Pride and Prejudice

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

Record your viewpoints on love and marriage. Is it immoral for people to marry for financial security rather than for love? Do you believe there are many people today who marry for monetary gain?

Teacher Suggestion: After discussing the above questions, you can delve into the historical context of the novel, referencing “The Marriage Law of Jane Austen’s World” to show how the Role of Women and the Importance of Marriage were different during the Regency era. You may wish to discuss the financial hardships of women who did not inherit or marry, the marriage of first cousins, the expected conduct of ladies and gentlemen, and elopement. Then, ask students to explore the rules that governed American society during the Regency era and to consider whether they would be willing to compromise on their original responses if they lived in Regency England.

• “The Marriage Law of Jane Austen’s World” (teacher appropriate; not student-facing) is an introduction to laws during the Regency era concerning inheritance, behavior, and marriage.
• This article on the rules that governed American society during the Regency era details the appropriate conduct for ladies and gives students a brief overview of the strict guidelines to which women were expected to adhere.

Short Activity

Brainstorm some societal rules or guidelines that have changed over time due to gender roles, political beliefs, economics, marriage, families, and other factors. Consider some of the following that may be applicable today: Never wear white to a wedding; wear black to a funeral; don’t wear white after Labor Day; hold the door open for people behind you. Discuss some of the rules your parents or grandparents adhere to, but you think are unnecessary. Use these questions to guide your thinking: Is there a certain standard of behavior or dress code for different places? Should people speak or write a certain way in different contexts? Next, discuss some of the guidelines that may be outdated in future generations.

Teaching Suggestion: Allow students to watch the below video on societal norms during the Regency era. Separate students into groups to brainstorm ideas about societal standards for today. Ideas may include behavior in church, court, at the grocery store, at school, or at work. Students may discuss standards of dress for different situations, how they adjust their speech depending on a person’s status or position, and how technology has changed human interactions.

• This seven-minute video from the British Library discusses societal norms for women in England in Jane Austen’s day.
• This short article considers social norms and how they influence our decisions and reactions to the world around us.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Conflicts between social classes have been around for centuries. Many of these conflicts are illustrated in Pride and Prejudice and connect to the theme of Social Hierarchy. Describe a time when you noticed the differences between social classes, either from film/television, social media, a story, or your own experience. Consider the following questions:

• How did the experience make you feel?
• What mannerisms and behaviors are seen or experienced in the different social classes?
• What are some of the benefits and disadvantages of belonging to different social classes? 

Teaching Suggestion: Social Hierarchy is an important theme in Pride and Prejudice. The blatant distaste of the Bingley sisters for the working class illustrates contemporary biases. With sensitivity to student social class differences, discuss the social hierarchy of Jane Austen’s day. Ask students to draw a comparison from that time to some of the social tensions today. What are some of the modern prejudices held by different classes? How do social classes treat one another?

• This 4-minute video by Ruby Payne discusses how modern social classes have different levels of access and different priorities around food and money.
• This 12-minute video by Stéphane Côté demonstrates the way social classes use different decision-making strategies.
• This article by the American Psychology Association details the differing mindsets of social classes.
• This chart by Ruby Payne compares the thinking of socioeconomic classes based on different factors.

Differentiation Suggestion: Ask advanced learners to research and present additional scholarly resources to compare the struggles of different classes in Regency England.