Pride and Prejudice, as a story bible

• Married

  Mr. Bennet·Mrs. Bennet

  Children

  1. Jane Bennet
  2. Elizabeth Bennet
  3. Mary Bennet
  4. Kitty Bennet
  5. Lydia Bennet

• Married

  Mr. Philips·Mrs. Philips

• Married

  Sir William Lucas·Lady Lucas

  Children

  1. Charlotte Lucas

• Married

  Mrs. Hurst·Mr. Hurst

• Brothers and sisters

  • Mrs. Philips
  • Mrs. Bennet
  • Mr. Gardiner

• Brothers and sisters

  • Mr. Bingley
  • Miss Bingley
  • Mrs. Hurst

• Brothers and sisters

  • Mr. Darcy
  • Miss Darcy

• Elizabeth Bennet·Whereabouts

  1. From the startLongbourn
  2. From Chapter VIINetherfield, nursing Jane
  3. From Chapter XIILongbourn

• Elizabeth Bennet·Opinion of Mr. Bingley's sisters

  1. From the startproud and conceited; she is little disposed to approve them
  2. From Chapter VIIwarming to them for their care of Jane
  3. From Chapter VIIIher first dislike, restored by their indifference to Jane

• Jane Bennet·Whereabouts

  1. From the startLongbourn
  2. From Chapter VIINetherfield, kept there by illness
  3. From Chapter XIILongbourn

• Jane Bennet·Health

  1. From Chapter VIIa violent cold, caught riding to Netherfield in the rain
  2. From Chapter Xrecovering; well enough to leave her room for an evening

• Mr. Darcy·Opinion of Elizabeth's looks

  1. From the starttolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him
  2. From Chapter VIher face uncommonly intelligent, her dark eyes beautiful

• Elizabeth Bennet knows about Mr. Darcy

  Elizabeth overhears Darcy call her tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him.

  From Chapter III

• Mrs. Bennet knows about Mr. Darcy

  Mrs. Bennet repeats the slight to her husband the same night.

  From Chapter III

• Charlotte Lucas knows about Mr. Darcy

  Charlotte knows the story and teases Elizabeth with it the morning after.

  From Chapter V

• Miss Bingley knows about Mr. Darcy

  Darcy tells Miss Bingley that the fine eyes he has been thinking of are Elizabeth's.

  From Chapter VI

• Elizabeth Bennet knows about Jane Bennet

  Elizabeth sees that Jane is in a way to be very much in love, and that the world will not notice.

  From Chapter VI

• Charlotte Lucas knows about Jane Bennet

  Elizabeth confides it to Charlotte, who thinks Jane hides it too well.

  From Chapter VI

• Mrs. Bennet knows about Mr. Bennet

  Mr. Bennet keeps his call on Mr. Bingley from his wife until the evening after he has paid it.

  From Chapter II

• Charlotte Lucas knows about Mr. Bingley

  Charlotte overhears Bingley tell Mr. Robinson that the eldest Miss Bennet was the prettiest woman in the room.

  From Chapter V

• Jane Bennet knows about Mr. Darcy

  Miss Bingley has told Jane that Darcy says little except among his intimate acquaintance.

  From Chapter V

• The readerknows

  The narrator tells the reader that Darcy now finds Elizabeth's face uncommonly intelligent.

  he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes

• Elizabeth Bennethas it wrong

  Elizabeth is perfectly unaware of the change, and still thinks he finds her plain.

  Believes: he does not think her handsome enough to dance with

  Of this she was perfectly unaware: to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere

• Miss Bingleysuspects

  Miss Bingley sees, or suspects, enough to be jealous.

  Believes: he is falling in love with Elizabeth

  Miss Bingley saw, or suspected, enough to be jealous

• Lydia Bennetsuspects

  Kitty and Lydia bring home a hint that Colonel Forster is going to be married. It is only a hint.

  Believes: he is going to be married

  it had actually been hinted that Colonel Forster was going to be married

1. Chapter I

   Day not given

   Netherfield Park is let

   A young man of large fortune from the north of England takes Netherfield, and Mrs. Long brings the news to Longbourn.

