Chapter 1 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to read the first two sentences as one move. The first states a law for everyone: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The second says where that truth is held: it is “so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families” that a newcomer is “considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters”, however little his “feelings or views” are known. The student decides whose want the two sentences describe by the time they end. The card must not read the first sentence as the author’s own belief, and must say nothing of Bingley beyond Mrs. Long’s report: he never appears.

One reading

The families’. The second sentence takes the want away from the man. His “feelings or views” are not known and do not matter; what is fixed is in “the minds of the surrounding families”, and they have already settled whose “property” he is. The “truth universally acknowledged” turns out to be a neighbourhood’s wish, said grandly.

• this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families,
• he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

Another reading

The daughters’, and the sentence turns their need around. A man of fortune can wait; the girls, by their mother’s account, cannot. Mrs. Bennet says so as soon as she speaks of Bingley: “Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them.” The first sentence pins on the rich man a want that, in this chapter, belongs to the girls.

• must be in want of a wife.
• Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them.

Listen for

• Hears “in want of” in both its senses: wishing for a wife, and lacking one.
• Notices the fall from “universally” to “the surrounding families”: the whole world shrinks to one neighbourhood within a sentence.
• Notices “rightful property”: in the second sentence it is the man who is owned.
• Notices that the chapter turns at once to Mrs. Bennet’s news, so the families of the second sentence get a face and a voice.

If stuck

• What does the first sentence say every rich single man must want?
• In the second sentence, who has decided this, and what do they not yet know about him?
• If you were the new man in that neighbourhood, whose plan would you be part of?

A strong answer A strong response says whose want it is and grounds it in the two sentences. One reader says the families’: the man’s “feelings or views” are unknown, and the truth lives in “the minds of the surrounding families”, who have already made him the “rightful property” of their daughters. Another says the daughters’, whose need for a settled life Mrs. Bennet spells out at once, so the first sentence turns their need around and pins it on the man. The best answers hear both senses of “in want of” and notice how fast “universally” shrinks to one neighbourhood.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh one word. Mrs. Bennet tells her husband, “You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.” He answers, “Is that his design in settling here?” She cries, “Design? Nonsense, how can you talk so!” and goes straight on to say that Bingley may fall in love with one of the girls, “and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.” The student decides what she objects to in “design”. The card must say nothing of Bingley’s real purpose: he never appears, and all the chapter knows of him is Mrs. Long’s report.

One reading

It names a plan, and she needs the match to look like chance. A man who settles somewhere by design is calculating; a man who “may fall in love” is carried along. Her hope rests on the second story, so she pushes the first away, though her own plan is a design from end to end.

• Design? Nonsense, how can you talk so!
• it is very likely that he _may_ fall in love with one of them,

Another reading

It is his word, and she hears the mockery in it, if not the meaning. He has taken her plan and pinned it on Bingley, as if the young man came to Netherfield to be married off. She has no answer to the joke, so she calls it nonsense and goes back to what she wants from him.

• Is that his design in settling here?
• therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.

Listen for

• Notices that “design” is just what the first two sentences describe: the families’ plan for a man they have not met.
• Notices how quickly “Nonsense” turns into a fresh plan: he may fall in love, “and therefore you must visit him”.
• Weighs whether she hears his irony at all, or only a word she dislikes.
• Notices that his earlier “How so? how can it affect them?” pretends not to know what she means, so “design” is the second time he plays slow.

If stuck

• What does Mrs. Bennet say she is thinking of?
• What does Mr. Bennet’s question suggest Bingley came to Netherfield for?
• Would you rather hear that someone planned to meet you, or that it just happened?

A strong answer A strong response says what she hears in the word and grounds it in the exchange. One reader says “design” names a plan, and her hope needs the match to look like chance: a man who “may fall in love” is not calculating, though her own plan is. Another says she hears the mockery in it, since he has pinned her plan on Bingley, and having no answer she calls it nonsense and goes back to “you must visit him”. The best answers notice that the opening sentences have already shown a whole neighbourhood’s design on the newcomer.

