Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: plot summary, themes and quiz for GCSE English Literature

The Bennets have five daughters and no son, so their home will pass to a cousin when Mr Bennet dies, and marriage is a matter of security as much as love. Elizabeth, the second daughter, and the proud Mr Darcy misjudge each other badly before they learn better. Austen’s irony makes the novel funny as well as sharp about money and class.

Prove you’ve read it

The set text at a glance

Author
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Date
1813
Form
Novel, comedy of manners
Exam component
The 19th-century novel
Set by
AQA (8702), Pearson Edexcel (1ET0), OCR (J352)
How it is examined
AQA Paper 1 Section B, Edexcel Paper 2 Section A and OCR Component 01 Section B: the question starts from an extract and widens to the whole novel, in a closed-book exam.
Copyright
Public domain: Jane Austen died in 1817.

Plot summary, part by part

Volume One: First impressions

The wealthy Mr Bingley rents Netherfield and is drawn to Jane Bennet, while his friend Darcy offends Elizabeth at a ball. The charming officer Wickham tells Elizabeth that Darcy cheated him of his inheritance, and she believes him. Mr Collins, the cousin who will inherit, proposes to Elizabeth, is refused and marries her friend Charlotte Lucas. Bingley leaves for London.

Volume Two: The proposal and the letter

Visiting Charlotte in Kent, Elizabeth meets Darcy again at the home of his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Darcy proposes, insultingly stressing her inferior family, and she refuses him angrily, accusing him of separating Jane and Bingley and wronging Wickham. His letter the next day explains his part with Bingley and reveals that Wickham tried to elope with Darcy’s young sister. Elizabeth realises how prejudiced she has been.

Volume Three: Pemberley and the elopement

Touring Derbyshire with the Gardiners, Elizabeth visits Darcy’s estate, Pemberley, and finds him courteous and changed. News arrives that her youngest sister Lydia has run off with Wickham, threatening the whole family’s reputation. Darcy secretly arranges and pays for their marriage. Bingley returns to marry Jane, Elizabeth stands up to Lady Catherine, and Darcy proposes again, this time accepted.

This summary is a map, not a substitute: exam questions and Vread checkpoints are about the detail of the text.

Key themes

  • Pride and prejudice: Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s quick judgements both have to be overcome.
  • Marriage: the novel compares marriages made for love, money, security and passion, from Charlotte’s to Lydia’s.
  • Class and wealth: rank and income shape every match, and Lady Catherine embodies snobbery.
  • Women’s position: with no right to inherit, the Bennet sisters depend on marrying well.
  • Reputation: one daughter’s scandal could ruin all five, which is why Lydia’s elopement is so serious.

Key characters

  • Elizabeth Bennet: witty, independent and confident in her judgement, until she discovers how wrong it has been.
  • Fitzwilliam Darcy: a rich, reserved gentleman whose pride hides real integrity.
  • Jane Bennet: the eldest sister, gentle and inclined to think well of everyone.
  • Mr and Mrs Bennet: an ill-matched couple: he detached and ironic, she anxious to see her daughters married.
  • George Wickham: a charming officer whose lies and debts nearly ruin the family.
  • Mr Collins: the pompous clergyman cousin who will inherit Longbourn, devoted to his patron Lady Catherine.

Sample Vread questions on Pride and Prejudice

Here are 5 of the questions Vread asks while you read. No answers here: they are in the text.

  1. What type of dance does Mr. Darcy invite Elizabeth Bennet to perform at Netherfield?
  2. To which room is Elizabeth Bennet summoned to hear her father's opinion on Mr. Collins's proposal?
  3. According to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who would have been a delightful performer had her health allowed her to learn?
  4. What is the name of the town near which the Gardiners stay while visiting Pemberley?
  5. Whose efforts did Darcy and Elizabeth credit for bringing about their present good understanding?

On Vread, the text is split into 13 sections, each ending with one question. Sections follow the catalogue edition, so your page numbers may differ.

Book page on Vread (in French): page count, reading time and checkpoints

Prove you’ve read it

Parents: has your teenager actually read Pride and Prejudice?

Summaries and revision notes are everywhere and take minutes to skim. What a parent cannot easily tell is whether the book was read. GCSE English Literature is closed book, and questions start from an extract: knowing the whole text is what makes the difference.

  • One question per section. Each checkpoint asks about a specific detail of the section just read, not a general idea a summary would give away.
  • Visible progress. Your child sees which sections are validated and what is left, at their own pace.
  • No copy of the book. Vread does not supply the text: your child reads the school’s edition, on paper or on an e-reader.

A correct answer shows a section was read, not that it was analysed: it complements, never replaces, the work done in class.

Other 19th-century novel set texts

Most GCSE students are under 18. These pages use no tracking beyond the site’s existing, cookie-free audience measurement. See our privacy policy.

Vread is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR or any other exam board. Boards are named only to show which texts they set.