Pride and Prejudice Foreshadowing Quotes

single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife - Jane Austen quote

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1. The opening sentence of Jane Austen’s comedy of manners is without question one of the most famous and best known first lines in literature. Its masterful ironic style and humorous tone are foreshadowing of the sparkling humor and irony to be found throughout the classic novel. It introduces us to four important themes: marriage, love, money and class. The satirical view Austin takes of her characters and of marriage in the Regency period is established. The memorable first line also signals the classic novel’s treatment of men as commodities and prized possessions for single women. It is a good example of verbal irony as women in the late 18th century were far more dependent on their husbands, than vice versa. In fact rich bachelors Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are not at all searching for a wife, the situation is totally opposite, as we very quickly learn. Austen was only 21 years old when she wrote Pride and Prejudice. It is one of six major novels which earns her a deserved reputation as master ironist and supreme pioneer of comedy. First published anonymously in 1813 when it wasn’t deemed ladylike to pursue a career in writing, it remains one of the world’s most popular novels more than two hundred years later.
So much ease, with such perfect good breeding - Pride and Prejudice

"He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"
"He is also handsome," replied Elizabeth, "which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 4. Jane and Elizabeth discuss Charles Bingley after their first meeting with him at the ball. Jane who was previously cautious in her praise of Bingley now tells her sister how much she admires him. While Darcy seemed snobby and rude to them, his friend Bingley appears polite and well-mannered – character traits that were very important in Austen’s day. The positive first impression Bingley has on Jane foreshadows their close relationship later in the story. Elizabeth agrees with her sister, jokingly saying that Bingley is also handsome which makes his character "complete." The dangers of relying soley on first impressions are highlighted here, as this eligible bachelor is later shown to have one important character flaw: in matters of the heart he is too easily persuaded by family and friends.

"Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life."
"I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think."
"I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 4. After the ball in Meryton Elizabeth and Jane hold a post mortem, during which they discuss Charles Bingley’s interest in Jane and also what Elizabeth says is the bad behavior of Bingley’s sisters. Elizabeth accuses Jane of being too quick to see the good in everybody and being blind to people’s faults. But Jane is reluctant to criticize the Bingley sisters and tells Elizabeth that she is too quick to judge others harshly. Elizabeth’s suggestion that her sister’s judgment of people is flawed turns out to be ironic, since Elizabeth turns out to be a poor judge of Mr. Darcy’s and Mr. Wickham’s characters, which almost costs her her happiness. This exchange is also foreshadowing of how Jane will put her own happiness at risk by failing to see the bad intentions of her manipulative false friend Caroline Bingley.

When she is secure of him, there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Charlotte says this to Elizabeth, when advising how Jane should behave if she wishes to end up being married to Charles Bingley. Charlotte believes you don’t need to love someone in order to marry them. She feels Jane is being too reserved and should simply work at winning Bingley’s attention and getting him to marry her. There will be plenty of time for love after that, as much as she chooses. This is foreshadowing Charlotte’s later decision to marry, not for love, but for security and a home.

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."
"You make me laugh, Charlotte; but it is not sound. You know it is not sound, and that you would never act in this way yourself."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6. Charlotte Lucas and Elizabeth discuss the idea of Jane marrying Charles Bingley, and on the subject of marriage the two women disagree. As becomes apparent later when she weds, Charlotte has a pragmatic view of marriage, it is a business transaction to enable a woman have financial security and comfort and status. During this exchange with Elizabeth, she is dismissive of the idea of marriage being about love and intimacy and getting to know the other person. Happiness in marriage is a roll of the dice, she believes, and it’s better to know as little as possible about the other’s faults beforehand. Elizabeth disagrees and laughs off what Charlotte says, predicting that her friend would never act in this way herself. Later events prove Elizabeth wrong in this, an example of how poor Elizabeth’s judgment of other people is sometimes. Charlotte lack of response to Elizabeth’s comment is forecasting of the transactional and loveless marriage she will enter with Mr. Collins.

I must so far differ from you as to think our two youngest daughters uncommonly foolish.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 7. Disagreeing with his wife, Mr. Bennet describes his youngest daughters Kitty and Lydia as "uncommonly foolish" after branding them "two of the silliest girls in the country" moments before. He appears to think that they are spending too much time around the soldiers from the militia regiment recently arrived in the neighborhood. But the irony is that he never insists that they stop. Mr. Bennet enjoys criticizing and teasing his daughters, but never actually tries to correct their behavior. This is also foreshadowing that his youngest daughters’ foolishness will get one of them – Lydia – involved in trouble and scandal later.

