by Jane Austen
CHAPTER V
1. more economically, though less expeditiously: See previous note.
2. terrific: ‘Dreadful; causing terrour’ (Johnson).
3. the undeserving of the other sex: Mary intones platitudes which might have come verbatim from any number of conduct books.
4. postilions: A postilion was ‘one who guides a post chaise’ (Johnson).
CHAPTER VI
1. duel: The various characters’ reactions to Lydia’s elopement and seduction play off against versions of this very common narrative motif in fictional and moral writing. Mrs Bennet’s melodramatic concern that Mr Bennet might be killed in a duel is typically inappropriate – both in view of his character and given the fact that duels, though still practised, were frowned upon and associated primarily with the aristocracy. (Cf. note III, viii: 1.)
2. powdering gown: A loose dressing-gown-like garment worn when the hair or wig was being powdered.
CHAPTER VII
1. Monday, August 2: There has been much controversy about the dating of this letter. In his edition of the novel, R. W. Chapman argues that the novel’s chronology is consistent with the calendars for 1811 and 1812, using this as evidence that Austen revised the novel at that period. According to his scheme, Austen confused the date of Mr Gardiner’s letter with that of Colonel Forster’s express to Longbourn, and this letter should have been dated 17 August (which was a Monday in 1812), consistent with Lydia’s claim to have stayed a fortnight at the Gardiners’ before her wedding. Other commentators have been less concerned to fit the novel absolutely with 1811–12, suggesting that the internal dates are a mixture of the original and the revised texts. (See Ralph Nash, ‘The Time Scheme for Pride and Prejudice’, Modern Language Notes 4 (1966–7), pp. 194–8.)
2. distressed himself: i.e., financially.
CHAPTER VIII
1. come upon the town…distant farm house: A fall into prostitution (‘coming upon the town’) or retirement from society were standard popular fictional alternatives for a woman who had lost her virtue.
2. a gulf impossible: The second and subsequent editions of the novel emend this to ‘a gulf impassable’, but since the phrase makes perfect sense (and might even be a buried quotation, though I have been unable to find a source), I have retained the first-edition reading.
3. regulars: See note I, vii: 5.
4. ensigncy: See note I, vii: 6.
CHAPTER IX
1. first of September: The first day of partridge shooting.
2. in that parish: See note III, iv: 5.
3. the little Theatre: Built in 1720, the Little Theatre occupied the site immediately north of the present Haymarket Theatre. It was demolished in 1821.
4. beyond the hour: At this period marriages had to be solemnized between the hours of eight in the morning and twelve noon.
CHAPTER X
1. Edward-street: In the fashionable area of London, on the site of the present Langham Place. In Lady Susan, it is the address of the heroine’s bosom friend.
2. in some other country: In another area.
CHAPTER XI
1. covies: A covey is a ‘brood or hatch of partridges; a family of partridges keeping together during the first season’ (OED).
2. two courses: See note I, xxi: 3.
CHAPTER XII
1. Scarborough: On the north-east coast of England, Scarborough was a fashionable spa town from the mid-seventeenth century.
CHAPTER XIII
1. as well as the others: Chapman accepts ‘other’ here, which is the reading of the second and third editions, but this would be a very odd way to refer to Jane and it is unlikely that Bingley would as yet feel himself intimate enough to sit if Elizabeth were standing. I have therefore retained the first-edition reading.
CHAPTER XIV
1. The horses were post: i.e., supplied by post-stations for general hire (see note II, xiv: 2).
2. hermitage: Gardens often included summerhouses, etc., designed as replicas of rustic buildings or caves.
CHAPTER XVI
1. ignorance: In Cassandra Austen’s copy of the novel, ‘ignorance’ is corrected to ‘innocence’, but it is much more likely that Austen intended the play on ignorance and knowledge that runs throughout the text.
CHAPTER XVII
1. entered the room: In Cassandra Austen’s copy ‘the’ is corrected to ‘their’, suggesting that Elizabeth first met Jane in their own room.
2. pin-money: ‘Money allowed to a wife for her private expences without account’ (Johnson).
3. special licence: For someone like Mrs Bennet, marriage by special licence (and therefore private) would be considered a sign of social status: it was universal practice among the aristocracy and therefore often adopted by the gentry and urban middle class. (See also note III, iv: 5.)
CHAPTER XIX
1. the restoration of peace: This might refer to the temporary cessation of hostilities with France at the Treaty of Amiens of March 1802, which lasted until May 1803. This would set the main action of the novel in the 1790s, and the reference has been used by some commentators as evidence for Austen having substantially revised the novel in 1802. (See P. B. S. Andrews, ‘The Date of Pride and Prejudice’, Notes and Queries 213 (1968), pp. 338–42.) R. W. Chapman, who believes that the novel was revised in 1811–12, argues that ‘the peace’ might simply be a hopeful anticipation of the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which occurred in 1815.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About the Author
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
Further Reading
Note on the Text
Pride and Prejudice
Volume One
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
Volume Two
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
Volume Three
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
Appendix: Original Penguin Classics Introduction by Tony Tanner
Emendations to the Text
Notes
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