What it asks It asks the student to notice a silence. Mr. Bennet says his wife might go to Bingley herself, since “you are as handsome as any of them”. She answers, “My dear, you flatter me,” grants that she has “had my share of beauty”, and says that a woman with “five grown-up daughters” ought to “give over thinking of her own beauty.” He replies, “In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.” Her next words are “But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley”. The student decides why she says nothing to his line. The card must not cast her as simply foolish: the chapter does not say whether she heard the insult.

One reading

She does not hear it. She took his first remark at face value, “you flatter me”, and she takes this one the same way, as agreement with her own modest speech. A woman who hears every word as meant hears a general remark about mothers, and goes back to the business at hand.

• My dear, you flatter me.
• But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.

Another reading

She hears it and will not give him the quarrel. She has come for one thing, a visit to Bingley, and an answer to the insult would hand him a new subject. So she steps over it and presses harder, with “indeed”. Read this way her silence is not dullness but aim: “The business of her life was to get her daughters married”.

• In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.
• The business of her life was to get her daughters married:

Listen for

• Notices that the insult answers her own words: she said a mother of five should give over thinking of her beauty, and he agrees too well.
• Hears “indeed” in her next line: she presses harder, as if nothing had been said.
• Weighs “you flatter me” both ways: proof that she takes his words as meant, or proof that she knows how to keep the pleasant ones and drop the rest.
• Notices that the narrator gives her an “uncertain temper”, yet here she keeps it.

If stuck

• What does Mr. Bennet say about her looks the first time?
• What does he say about them the second time?
• When someone teases you while you are asking them for something, what do you do?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for the silence and grounds it in the talk around it. One reader says she does not hear it: she took his first remark as flattery and hears this one as agreement with her modest speech. Another says she hears it and steps over it, because a quarrel about her looks would cost her the visit she has come for, so she presses on with “you must indeed go”. The best answers notice that the line agrees with her own words too well, and leave open what she heard, as the chapter does.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh an offer against a refusal. Mrs. Bennet asks her husband three times to call on Bingley. He answers “I see no occasion for that” and “It is more than I engage for, I assure you.” To the third plea he offers more than she asked: “I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls”. The visit he will not pay is small; the consent he offers is to the marriage itself. The student decides why he refuses the one and offers the other. The card must not say that Mr. Bennet has already decided to call on Bingley: the next chapter tells that, and this one leaves his refusal standing. It must say nothing of Bingley beyond Mrs. Long’s report.

One reading

Because the consent costs him nothing and the visit does. A note carried “by you” keeps him at home, and a call would tie him to his wife’s plan. Offering the bigger thing is the safest way to refuse the smaller one, and it sounds generous while it refuses.

• I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent
• It is more than I engage for, I assure you.

Another reading

Because the offer is the joke, and it is aimed at the plan. Consent to a marriage between people who have never met acts out the second sentence: the newcomer is already “the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters”, and all that is left to settle is which one. By going further than his wife, he shows how far she has already gone.

• to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls
• he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

Listen for

• Notices “by you”: even the note sends her to Bingley in his place, as his first answer did (“You and the girls may go”).
• Notices “whichever he chooses”: in the joke the man gets a choice, the one thing the opening sentences deny him.
• Notices that no daughter is asked either: he gives consent for the girls, as the neighbourhood claims the man for them.
• Weighs whether his wife can tell which offer is meant, since he treats the visit as not worth making and the marriage as already agreed.

If stuck

• What does Mrs. Bennet keep asking her husband to do?
• What does he offer to send instead?
• If someone would not walk next door for you but offered to sign anything you liked, what would you make of the offer?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for the swap and grounds it in his words. One reader says the consent costs him nothing and the visit would tie him to her plan: a note sent “by you” keeps him at home and sounds generous while it refuses. Another says the offer is the joke itself, aimed at the plan: consent to a marriage between strangers acts out the opening, where the newcomer is already “the rightful property” of the daughters. The best answers notice “whichever he chooses”, which gives the man the choice the opening denies him, and leave his refusal standing, as the chapter does.

What it asks It asks the student to set the two Bennets’ measures side by side. Mr. Bennet offers to “throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.” His wife objects: “Lizzy is not a bit better than the others: and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia.” He answers that the girls are “all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.” The student weighs the two measures against the world of the opening, where a daughter’s future is a marriage. The card must not say that Elizabeth is the book’s heroine or how any marriage in it turns out; here she is only “Lizzy” in the Bennets’ quarrel.