   At Netherfield Park. Off the page. With: Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Long

2. Chapter II

   Day not given

   Mr. Bennet calls on Mr. Bingley

   Mr. Bennet calls among the first, and tells his family only the next evening.

   At Netherfield Park. Off the page. With: Mr. Bennet, Mr. Bingley

3. Chapter III

   Day not given

   Mr. Bingley returns the call

   Bingley sits ten minutes in Mr. Bennet's library; the daughters see from an upper window that he wears a blue coat.

   At Longbourn. With: Mr. Bingley, Mr. Bennet

4. Chapter III

   Day not given

   The Meryton assembly

   Bingley dances twice with Jane; Darcy dances only with his own party and calls Elizabeth tolerable.

   At Meryton. With: Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Mrs. Bennet

5. Chapter V

   Day not given

   The Lucases call to talk over the ball

   The morning after the assembly, the Lucas girls come to Longbourn to compare what they overheard.

   At Longbourn. With: Charlotte Lucas, Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet

6. Chapter VI

   Day not given

   A party at Lucas Lodge

   Elizabeth sings, Mary plays, Sir William presents Elizabeth to Darcy as a partner, and she refuses to dance.

   At Lucas Lodge. With: Sir William Lucas, Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, Mary Bennet, Miss Bingley

7. Chapter VII

   Day 0

   Tuesday

   Jane rides to Netherfield in the rain

   Invited to dine by Miss Bingley, Jane is sent on horseback, is caught in the rain and has to stay the night.

   At Netherfield Park. With: Jane Bennet, Mrs. Bennet

   Mrs. Bennet expects her daughters home the following Tuesday, which would exactly finish Jane's week (chapter XII).

8. Chapter VII

   Day 1

   Wednesday

   Elizabeth walks to Netherfield

   Jane's note arrives at breakfast; Elizabeth walks three miles across the fields, and is invited to stay.

   At Netherfield Park. With: Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Kitty Bennet, Lydia Bennet

   The day after Jane's ride. Chapter XII's news from the regiment runs since the preceding Wednesday.

9. Chapter IX

   Day 2

   Mrs. Bennet visits Netherfield

   Mrs. Bennet finds Jane not dangerously ill, will not hear of her moving, and Lydia reminds Bingley of his ball.

   At Netherfield Park. With: Mrs. Bennet, Lydia Bennet, Kitty Bennet, Mr. Bingley

10. Chapter X

    Day 2

    Darcy writes to his sister

    That evening Miss Bingley praises Darcy's letter-writing, and he asks Elizabeth to dance a reel.

    At Netherfield Park. With: Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley, Elizabeth Bennet

11. Chapter X

    Day 3

    A walk in the shrubbery

    Miss Bingley teases Darcy about marrying into the Bennets; Mrs. Hurst takes his other arm, and Elizabeth runs off on her own.

    At Netherfield Park. With: Miss Bingley, Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Hurst, Elizabeth Bennet

12. Chapter XI

    Day 3

    Jane comes down to the drawing-room

    Jane spends the evening downstairs; Miss Bingley takes Elizabeth for a turn about the room.

    At Netherfield Park. With: Jane Bennet, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy

13. Chapter XII

    Day 5

    Sunday

    Jane and Elizabeth return to Longbourn

    After a Saturday in which Darcy scarcely speaks to Elizabeth, the sisters leave Netherfield on Sunday after morning service.

    At Longbourn. With: Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Bennet

    Stated in chapter XII.

• Jane and Mr. Bingley

  Romance · Advancing

  Bingley admires Jane from the first ball; Jane loves him and hides it, which Charlotte warns may cost her.

  1. Chapter IIISet-up: Bingley dances with Jane twice at the assembly, and asks no one else a second time.
  2. Chapter IVAdvance: Alone with Elizabeth, Jane admits how much she admires him.
  3. Chapter VIComplication: Charlotte warns that a woman who hides her affection may lose the man.
  4. Chapter VIIAdvance: Sent on horseback in the rain, Jane falls ill at Netherfield and has to stay.
  5. Chapter XIAdvance: When Jane comes down, Bingley sits by her and talks to scarcely anyone else.

• Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy

  Main plot · Advancing

  A slight at the first ball, a change of heart she knows nothing about, and a running argument about pride.

