Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 52 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Who wrote the letter that Elizabeth receives at the beginning of Chapter 52?

   • Colonel Forster
   • Mr. Gardiner
   • Mr. Darcy
   • Correct answer: Mrs. Gardiner

   Mrs. Gardiner writes from Gracechurch Street to reveal the full story of Darcy's involvement in arranging Lydia's marriage.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How did Mr. Darcy locate Wickham and Lydia in London?

   • Through Mrs. Reynolds, the old housekeeper at Pemberley
   • Through Mr. Bennet, who inquired at all the principal hotels
   • Correct answer: Through Mrs. Younge, a former governess to Miss Darcy
   • Through Denny, Wickham's most particular friend in the regiment

   Darcy knew Mrs. Younge was intimately acquainted with Wickham. After two or three days of persuasion, she revealed their location.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What was Lydia's response when Darcy tried to persuade her to leave Wickham?

   • Correct answer: She absolutely refused and insisted they would eventually marry
   • She gratefully accepted his assistance and promised to leave Wickham
   • She agreed to return to her friends as soon as they would receive her
   • She begged Darcy to persuade Wickham to marry her immediately

   Lydia "cared for none of her friends" and "would not hear of leaving Wickham," insisting they would be married eventually.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Mrs. Gardiner identify as Darcy's true character defect?

   • Arrogance
   • Correct answer: Obstinacy
   • Reserve
   • Pride

   Mrs. Gardiner writes: "I fancy, Lizzy, that obstinacy is the real defect of his character, after all," referring to his stubborn insistence on handling everything himself.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why did Darcy avoid consulting Mr. Bennet about the marriage settlement?

   • Correct answer: He did not judge Mr. Bennet to be a person he could properly consult
   • Mr. Bennet had refused to receive any visitor while in town
   • He was afraid Mr. Bennet would challenge him to a duel
   • Mr. Bennet was away at Epsom and could not be found in town

   Darcy deliberately waited for Mr. Bennet to depart and then approached Mr. Gardiner, whom he considered a more suitable person to consult.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Elizabeth tell Wickham that Mrs. Reynolds said about him?

   • That she remembered him affectionately and hoped he would come again
   • Correct answer: That he was gone into the army and she feared he had not turned out well
   • That she had no recollection of him and had never heard his name
   • That he was an excellent young gentleman, as his father had been

   Elizabeth delivers this with pointed irony, adding "At such a distance as that, you know, things are strangely misrepresented" to deflect.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What did Wickham originally plan to do instead of marrying Lydia?

   • Renew his old plan of marrying Miss Darcy for her thirty thousand pounds
   • Return to Derbyshire and claim the Kympton living after all
   • Depend on Mr. Bennet's generosity to support them in London
   • Correct answer: Make his fortune by marriage to a wealthy woman in another country

   Wickham "still cherished the hope of more effectually making his fortune by marriage in some other country" and had never intended to marry Lydia.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Mrs. Gardiner hint at when she mentions "P." at the end of her letter?

   • Portsmouth, where Wickham's new regiment is to be stationed
   • Pulvis Lodge, suggesting a house for Lydia near Meryton
   • Correct answer: Pemberley, suggesting Elizabeth may become its mistress
   • Parliament, where Mr. Gardiner hopes to have Darcy's help

   Mrs. Gardiner playfully asks not to be excluded from "P." and fantasizes about riding a phaeton around the park, teasing Elizabeth about a future with Darcy.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Did Darcy attend Lydia and Wickham's wedding?

     Happened

     Yes. Mrs. Gardiner confirms that "as Lydia informed you, attended the wedding. He dined with us the next day."

   • Did Elizabeth reveal to Wickham that she knows the truth about Darcy's role in arranging the marriage?

     Didn't happen

     No. Elizabeth keeps this knowledge to herself. She engages in ironic conversation with Wickham but never directly reveals what she knows about Darcy's intervention.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does the word "imputed" mean in the sentence: "He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride"?

    • Celebrated publicly
    • Denied responsibility for
    • Correct answer: Attributed or ascribed to
    • Concealed from others

    To impute means to attribute something (often blame) to a particular cause. Darcy attributed the entire situation to his own misguided pride.

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11. 11

    Question 11. In the phrase "scrupled not to lay all the ill-consequences of Lydia's flight on her own folly," what does "scrupled" mean?

    • Worked with careful exactness
    • Correct answer: Hesitated due to moral doubt
    • Weighed out in tiny amounts
    • Scraped or scratched roughly

    "Scrupled not" means Wickham had no moral hesitation whatsoever in blaming Lydia entirely for the consequences of their elopement.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What is a "phaeton" as mentioned at the end of Mrs. Gardiner's letter?

    • Correct answer: A light, open horse-drawn carriage
    • A small pony bred for riding
    • A style of garden landscaping
    • A heavy, closed travelling coach

    A phaeton was a popular Regency-era carriage. Mrs. Gardiner playfully imagines riding one with ponies around the grounds of Pemberley.

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