Pride and Prejudice Book Club Questions: 20 Discussion Questions for Jane Austen's Novel

The Short Version

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s 1813 comedy of manners, is a reliable book club pick because it is funny, sharp and far more readable than its reputation. The Bennet family has five daughters and a house that can only pass to a male heir, so when Mr. Bennet dies the girls could lose their home. Elizabeth Bennet, one of fiction’s great heroines, decides to dislike the proud, rich Mr. Darcy at first sight.

Below are twenty questions: ten that avoid the ending and ten that spoil it. A short section on the adaptations gives your group something to compare. We rate the book four and a half out of five. The language takes a chapter or two to get used to, and the middle has some slow stretches, so it helps to warn newcomers.

Spoiler-Free Questions

1. The book opens with a truth universally acknowledged about a single man in possession of a good fortune. How does the joke set up the whole novel?
2. The Bennets’ house is entailed to a male heir. How does that threat shape what Mrs. Bennet does and what her daughters can choose?
3. At the first ball Darcy refuses to dance and calls Elizabeth tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt him. Elizabeth overhears. Whose reaction tells us more about character, hers or his?
4. The title names pride and prejudice. Which character is the proudest, and which is the most prejudiced?
5. Mrs. Bennet is loud and embarrassing, and Mr. Bennet hides in his library making dry jokes. Austen loves them and mocks them. Which parent do you find harder to forgive?
6. Jane, Lydia, Mary and Kitty are very different sisters. Which would you want as your own?
7. Mr. Bingley falls for Jane right away, and Jane hides what she feels. Is her gentleness a strength or a weakness?
8. Mr. Collins is a pompous clergyman who works for Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and he proposes to Elizabeth. Why is that scene so funny and so uncomfortable?
9. Charlotte Lucas accepts a proposal because she wants security, not romance. Was she wise or giving up?
10. Our review says the world is narrow, a small slice of wealthy country life. Does that limit the book for you?

Spoiler Questions (Finish The Book First)

11. Elizabeth believes Wickham’s story about Darcy because it confirms what she already thinks. How does the book show how easily we believe what we want to?
12. Darcy’s first proposal spends half its time on how beneath him her family is. Why does it fail, and was Elizabeth right to refuse so furiously?
13. In his letter Darcy admits he separated Bingley and Jane, and reveals that Wickham tried to elope with Georgiana, then fifteen, for her fortune. Does Darcy’s explanation redeem him?
14. After the letter Elizabeth says, Till this moment I never knew myself. Is this the real turning point of the novel?
15. Elizabeth sees Pemberley, hears the housekeeper praise Darcy and sees him kind to the Gardiners. How much of her change of heart is the house, and how much is the man?
16. Lydia runs off with Wickham, and the scandal could ruin all five sisters. Why does the book make Lydia’s folly the engine of the plot?
17. Darcy secretly tracked down Wickham, paid his debts and arranged the marriage, and wanted no credit. Is that romantic, or a way of buying Elizabeth’s gratitude?
18. Lady Catherine storms into Longbourn and demands that Elizabeth promise not to marry Darcy. Why does Elizabeth’s refusal give Darcy hope?
19. In the second proposal Darcy says his affections and wishes are unchanged, and both admit their faults. Did the ending satisfy you, and did either of them change more than the other?
20. The Gardiners are thanked as the people who brought the couple together. Why does Austen end on them?

Pride And Prejudice On Screen

Almost every adaptation keeps the same backbone: the insult at the first ball, Mr. Collins’s proposal, the first proposal and the letter, Pemberley, Lydia’s scandal, Lady Catherine’s visit and the second proposal. The 1995 BBC series, written by Andrew Davies, runs six episodes with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and it adds the famous lake scene that is not in the book. The 2005 film stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. A Netflix series written by Dolly Alderton, with Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden, is set for December 3, 2026. Ask your group which proposal works best on screen.

What To Read Next

Start with our review for a spoiler-free verdict. Our summary page walks through the whole plot, and the book versus screen page compares the adaptations. For more romance, our books-like-it list covers six picks from Persuasion to The Hating Game.