Pride and Prejudice

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1813

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Volume 1, Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 1

Volume 1, Chapter 4 Summary

Jane had been hesitant to speak too highly of Bingley, but when she’s alone with Elizabeth, she confesses that she finds him “sensible,” “good-humored,” and in possession of “perfect good breeding” (15). She was surprised by his invitation to dance with him twice; Elizabeth is not surprised, replying that Bingley “could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room” (15). Elizabeth notes that Jane “never see[s] a fault in any body“(16) and has never uttered a negative word about anyone. When Jane replies that she only speaks her thoughts, Elizabeth agrees, wondering how someone with such “good sense” can be “so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others” (16).

Jane says that Bingley’s sisters are “very pleasing women when you converse with them” (16); Elizabeth silently disagrees, having found them “proud and conceited” (16). Though handsome and well-educated, with “a fortune of twenty thousand pounds” (16),Bingley’s sisters seem to place more importance on the fact that they are “of a respectable family in the north of England” (16) than on the fact that “their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade” (16-17).

Bingley’s father had intended to purchase an estate but died before he had the chance; he’d left £100,000 to Bingley. Bingley also had intended to purchase an estate; however, he’d rented Netherfield after a half-hour’s inspection, and his sisters, though “by no means unwilling to preside at his table,” fear the “easiness of his temper” might lead him to “leave the next generation to purchase” (17).

Bingley and Darcy are good friends despite their “great opposition of character” (17). Bingley is universally-liked, whereas Darcy, the more “clever” of the two, is seen as “haughty” and “reserved” (17). Also, Bingley has “the firmest reliance” on Darcy’s judgment (17). Bingley speaks highly of the Meryton dance, claiming he’s never seen more beautiful women and that everyone had been “most kind and attentive to him” (18). Darcy finds the people without “beauty” or “fashion” (18). Bingley’s sisters, Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley, agree with Darcy that Jane “smiled too much” (18) but approve of her nonetheless.

Volume 1, Chapter 5 Summary

The Bennet family is friendly with the Lucas family, at the head of which is Sir William Lucas, whose meeting with the king in his capacity as mayor had led to his knighthood and inspired him to quit the trade that had made him “a tolerable fortune” (18). Lady Lucas is “not too clever to be a valuable neighbor to Mrs. Bennet” (19), and Elizabeth and the eldest Lucas daughter Charlotte are good friends.

The Lucases visit the Bennets to discuss the Meryton ball. Mrs. Bennet politely compliments Charlotte on being Bingley’s first choice in dancing partners; when Charlotte notes that Bingley preferred Jane, Mrs. Bennet feigns surprise.

At Charlotte’s mention of Darcy’s rudeness toward Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet says Mrs. Long had attempted a conversation with him and that “he seemed very angry at being spoke to” (20). Jane explains that Miss Bingley told her he is “remarkably agreeable” (20) among those he knows well. Mrs. Bennet does not believe her, telling Elizabeth she should never dance with him. Charlotte suggests his pride is made less offensive because it’s justified by his fortune and good breeding, to which Elizabeth responds that she “could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine” (20).Elizabeth’s sister, Mary, states that pride is “a very common failing” (20) and that “there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary” (21).

Volume 1, Chapter 6 Summary

The Bingley party visits the Bennets at Longbourn, and Jane and Bingley’s attraction becomes even clearer to Elizabeth. Charlotte worries that Jane, who shows “a composure of temper and an uniform cheerfulness of manner” (22), is not showing enough affection toward Bingley; that lovers need encouragement, and Jane’s naturally-pleasant nature may not allow Bingley to see her affection for him. Jane, Charlotte says, should “make the most of every half hour” of her time with Bingley until “she is secure of him” (22). When Elizabeth comments that Jane has known Bingley for only two weeks, Charlotte states that “[h]appiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance” and that it’s better for people “to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life” (23).

