• The novel is a comedy of manners about class structure and set with the upper and middle classes but mocking the traditions and propriety of society.
• Elizabeth Bennet struggles with her pride, which is injured by Mr. Darcy. She also struggles to fit into society when she is a clever woman who likes to express her opinions and emotions.
• Mr. Darcy struggles to overcome his prejudice against the Bennet family when he falls in love with Elizabeth.
• The novel is told from Elizabeth’s point of view even though there is still an omniscient narrator. This means some of the plot must be conveyed through letters such as scenes in London and Brighton or that someone else must inform Elizabeth of their emotions or events.
• Money is very important to marriage, Mr. Wickham has to be paid to marry Lydia and Lady Catherine tries to keep her money in the family by marrying her nephew Darcy to her daughter.
• Key themes- pride, prejudice, love, class.
• Narrative features- epistolary novel, omniscient narrator, point of view, satire, irony, dramatic irony, tone, caricature, dialogue.

Try and remember a number of quotations or useful page numbers too, have them written on sticky notes around your work area so that you don’t waste time in the exam looking them up. Cover them up and write down as many as you can for each character, theme or language feature and check you accuracy.

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Test it!

1. Find one quotation that exemplifies each key theme. Write a paragraph about how the quote exemplifies that theme in that particular moment in the text; you must also show how that relates to the text as a whole.
2. Find an example of each language, form and structure feature. Write a paragraph about the effect of each feature on the reader.
3. How does Austen tell the story in chapter 32?
4. Is Mr. Darcy justified in his judgment of Mrs. Bennet?
5. What is the significance of letter writing in Pride and Prejudice?