One reading

Hers. The opening describes a neighbourhood that claims a man of fortune for its daughters. In that world looks and good humour are what a newcomer sees first, and Mrs. Bennet reckons like a woman who knows it. Her husband’s “quickness” is a pleasure for him, not a help to the girls.

• I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia.
• he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

Another reading

His. A world that settles a man’s fate before it knows his “feelings or views” is one where a quick mind can see through the noise. His praise is harsh to the others, but it values something that lasts past a first meeting. Looks and good humour may win a visit; quickness may tell a girl whether the visit is worth having.

• but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.
• However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be

Listen for

• Notices that neither of the Bennets says what any daughter wants: she counts what will draw a husband, he what pleases a father.
• Notices “my little Lizzy”: the fondest words he says in the chapter come inside a joke.
• Notices that his praise of one girl comes with “silly and ignorant” for all five, and asks what that does to the praise.
• Notices that the narrator later gives Mr. Bennet “quick parts”: he prizes in Lizzy what he has himself.

If stuck

• Which two daughters does Mrs. Bennet put above Lizzy, and for what?
• What does Mr. Bennet say Lizzy has that her sisters lack?
• If you were one of the five girls, whose praise would you rather have, your mother’s or your father’s?

A strong answer A strong response chooses a measure and tests it against the opening. One reader says hers serves a daughter better in that world: the neighbourhood claims a man of fortune for its daughters, and looks and good humour are what a newcomer sees first. Another says his does: in a place that settles things before it knows anyone’s “feelings or views”, a quick mind may be the girl’s best guard. The best answers notice that neither of the Bennets asks what the girls want, and that his praise of Lizzy comes wrapped in “silly and ignorant” for all five.

What it asks It asks the student to find the audience for Mr. Bennet’s wit. His wife says, “You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.” He answers, “You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.” Nothing in the chapter shows her laughing or seeing the joke; she answers, “Ah, you do not know what I suffer.” The student decides who the jokes are for. The card must not cast Mr. Bennet as simply wise: his wit is spent at her expense, and the narrator calls it “sarcastic humour”.

One reading

Himself. No one in the scene laughs, and he does not seem to need anyone to. The jokes are how he bears a complaint he has heard “these twenty years at least”: they turn what he cannot stop into something he can enjoy. The narrator’s word for the habit is “sarcastic humour”, a pleasure taken alone.

• I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.
• sarcastic humour,

Another reading

The reader. The jokes land, but on no one in the scene; they land on us. Austen gives Mr. Bennet the chapter’s best lines and lets the reader share the laugh his wife misses, which makes the reader his one audience, and perhaps his partner in the unkindness, until the last paragraph judges him too.

• They are my old friends.
• so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice,

Listen for

• Notices that she names his pleasure exactly, “You take delight in vexing me”, and that his answer, “You mistake me”, is itself a joke.
• Hears “with consideration”: he praises her for how kindly she speaks of her own nerves.
• Notices that the girls are talked about but never speak, and the chapter does not say who else, if anyone, is in the room.
• Asks whether a reader who laughs is on Mr. Bennet’s side, and whether the last paragraph lets them stay there.

If stuck

• What does Mrs. Bennet say her husband takes delight in?
• What does he call her nerves?
• Have you ever made a joke that the person it was about did not get? Who was it for?

A strong answer A strong response names an audience and grounds it in the talk about the nerves. One reader says the jokes are for himself: no one in the scene laughs, and wit is how he bears a complaint he has heard “these twenty years at least”. Another says they are for the reader, who shares the laugh his wife misses and so joins him, until the narrator calls his wit “sarcastic humour”. The best answers notice that she names his pleasure exactly, “You take delight in vexing me”, and that his reply is one more joke.

What it asks It asks the student to judge the judge. After a page of talk the narrator steps in and sums up both Bennets. He gets one long sentence: “so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.” She gets short ones: her mind “was less difficult to develope”; she was “a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper”; “When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous.” The student builds a thesis on how close the narrator’s voice stands to Mr. Bennet’s dry wit, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not settle which spouse is to blame for the gap between them, since that is the last question; the narrator judges both and decides nothing.