  1. Chapter IIISet-up: Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth and she overhears why.
  2. Chapter VIReversal: Darcy begins to find her face uncommonly intelligent.
  3. Chapter VIComplication: At Lucas Lodge he asks her to dance and she refuses.
  4. Chapter XAdvance: Darcy has never been so bewitched by any woman.
  5. Chapter XIAdvance: Their argument about pride and resentment ends in a smile.
  6. Chapter XIIComplication: Alarmed by his own feelings, Darcy barely speaks to her on her last day.

• Miss Bingley's hopes of Mr. Darcy

  Subplot · Stalled

  Miss Bingley sets out to win Darcy and to make him dislike Elizabeth; neither works.

  1. Chapter VIIISet-up: At dinner Miss Bingley is wholly taken up with Darcy.
  2. Chapter XComplication: She sees enough to be jealous of Elizabeth.
  3. Chapter XAdvance: She tries to provoke Darcy by teasing him about marrying into the Bennet family.
  4. Chapter XIComplication: Her turn about the room with Elizabeth makes Darcy look up.

• The Netherfield ball

  Set-up and payoff · Open

  Bingley talks of a ball at Netherfield on the first night; by chapter XI it is a settled thing, and the date is not yet fixed.

  1. Chapter IIISet-up: At the assembly Bingley talks of giving a ball himself at Netherfield.
  2. Chapter IXAdvance: Lydia holds him to his promise; he lets her name the day once Jane is well.
  3. Chapter XIAdvance: Bingley tells his sister the ball is settled.

• The entail on Longbourn

  Set-up and payoff · Open

  Longbourn will pass to a distant male relation, not to any of the five daughters. The relation is not named in chapters I to XII.

  1. Chapter VIISet-up: The estate is entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation.

• The militia in Meryton

  Subplot · Open

  A regiment winters at Meryton, and the two youngest Bennets can talk of nothing but officers.

  1. Chapter VIISet-up: A militia regiment arrives to spend the winter, with Meryton as head-quarters.
  2. Chapter VIIAdvance: Lydia admires Captain Carter, who is leaving for London.
  3. Chapter XIIClue: A hint comes home that Colonel Forster is going to be married.

Planted changes: flagged

• The changed sentence

  That she should have walked thirty miles so early in the day in such dirty weather, and by herself, was almost incredible to Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley

  It contradicts

  Elizabeth Bennet, Walk to Netherfield: three miles, alone, in dirty weather

  walked three miles so early in the day in such dirty weather

  Netherfield is three miles from Longbourn: Elizabeth says so herself before she sets out.

• The changed sentence

  he had removed with his family to a house about twenty miles from Meryton, denominated from that period Lucas Lodge

  It contradicts

  Lucas Lodge, Distance from Meryton: about a mile

  a house about a mile from Meryton

  Lucas Lodge is about a mile from Meryton, and within a short walk of Longbourn.

• The changed sentence

  Her father had been a sea captain in Brighton, and had left her four thousand pounds.

  It contradicts

  Mrs. Bennet, Her father: an attorney in Meryton

  Her father had been an attorney in Meryton

  Mrs. Bennet's father was an attorney in Meryton; Mr. Philips was his clerk and took over the business.

• The changed sentence

  Of this she was perfectly aware: to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere

  It contradicts

  Mr. Darcy, Opinion of Elizabeth's looks: her face uncommonly intelligent, her dark eyes beautiful

  the beautiful expression of her dark eyes

  Elizabeth does not know that Darcy's opinion has changed. The knowledge table has her believing he finds her merely tolerable.

Real passages: left alone

• A rumour or an opinion

  a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly

  A rumour, corrected in the same paragraph: the party that entered the room was five.

• Explained by the text

  She danced four dances with him at Meryton

  Chapter III says Bingley danced with Jane twice. Dances went in pairs: he asked her for the two next, and later the two fifth, so twice is four dances.

• A real change

  he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes.

  Darcy's opinion of Elizabeth's looks really changes in chapter VI. The earlier value holds until then, so there is nothing to fix.

• A rumour or an opinion

  To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above her ancles in dirt

  Miss Bingley's sneer, not a measurement: she does not care how far it is.