Pride and Prejudice

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1813

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Volume 1, Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 1

Volume 1, Chapter 16 Summary

At dinner, Mr. Collins flatters Mrs. Philips by stating her house reminds him of a small room at Rosings; once she learns what Rosings is, Mrs. Philips eagerly receives the compliment.

When Wickham walks in, Elizabeth is reminded how attractive he is. Though he is the object of every woman’s stare, he sits next to Elizabeth. She is curious about how he knows Darcy and is surprised when he says their families have been connected for years. Wickham alludes to their tense meeting the previous day and asks if she knows him well. She responds she knows him “[a]s well as I ever wish to” (75); Wickham says he can’t offer an opinion but that most people are “blinded by his fortune […] or frightened by his high and imposing manners” (76). Elizabeth assures him that everybody in Hertfordshire is “disgusted with his pride” (76). She hopes his plans are not altered by Darcy’s being close by.

Wickham says he has no reason to avoid Darcy other than “a sense of very great ill usage” (76). Darcy’s father bequeathed him a career with the church, but Darcy prevented him from obtaining it, leaving him destitute. Elizabeth, shocked, says Darcy “deserves to be publicly disgraced” (78). When Wickham says he will not disgrace him out of deference to Darcy’s father, “Elizabeth honor[s] him for such feelings, and [thinks] him handsomer than ever as he expresse[s] them” (78). Wickham adds that Darcy is jealous of him for his father’s love, explaining that they’d grown up together and that his own father took care of Pemberley when Darcy’s father grew older.

Wickham admits that Darcy is “a very kind and careful guardian of his sister” (79), who is also overly proud. Elizabeth wonders how Darcy can be so friendly with “sweet-tempered” Bingley. Wickham responds that Darcy “can please where he chooses” (80).

Mr. Collins loses money at cards and proclaims that “happily” Lady Catherine’s patronage means he is “not in such circumstances as to make five shillings any object” (80). Wickham informs Elizabeth that Lady Catherine was the sister of Darcy’s mother and that Darcy and his cousin, Miss de Bourgh, are expected to marry. Elizabeth says Lady Catherine sounds “arrogant” and “conceited” (81), and Wickham agrees.

On the way home, Elizabeth can’t stop thinking of Wickham but doesn’t have a chance to mention him, as Lydia and Mr. Collins monopolize the conversation.

Volume 1, Chapter 17 Summary

Elizabeth tells Jane what she’s learned from Wickham. Jane can’t believe Bingley could be so deceived or that Wickham could have suffered so much, stating that Darcy and Wickham must both have “been deceived” about each other. Elizabeth jokes that Jane is trying to avoid thinking poorly of anyone. Jane insists that Darcy couldn’t possibly have behaved so badly, that Bingley couldn’t be so wrong about him. Elizabeth says Bingley is more likely to be deceived than Wickham is to lie—“there was truth in his looks” (83).

Bingley and his sisters arrive to give Jane her invitation to the Netherfield ball. His sisters speak warmly to her and avoid the rest of the family as much as possible before fleeing, to Bingley’s chagrin.

Elizabeth is excited to dance with Wickham and to find “a confirmation of every thing in Mr. Darcy’s look and behaviour” (84). She asks Mr. Collins if he intends to go to the ball and is surprised to hear that he not only is going but also intends to dance. She is horrified when he asks her to dance the first two dances with him, for she’d intended those dances for Wickham; she reluctantly accepts, realizing “that she was selected from among her sisters as worthy of being the mistress of Hunsford Parsonage” (85). The increased attention Mr. Collins pays her and her mother’s sly comments confirm her suspicion.

Volume 1, Chapter 18 Summary

Elizabeth is disappointed when Wickham is not at the Netherfield ball. Believing Darcy responsible, she struggles to be civil with him. He surprises her by asking her to dance. Charlotte suggests she may enjoy it; Elizabeth declares that finding “a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate” would be “the greatest misfortune” (88). Charlotte warns her not to let her feelings for Wickham “make her appear unpleasant in the eyes of a man ten times his consequence” (88).

While dancing, Elizabeth alludes to her new friendship with Wickham; Darcy says Wickham “is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends” (89) but that he struggles to keep them. When Elizabeth notes that he’s lost Darcy’s friendship, Darcy does not respond. Elizabeth reminds him that he’d told her his “resentment once created was unappeasable” and asks if he is careful not to be “blinded by prejudice” (90), for those whose opinions never change must form correct opinions. She also says she receives “different accounts” of his character. He hopes she won’t judge him “at the present moment” (91) because it would not reflect well on either of them. When the dance is over, they are both upset, though Darcy’s “powerful feeling” (91) toward Elizabeth makes him forgive her. Jane tells Elizabeth that Bingley has confirmed that Wickham is not respectable and that Darcy has been kinder than Wickham deserves. Elizabeth responds that Bingley doesn’t know the whole story.