One reading

Very close. The narrator does to Mrs. Bennet in four short sentences what her husband does all chapter: sums her up and moves on. “Less difficult to develope” is a joke at her expense with his dryness in it, and “fancied herself nervous” agrees with his view of the nerves as “my old friends”. Even the first sentence was ironic in his way, saying grandly what it means small.

• was less difficult to develope.
• When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous.

Another reading

Close in wit, apart in judgment. The narrator lists his faults beside his gifts: “sarcastic humour” and “caprice” are not praise, and “reserve” names a man who holds himself back. Mr. Bennet never judges himself; the narrator does. The narrator laughs as he does, but at both of them; he never laughs at himself.

• so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice,
• that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

Listen for

• Hears the lengths: one long, balanced sentence for him, four short, flat ones for her, and asks what the lengths themselves say.
• Knows that “mean” here means narrow or poor, not unkind, and weighs how harsh the phrase still is.
• Notices that understanding comes up twice: he cannot be understood, and she has a “mean understanding”.
• Sets the last paragraph beside the first sentence: both are the narrator’s own voice, and both pass a sharp general verdict in one breath.

If stuck

• Which four things does the narrator say Mr. Bennet is a mixture of?
• Which of those are gifts, and which are faults?
• Does the narrator say anything about Mrs. Bennet that her husband might have said?

A strong answer A strong thesis says how close the narrator stands to Mr. Bennet and argues it from the last paragraph. A student might argue the two voices are nearly one: the narrator sums up Mrs. Bennet in short, dry sentences, and “fancied herself nervous” agrees with his joke about her nerves. The strongest objection is that the narrator judges him too, naming “sarcastic humour”, “reserve” and “caprice”, which he never says of himself. A good revision might grant that the narrator shares his wit but not his comfort, laughing at both of them where he laughs only at her, then ask what that leaves the reader to decide.

What it asks It asks the chapter’s closing question. The narrator says Mr. Bennet was “so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.” The talk before it shows both sides of that gap. She takes his words as meant, his flattery as flattery and his refusal as a refusal. He seldom says what he means: he offers to send Bingley his “hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls”, calls her nerves “my old friends”, and ends with “when there are twenty, I will visit them all.” Yet she names his pleasure plainly: “You take delight in vexing me.” The student builds a thesis on whose failure it is more, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not offer a settled verdict as the book’s meaning, since the narrator judges both and decides nothing, and must not say that Mr. Bennet has already decided to call on Bingley.

One reading

More hers. Twenty-three years is long enough to learn a husband’s ways, and his are not hidden: he teases her in nearly every line. The narrator gives her a “mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper”, and a mind like that takes everything at its word. A wife who hears flattery inside an insult has stopped listening for anything but her one aim.

• She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.
• My dear, you flatter me.

Another reading

More his. He is the one with “quick parts”, and he spends them on not being known. “Reserve” and “caprice” are the narrator’s words for him, and his last line gives her nothing she can use. She tells him what he is doing, “You take delight in vexing me”, and he goes on doing it. A man who could make himself understood, and chooses not to, owns more of the failure.

• You take delight in vexing me.
• Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.

Listen for

• Notices how the narrator’s sentence divides the blame: the cause sits in his character (“so odd a mixture”), the failure in her (“to make his wife understand”).
• Notices that she is right about one thing: he does take delight in vexing her.
• Hears “when there are twenty, I will visit them all” as a line she cannot answer, and asks whether he means her to.
• Asks whether understanding is owed both ways: the chapter never asks whether he understands her.

If stuck

• How long have the Bennets been married?
• Find one line where Mr. Bennet says what he does not mean. What does his wife do with it?
• When two people keep getting each other wrong, who has more to answer for: the one who speaks in riddles, or the one who never learns them?

A strong answer A strong thesis says whose failure it is more and argues it from the talk and the last paragraph. A student might argue it is more hers: in twenty-three years she has not learned to hear his teasing, taking even an insult as flattery, and the narrator gives her a “mean understanding”. The strongest objection is that he could be understood and chooses not to be: “reserve” and “caprice” are the narrator’s words for him, and she names his pleasure plainly, “You take delight in vexing me.” A good revision might hold that the failure is shared but not equal, and say which spouse could more easily mend it, while noting that the narrator judges both and leaves the verdict to the reader.