Everything on the GCSE English Literature Pride and Prejudice Quotes poster is written out below, section by section. Use it to search the sheet, copy parts into your own notes, or check a fact quickly.
Remember: in the exam, quote briefly and zoom in on Austen's word choices. A short embedded quotation you analyse scores more than a long one you just drop in.
Marriage and money
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
The narrator's opening line, Chapter 1. Marriage is presented as a market, and the irony is that this is society's assumption rather than Austen's truth. Themes: marriage, money, irony.
"The business of her life was to get her daughters married."
The narrator on Mrs Bennet, Chapter 1. Because of the entail, with no son to inherit Longbourn, marrying off each daughter is survival rather than vanity. Themes: marriage, money, family.
"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."
Charlotte Lucas, Chapter 6. Her unromantic view sees marriage as luck and security, deliberately contrasting Elizabeth's belief in love. Themes: marriage, security, realism.
"...it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you."
Mr Collins, Chapter 19. He treats marriage as Elizabeth's only sensible option, which exposes how few real choices women had. Themes: marriage, women's choices, comedy.
"I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home."
Charlotte Lucas, Chapter 22. Charlotte chooses security over love, and it is the clearest evidence of what marriage really meant for a woman without money. Themes: marriage, money, women's choices.
Class and rank
"She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me."
Mr Darcy, Chapter 3. His first impression of Elizabeth, in which class pride insults her and plants her prejudice. Themes: pride, class, first impressions.
"Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?"
Mr Darcy, Chapter 34. Even while proposing, Darcy dwells on her "inferior" rank, so pride and class prejudice are tangled in the same sentence. Themes: pride, class, prejudice.
"Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"
Lady Catherine, Chapter 56. She defends rank as bloodline, showing class snobbery and the fear of marrying beneath oneself. Themes: class, rank, snobbery.
Pride, prejudice and first impressions
"I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine."
Elizabeth, Chapter 5. Hurt pride, not reason, fuels her prejudice, so the title's two faults are shown working together early on. Themes: pride, prejudice.
"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously."
Mary Bennet, Chapter 5. Her textbook distinction glosses the title: pride is self-regard, vanity is wanting others' approval. Themes: pride, vanity.
"My good opinion once lost is lost for ever."
Mr Darcy, Chapter 11. Rigid pride in his own words, and the inflexibility he has to unlearn before he can change. Themes: pride, character change.
"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed."
Mr Darcy, Chapter 34. In his first proposal, love is declared as a struggle he resents, so ardour and arrogance arrive in the same breath. Themes: pride, love, class.
Recognition and growth
"How despicably have I acted! ... Till this moment, I never knew myself."
Elizabeth, Chapter 36. Her turning point after Darcy's letter, when she finally sees her own prejudice. Themes: self-knowledge, prejudice, growth.
"I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle."
Mr Darcy, Chapter 58. He admits the pride he was raised into, and his change mirrors Elizabeth's. Themes: self-knowledge, pride, growth.
Women, family and reputation
"A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages..."
Caroline Bingley, Chapter 8. The checklist for an "accomplished" woman measures female worth by display, which Elizabeth refuses to perform. Themes: women, education, appearance.
"...act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me."
Elizabeth Bennet, Chapter 56. She claims the right to choose her own life against rank and family pressure. Themes: women, independence, class.
"The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this."
Mr Collins, Chapter 48, on Lydia's elopement. One ruined reputation is a threat to all five sisters, because respectability was fragile and shared. Themes: reputation, women, family.
"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"
Mr Bennet, Chapter 57. His detached wit is also a parenting failure, and it is what lets Lydia be reckless unchecked. Themes: family, parenting, comedy.