Elizabeth is horrified as Mr. Collins fawns over Darcy, who addresses him with “distant civility” (94) and moves away. She is further mortified when her mother gushes to Lady Lucas about how wonderful it will be when Jane marries Bingley. Noticing Darcy can hear every word, Elizabeth encourages her mother to talk quietly, to no avail. Elizabeth’s sister Mary, a poor singer, performs for the party and refuses to step down. Mr. Collins offers a long speech about the duties of a clergyman and his own opinion of music, amusing Mr. Bennet.

When Mr. Collins monopolizes Elizabeth, Charlotte distracts him. The Bennets, by a maneuvering of Mrs. Bennet, are the last to leave, and Bingley’s sisters do not hide their disdain. Mrs. Bennet is pleased that Jane will be living at Netherfield soon. She’s also happy that Elizabeth, the daughter “least dear” (99) to her, will soon marry Mr. Collins.

Volume 1, Chapters 16-18 Analysis

First Impressions, the original title of Pride and Prejudice, is an apt descriptor of these chapters. Elizabeth demonstrates level-headedness, perception, and good judgment, and her father describes her as the most sensible of all his daughters. Her association with Mr. Wickham, however, illustrates how she is a victim of her own prejudices.

Wickham’s comment to Elizabeth that “Mr. Darcy can please where he chooses” (80) is an appropriate description of Wickham himself. With his good looks and charm, he immediately attracts Elizabeth, who is all too ready to accept his accusations against Darcy. Sitting next to Elizabeth at dinner—a choice that appears deliberate, for he’s aware that she noticed the “cold manner of” (75) his meeting with Darcy the day before—he wastes no time probing for Elizabeth’s opinion of Darcy. When he confirms her opinion, Elizabeth listens eagerly, complimenting him for his grace in handling the injustice he claims to have suffered at Darcy’s hand, thinking “him handsomer than ever” (78). Not at all dubious of Wickham revealing this personal story to a stranger, Elizabeth believes his “countenance may vouch” (78) for his good nature and later tells Jane that “there was truth in his looks” (83). He manipulates her by revealing the story in bits and pieces, occasionally changing the topic of their conversation—letting her “interest of the subject increase” (76), then coming back around to his sorrowful tale and claiming he has “no right to give my opinion” (75). Elizabeth, entranced by her first impression of him, fails to notice any of this.

At the Netherfield ball, Elizabeth takes pleasure in finding “confirmation of every thing in Mr. Darcy’s look and behavior [sic]” (84) and even tells Charlotte she is “determined to hate” (88) him. She confronts Darcy about Wickham without asking to hear his side of the story, accusing him of being “blinded by prejudice” (90) and of holding too stubborn an opinion, something of which she herself is guilty. She tells Jane that Bingley, who defends Darcy, must be wrong because “he is unacquainted with several parts of the story” (93)—yet she herself is no more acquainted with the whole story than he is. In this way, Elizabeth demonstrates the very prejudice for which she faults Darcy.

Darcy himself, when confronted by Elizabeth, exhibits the tactful discretion Wickham lacks by refraining from insulting Wickham the way Wickham insults him. When Elizabeth notes that Wickham has lost his friendship, Darcy “[makes] no answer, and [seems] desirous of changing the subject” (89). Elizabeth reminds him that he’d once told her that his “resentment once created was unappeasable” (90) and asks him whether he is “very cautious […] as to its being created” (90). Darcy replies simply, “I am” (90). Finally, after Elizabeth explains that she is trying to obtain a picture of his character, he warns her “not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either” (91). Darcy suggests that Elizabeth’s opinion is based on false information without explicitly saying so, thus sparing her embarrassment, avoiding censuring her, and retaining his composure. Just as with Mr. Collins, comparison between Wickham and Darcy leaves Darcy looking more favorable.

Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins seek to impress the Bingley party, but their tactlessness and obsequiousness create the opposite effect. Mr. Collins begs Darcy’s pardon in not introducing himself sooner, blithely ignoring Elizabeth’s insistence that he will appear “impertinent” (94). Mrs. Bennet’s loud gushing over Bingley, and the brazen manipulation she employs to ensure they are the last to leave, only annoy Bingley’s sisters. With this unabashed worship of the wealthy, Austen exposes those who prove correct the criticisms of the haughty Bingley sisters.