Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 4 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Jane say Mr. Bingley is "just what" a young man ought to be?

   • Correct answer: Sensible, good-humoured, and lively with perfect good breeding
   • Clever, reserved, and fastidious, with manners that are well-bred
   • Quiet, modest, and respectful of his elders and his betters
   • Wealthy, well-connected, and fashionable in dress and manner

   Jane describes Bingley as "sensible, good-humoured, lively" with "such happy manners" and "such perfect good breeding."

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2. 2

   Question 2. What additional quality does Elizabeth say completes Bingley's character?

   • His generous spirit and kind disposition toward strangers
   • Correct answer: His handsome appearance, which a young man ought to have
   • His superior education and refined literary tastes
   • His family connections and respectable social standing

   Elizabeth replies, "He is also handsome, which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Elizabeth, how much prettier was Jane than the other women at the ball?

   • Twice as pretty as any other lady in attendance
   • The most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen that evening
   • Correct answer: About five times as pretty as every other woman in the room
   • Equally as pretty as the other well-dressed young ladies

   Elizabeth tells Jane, "He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room."

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Elizabeth say is the "great difference" between herself and Jane?

   • Jane prefers dancing while Elizabeth enjoys quiet conversation
   • Elizabeth judges people quickly while Jane withholds her opinion
   • Jane is more reserved while Elizabeth speaks freely to everyone
   • Correct answer: Compliments always take Jane by surprise, but never Elizabeth

   Elizabeth says, "Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never."

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does Elizabeth characterize Jane's habit of seeing the best in people?

   • As a common affectation shared by most polite society
   • As a deliberate social strategy to win people's affection
   • Correct answer: As genuine candour without ostentation or design
   • As a weakness that makes her vulnerable to deception

   Elizabeth distinguishes Jane's genuine goodness from the common "affectation of candour," saying her ability "to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better" is "without ostentation or design."

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6. 6

   Question 6. What is Elizabeth's private opinion of the Bingley sisters after the assembly?

   • Correct answer: She finds them proud and conceited despite surface agreeableness
   • She pities them for being overshadowed by their brother
   • She finds them charming and hopes to become close friends
   • She is indifferent to them and reserves judgement for later

   Elizabeth "was very little disposed to approve them." The narrator describes them as "proud and conceited" despite being capable of good humour when they chose.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How was the Bingley family's fortune originally acquired?

   • Through military service and government appointments
   • Through marriage into a wealthy northern English family
   • Through inherited aristocratic land and rental income
   • Correct answer: Through trade, a fact the sisters prefer to forget

   Austen notes that "their brother's fortune and their own had been acquired by trade," a circumstance less deeply impressed on their memories than their respectable family origins.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How much did Mr. Bingley inherit from his father?

   • Fifty thousand pounds and a country estate
   • Correct answer: Nearly a hundred thousand pounds without an estate
   • Two hundred thousand pounds and Netherfield House
   • Twenty thousand pounds in government securities

   Mr. Bingley inherited "property to the amount of nearly a hundred thousand pounds from his father, who had intended to purchase an estate, but did not live to do it."

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9. 9

   Question 9. How did Mr. Bingley come to take Netherfield House?

   • He searched the county for months before finding the perfect property
   • He inherited it from his father, who had always intended to purchase an estate
   • Correct answer: He was tempted by an accidental recommendation and decided in half an hour
   • His sisters selected it after touring several estates in the county

   Bingley "was tempted by an accidental recommendation to look at Netherfield House. He did look at it, and into it for half-an-hour -- was pleased with the situation and the principal rooms... and took it immediately."

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which best describes the contrast between Bingley and Darcy's temperaments?

    • Correct answer: Bingley is easy-going and open while Darcy is haughty and fastidious
    • Bingley is ambitious and competitive while Darcy is relaxed and carefree
    • Bingley is quiet and thoughtful while Darcy is loud and commanding
    • Bingley is scholarly and reserved while Darcy is athletic and outgoing

    Bingley is characterized by "easiness, openness, and ductility of temper," while Darcy is "haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well-bred, were not inviting."

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11. 11

    Question 11. How does Bingley describe his experience at the Meryton assembly?

    • A disappointing evening redeemed only by dancing with Miss Bennet
    • Correct answer: Pleasant people, pretty girls, and Miss Bennet as beautiful as an angel
    • An acceptable evening with a few tolerable acquaintances and decent music
    • A dull affair with poor food but some interesting conversation partners

    Bingley "had never met with more pleasant people or prettier girls in his life" and "as to Miss Bennet, he could not conceive an angel more beautiful."

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12. 12

    Question 12. What is Darcy's criticism of Jane Bennet after the assembly?

    • She was too forward in seeking his attention on the dance floor
    • She was not well-read enough for polite conversation at dinner
    • She was handsome but lacked the wit to hold his attention
    • Correct answer: He acknowledged her to be pretty but said she smiled too much

    Darcy "acknowledged [Miss Bennet] to be pretty, but she smiled too much."

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13. 13

    Question 13. What did Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley ultimately say about Jane?

    • Correct answer: They called her a sweet girl they would not object to know more of
    • They praised her beauty but questioned her family connections
    • They said she was agreeable but too quiet for their taste
    • They dismissed her as beneath their notice and unworthy of Bingley

    The Bingley sisters "admired her and liked her, and pronounced her to be a sweet girl, and one whom they would not object to know more of."

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14. 14

    Question 14. Who did Mrs. Hurst marry, and what characterized her husband?

    • A clergyman of modest means but excellent family connections
    • Correct answer: A man of more fashion than fortune, whose house she treats as her own home when it suits her
    • A military officer stationed at the nearby garrison in Meryton
    • A wealthy landowner from the north of England with large estates

    Mrs. Hurst "had married a man of more fashion than fortune," meaning he was stylish but not wealthy.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What social advantage does Bingley have over Darcy, according to the narrator?

    • Greater wealth and more prestigious family connections in society
    • Superior education from the finest schools in England and abroad
    • Correct answer: More inviting manners that make him liked wherever he appears
    • A higher military rank and closer ties to the royal court

    "Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offense." In social manner, "his friend had greatly the advantage."

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