Lydia was a stout, well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured countenance; a favourite with her mother, whose affection had brought her into public at an early age. She had high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attention of the officers, to whom her uncle’s good dinners, and her own easy manners recommended her, had increased into assurance.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9. We learn here that Lydia Bennet is a strong 15-year-old who is well developed with "high animal spirits" and is Mrs. Bennet’s favorite daughter. She has "easy manners" and is obsessed with men, especially the officers of her militia regiment. This passage foreshadows the sexual scandal that the flirtatious Lydia will later become involved in.

"To yield readily – easily – to the persuasion of a friend is no merit with you."
"To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either."
"You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy argue about the merits of accepting the advice of friends, after Darcy suggests that his friend Mr. Bingley is easily swayed. Elizabeth comments that people who are easily persuaded by friends hold no merit with Darcy. She accuses him of being too detached and dismissive of the opinion of friends. But Darcy makes clear his belief that a person should follow their own convictions. The exchange foreshadows how Bingley will be later be influenced by others in matters of the heart. The banter also shows Darcy’s close-up encounter with Elizabeth’s "liveliness" of mind, something he later admits to falling in love with.

But the attention of every lady was soon caught by a young man, whom they had never seen before, of most gentlemanlike appearance, walking with an officer on the other side of the way…His appearance was greatly in his favour; he had all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 15. The reader is introduced to George Wickham for the first time. The reaction of all the young ladies is very favorable towards Wickham. Although he is a scoundrel and cad, they don’t see beyond his handsome appearance which deceives them into thinking that he is a good person. First impressions don’t always prove right. In this passage note the narrator’s emphasis on Wickham’s outward appearance and superficiality – "gentlemanlike appearance," "fine countenance," "good figure" and "pleasing address." This foreshadows that the handsome Wickham turns out to be completely different than what he appears to be.

It was not in her nature to question the veracity of a young man of such amiable appearance as Wickham.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 17. Elizabeth is prejudiced against Darcy. So she believes George Wickham’s story that Darcy acted cruelly to him and refused to honor the wish of Darcy’s father that finance be provided for Wickham to become a clergyman. By emphasizing Wickham’s "amiable appearance," the narrator is hinting that he is not quite the person that Elizabeth believes. This foreshadows Wickham being outed later as a scoundrel and deceiver.

Charlotte’s kindness extended farther than Elizabeth had any conception of; – its object was nothing else than to secure her from any return of Mr. Collins’s addresses, by engaging them towards herself. Such was Miss Lucas’s scheme.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 22. Elizabeth appreciates the kindness of her friend Charlotte who deflects the attentions of Mr. Collins away from her and towards Charlotte herself. But Charlotte is being calculating here in attending to Mr. Collins and keeping him occupied. This is foreshadowing of Charlotte’s engagement to Mr. Collins soon after this.

Let Wickham be your man. He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you creditably.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24. Mr. Bennet, who is fond of teasing his daughters, is being sarcastic when he says this to Elizabeth. But as always there is some truth in Mr. Bennet’s sarcastic humor. Mr. Bennet’s ironic comment is also foreshadowing of Elizabeth’s growing attaction for Wickham and her losing him to another woman. Irony is embedded in the soul of Austen’s novel and is one of her most important tools.

"All! – What, all five out at once? Very odd! – And you only the second. – The younger ones out before the elder are married! – Your younger sisters must be very young?"
"Yes, my youngest is not sixteen. Perhaps she is full young to be much in company. But really, Ma’am, I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters, that they should not have their share of society and amusement because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early. – The last born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth, as the first. And to be kept back on such a motive! – I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind."
"Upon my word," said her ladyship, "you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?"
"With three younger sisters grown up," replied Elizabeth, smiling, "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it."
Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 29. This passage is a foretaste of things to come, as Elizabeth stands her ground with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a formidable woman used to getting her own way. Elizabeth refuses to tell Lady Catherine her age when she asks her and doesn’t concede to the noble lady’s opinions. Lady Catherine comments that Elizabeth is very forward about offering her opinions. The famous clash later between the two as Lady Catherine attempts to block any marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth is foreshadowed here.

About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an establishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with the lady who presided over it to Ramsgate; and thither also went Mr. Wickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior acquaintance between him and Mrs. Younge, in whose character we were most unhappily deceived; and by her connivance and aid, he so far recommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was persuaded to believe herself in love, and to consent to an elopement. She was then but fifteen, which must be her excuse…Mr. Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 35. Mr. Darcy, in a letter, reveals to Elizabeth how George Wickham attempted to elope with Darcy’s 15-year-old sister Georgiana, aided by his sister’s governess Mrs. Younge. Wickham’s sole aim was to obtain young Georgiana’s fortune. Darcy is explaining the reason for his quarrel with Wickham. This is foreshadowing that Wickham will later elope with Lydia Bennet, suggesting that Elizabeth and her family do not take seriously Darcy’s warning about Wickham.

"Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."
"If you were aware," said Elizabeth, "of the very great disadvantage to us all which must arise from the public notice of Lydia’s unguarded and imprudent manner – nay, which has already arisen from it, I am sure you would judge differently in the affair."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. This is Mr. Bennet’s final word on Lydia’s wish to to go to Brighton, where the militia regiment is relocating. A believer in the passive parenting, Mr. Bennet doesn’t see any problem with Lydia’s trip. He thinks there will be little cost or inconvenience for the family if she goes. This is despite his eldest daughter Elizabeth’s warning that Lydia’s wild behavior will impact the family negatively. But Mr. Bennet turns out to be so wrong, and Elizabeth’s worst fears come to pass. This exchange is foreshadowing of the trouble that Lydia is about to bring down on the Bennets.

Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia’s character. Excuse me – for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. Elizabeth lectures her father over his questionable parenting of his youngest daughter Lydia. Fifteen-year-old Lydia has received an invitation from the wife of Colonel Forster to come with the militia regiment to Brighton. But Elizabeth is opposed to the wild and unrestrained Lydia going, ominously warning that she will become the "most determined flirt" and damage the family’s reputation and standing. Mr. Bennet fails to "check" his daughter’s "exuberant spirits" as demanded by Elizabeth, with very troubling consequences later on, as we discover. This foreshadows the scandal Lydia will soon become embroiled in.

Colonel Forster is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any real mischief; and she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey to anybody. At Brighton she will be of less importance even as a common flirt than she has been here. The officers will find women better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that her being there may teach her her own insignificance. At any rate, she cannot grow many degrees worse, without authorising us to lock her up for the rest of her life.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. When Elizabeth warns Mr. Bennet not to let Lydia go with the militia regiment to Brighton, he justifies his decision to allow her in a passage that is full of ironic foreshadowing. It is a bit hard to swallow that he believe nothing bad will happen by sending his silliest and most immature daughter to the seaside resort of Brighton. Far from staying out of "real mischief" and not falling "prey" to anybody, the 15-year-old flirtateous Lydia ends up running off, unmarried, with the predatory militia officer George Wickham.

In Lydia’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw herself the object of attention to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp – its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and, to complete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. Lydia’s imagination runs wild after Mr. Bennet with his hands-off parenting strategy gives her the go-ahead to go to Brighton with Colonel Forster and his wife. She fantasizes about partying with the young men of the regiment, flirting with at least six officers at the same time. This is foreshadowing of trouble ahead.

They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome, stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; – and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place where nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Elizabeth gets her first view of the estate that will eventually become her home when she visit Pemberley with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. She and her aunt and uncle are impressed by the beauty and elegance of Pemberley House and its grounds. For a moment Elizabeth even imagines herself being mistress of Mr. Darcy’s home. Her appreciation of Pemberley during her tour of it – "a large, handsome, stone building" – foreshadows her eventual realization of her love for Darcy and that she will become mistress of Pemberley. It is believed that Jane Austen may have based her idea of Darcy’s fictional country estate of Pemberley on Chatsworth House. Chatsworth is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and can trace its history back to 1549, when the Cavandish family acquired the estate. The beautiful 105-acre Chatsworth gardens are world famous and attract more than one million visitors a year. The stately home features extensively in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film as Mr. Darcy’s residence.

"He is now gone into the army," she added; "but I am afraid he has turned out very wild."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Mrs. Reynolds says this to Mrs. Gardiner about George Wickham. The Pemberley housekeeper tells Elizabeth and her party that Wickham was the son of her late master’s steward, who had been brought up by him at his own expense. Wickham’s "very wild" description could be said to foreshadow the nightmare he will turn out to be for the Bennet family, when he runs away with one of the Bennet daughters.

She respected, she esteemed, she was grateful to him, she felt a real interest in his welfare; and she only wanted to know how far she wished that welfare to depend upon herself, and how far it would be for the happiness of both that she should employ the power, which her fancy told her she still possessed, of bringing on the renewal of his addresses.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 44. Elizabeth realizes the power she has over the changed Darcy. She believes that she holds his heart and the happiness of both of them in the palm of her hand, after his tenderness towards her in her stay at Pemberley. This passage suggests that she too loves him and wishes him to propose a second time. This is foreshadowing of Darcy’s second marriage proposal and Elizabeth’s acceptance of it.

If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice? And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 56. A defiant Elizabeth rejects Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s demands to give up all claims on Mr. Darcy, since Lady Catherine and her sister decided long ago that he would marry Lady Catherine’s daughter. Elizabeth also indicates here that she is not opposed to the idea of marrying Darcy – foreshadowing his second proposal to her and her acceptance.
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