In the meantime, Darcy takes a begrudging interest in Elizabeth. The more he sees her, the more he’s “forced to acknowledge” that her face is “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes” (24).Though these discoveries are “mortifying” (24), he pays close attention to her conversations with others, a habit that makes her suspect he seeks to criticize her. When he approaches her after one such conversation, she teasingly asks him if she spoke eloquently. They engage in brief, sharp banter until Charlotte requests that Elizabeth entertain them on the piano.

Sir William Lucas approaches Darcy and attempts, unsuccessfully, to engage him in conversation, noting that dancing is “one of the first refinements of polished societies,” to which Darcy responds that “every savage can dance” (26). In an attempt to encourage Darcy to dance, Sir William calls to Elizabeth, asking Darcy “who could object to such a partner” (27). Though Darcy is “not unwilling” (27) to dance with Elizabeth, Elizabeth refuses.

Miss Bingley complains to Darcy about the “insipidity” and “self-importance of all these people” and is surprised when he informs her he’d been thinking about the “very great pleasure” he’s finding in watching Elizabeth, who has “a pretty face” and “a pair of very fine eyes” (27). Jokingly asking about their wedding, Miss Bingley speaks of the “charming mother-in-law” he’ll acquire, continuing to tease him while he listens “with perfect indifference” (28).

Volume 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis

Many characters in Pride and Prejudice have contrasts or counterparts. Jane’s tendency “to like people in general” and to “never see a fault in any body” contrasts with Elizabeth’s “quickness of observation” and more critical eye (16). Bingley, with his “pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners,” is “lively and unreserved” and dances with many partners, whereas Darcy, “forbidding” and “disagreeable,” dances only with members of his own party (12). After the Meryton ball, Bingley feels he “[has] never met with pleasanter people or prettier girls in his life,” but Darcy “[has] seen a collection of people in whom there [is] little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he [has] felt the smallest interest” (18). Bingley’s and Jane’s sunny dispositions make them clearly well-matched. Similarly, Darcy and Elizabeth are established as sharp and cerebral, and Darcy is already attracted to the “uncommonly intelligent” look in the “beautiful expression of her dark eyes” (24).

Elizabeth is also contrasted with her friend Charlotte Lucas, who in response to Elizabeth’s insistence that, after only two weeks, Jane shouldn’t expect to “be certain of the degree of her own regard” (23) for Bingley, states that couples shouldn’t know too well of each other’s “defects” (23) before marriage. With her warning that if Jane wants to marry Bingley, she should “show more affection than she feels” (22) and enjoy the luxury of falling in love with him later, Charlotte represents a practical, more sober view of marriage than Elizabeth, who places value on affection. Like Mrs. Bennet, Charlotte recognizes the importance of marrying well and the challenges young women face in establishing their futures. She reflects traditional society’s views and sees situations with a pragmatic, rather than romantic, eye, which is why Darcy’s pride “does not offend” her, for as a “fine young man with family, fortune, every thing in his favour [sic],” he has “an excuse” to be proud (20). As opposed to Elizabeth, Charlotte’s object in marriage is position and security, and though her approach may appear cold and mercenary, she arguably is better equipped to navigate the 19th-century patriarchy than Elizabeth.

Contrasts in Pride and Prejudice are not limited to the dispositions of the characters. The book is rife with misunderstandings, contrasts between the truth and people’s beliefs. In Chapter 6, Elizabeth, whose pride was “mortified” (21) by Darcy’s insult, misunderstands Darcy’s interest in her conversations; though in truth he’s attempting to “know more of her,” she assumes he wishes to judge her with his “satirical eye” (24). Pride, the overabundance of it or the wounding of it, is often the catalyst for these misunderstandings, and will continue to be throughout Pride and Prejudice.

Contrast also exists between people’s visions of their status and what their status actually is. Sir William Lucas exploits his lowly title to attempt camaraderie with Darcy, bragging of his connections with “superior society” (26) without recognizing the condescension in Darcy’s responses. Mrs. Bennet, who ogles over the Bingley sisters and tells her husband they are “charming women” (14), fails to see their disdain of her. Even the superior Bingley sisters inflate their status, seeming to forget “that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade” (16-17), rather than through inheritance. In a society that values title and prestige, people install themselves above others in an attempt to appear more distinguished.