In an essay. Introduce the comic marriage at the novel's start.

Themes: Marriage and money

“I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends.”

Mr Bennet · Chapter 1

What it is doing. His ironic mockery of his wife.

Techniques. Irony

In an essay. Show his wit and his disrespect.

Themes: Marriage and money

“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth.”

Mr Bennet · Chapter 20

What it is doing. He supports Elizabeth's refusal of Collins with a joke.

Techniques. Irony

In an essay. Show him siding with Elizabeth.

Themes: Marriage and money

“let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame.”

Mr Bennet · After Lydia's elopement (Volume 3)

What it is doing. A brief moment of self-blame.

Techniques. Confession

In an essay. Show his insight and his failure to act.

Themes: Women, reputation and the entail

“He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all.”

Mr Bennet · Chapter 53

What it is doing. His ironic praise of Wickham as son-in-law.

Techniques. Tricolon · Irony

In an essay. Show his wit surviving the crisis.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

George Wickham — 6 quotations

George Wickham: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

“his appearance was greatly in his favour”

Narrator · Chapter 15

What it is doing. Wickham is introduced by his looks.

Techniques. Narratorial irony

In an essay. Open an essay on appearances.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

“There was truth in his looks.”

Elizabeth · Chapter 16

What it is doing. Elizabeth believes his story because of his face.

Techniques. Dramatic irony

In an essay. Show Elizabeth deceived by Wickham's appearance.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

“He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all.”

Mr Bennet · Chapter 53

What it is doing. His charm exposed as performance.

Techniques. Tricolon

In an essay. Show his manner unchanged by his disgrace.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

“vicious propensities”

Darcy (letter) · Chapter 35

What it is doing. Darcy describes Wickham's real character.

Techniques. Formal register

In an essay. The letter's correction of appearances.

Themes: First impressions and judgement

“You will laugh when you know where I am gone”

Lydia (letter) · Chapter 47

What it is doing. Lydia's careless note about eloping with Wickham.

Techniques. Letter · Irony

In an essay. Show the danger he brings to a family.

Themes: Women, reputation and the entail

“Mr. Wickham's chief object was unquestionably my sister's fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds”

Darcy (letter) · Chapter 35

What it is doing. Darcy reveals that Wickham pursued Georgiana for her money.

Techniques. Letter · Exact sums

In an essay. Show Wickham as a fortune-hunter before the Lydia crisis.

Themes: Marriage and money · First impressions and judgement

Lady Catherine de Bourgh — 6 quotations

Lady Catherine de Bourgh: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

“Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She sees the match as pollution of rank.

Techniques. Rhetorical question · Hyperbole

In an essay. Central evidence of aristocratic pride.

Themes: Class and rank

“Obstinate, headstrong girl!”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She insults Elizabeth for refusing to obey.

Techniques. Exclamation

In an essay. Show independence through the enemy's eyes.

Themes: Women, reputation and the entail

“I am not to be trifled with.”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She asserts her authority over Elizabeth.

Techniques. Assertion · Irony

In an essay. Show rank defied by a gentleman's daughter.

Themes: Class and rank

“I am most seriously displeased.”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. Her parting line at Longbourn.

Techniques. Formal register

In an essay. Show her interference failing in its purpose.

Themes: Class and rank

“I send no compliments to your mother.”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. Her deliberate rudeness as she leaves.

Techniques. Insult

In an essay. Show rank without manners at its rudest.

Themes: Class and rank

“I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet.”

Lady Catherine · Chapter 56

What it is doing. She refuses the ordinary courtesy of farewell.

Techniques. Formal insult

In an essay. Contrast her manners with the Gardiners'.

Themes: Class and rank

The quotations by theme

Think you know them?

Knowing a quotation is the start. On Incandio a character or theme counts as mastered only once you have taught it back and defended your reading of it against Jane Austen — the two things a quotation list cannot ask of you.

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