Listen&Learn: Pride and Prejudice

Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock

A classic, romantic novel written by a female author in the nineteenth century.

Pre-listening vocabulary

anonymously: without naming or identifying the author
wealthy: having a lot of money
protagonist: the main character of a story
proposal: an offer of marriage
arrogant: conceited; overly proud
refuse: to make it clear that you will not do something

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16 — 1.2MB)

Gapfill exercise

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel written by English author Jane Austen. The novel was originally published anonymously in 1813. At the time, women were often expected to into wealthy families. The story’s protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, is a young who feels pressured by her family to marry for money. When her sisters and friends are all starting to find , Elizabeth meets a wealthy man named Mr. Darcy. Darcy is in Elizabeth, and asks her to marry him. At first, Elizabeth has no interest in his proposal. She believes Darcy is arrogant and selfish, and she refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love. Throughout the book, however, Darcy grows into a person that Elizabeth can , and Elizabeth realizes that she judged him too harshly when they first met. The story ends with the two of them happily married.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”19559″]

Discussion/essay questions

Although Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, the story contains themes that are still important today. Some people see the novel as one of the earliest examples of feminism in literature. What makes Elizabeth Bennet an empowering character for women?
Why do you think Jane Austen decided to publish this novel anonymously?

Transcript

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel written by English author Jane Austen. The novel was originally published anonymously in 1813. At the time, women were often expected to marry into wealthy families. The story’s protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, is a young woman who feels pressured by her family to marry for money. When her sisters and friends are all starting to find husbands, Elizabeth meets a wealthy man named Mr. Darcy. Darcy is interested in Elizabeth, and asks her to marry him. At first, Elizabeth has no interest in his proposal. She believes Darcy is arrogant and selfish, and she refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love. Throughout the book, however, Darcy grows into a person that Elizabeth can respect, and Elizabeth realizes that she judged him too harshly when they first met. The story ends with the two of them happily married.

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub

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36 comments

Aparecida Casanova says:

I loved the movie, as the story unfolds, Elizabeth gets to know Darcy better and discovers sincere and true love.
abdolmonem says:

1. She don’t look at money as a main factor for marriage.
2. Because in that calcher in 1813 the woman writers not respected
English Club Indonesia says:

In the story, Elizabeth has the freewill to marry anyone she loves, not just because of pressure. This is what women should do and are capable of. However, feminism wasn’t really a thing back then. Society might have been too sensitive to this, so therefore publishing the book anonymously was a good way for the author to avoid harsh critiques from people.
Aghitsa Lutfi Arin Alqurni F2B021032 says:

Its good i like it
Citra Amalia Fachrunnisa' says:

I like the story.it teaches us that we cannot marry someone we don’t love especially for the sake of money. we must have a strong stance as a woman.
roseyri says:

i like the litle story
i like says:

i like the story
Dania M Garcia says:

that was interesting
Melissa M says:

i really like the story
liz says:

so clearly, thank you!
Richar Nolasco says:

in this story it shows that love is more important than money
Watson JuneСѓ says:

As part of our agency’s focus on learning, our D I Leadership Council shared this list of suggested materials. I found it extremely helpful, you may too. Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer Eberhardt
roxelle says:

I want to know more about this novel, very interesting.
Elizabeth bennet try her best for her future.
We Can’t judge people that we don’t know.
Adam says:

It’s to short story. If could be a little longer.
Ulises Rojas S. says:

1) When she refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love, she was with this actitude, denousing, the social´s conventionalism of feminism´s discrimination like a object.

2) Maybe was so very hard, this denunciation of iniquity in that society
Dania M Garcia says:

this was great
Kareem says:

maybe the characters are real reflections of people in her close circle of friends or relatives that such a story with her name on it could negatively affect her relationships and accuse her of being irresponsible of keeping their private life secrets while not choosing a title is a matter of confusion because of diversity of situations and actions that she can’t pick a title that reflects a unique event
Balwinder says:

I enjoyed the store. I really like it.It is a great story
Hanan Ayoub says:

Thanks alot ❤
Belay Admassu says:

It’s nice story.
Mary Carmen says:

I like 👌thanks
puflea margarit says:

Very useful!
Christine PENNEC says:

I enjoyed it
Ranjana says:

Great exercise,I like that
Weiss says:

i like it here
Dias says:

I liked the Elizabeth story.
Jocelyne says:

The story takes place in 1813. How to imagine a women who chooses her husbands alone ? I understand why she wrote anonymously.
mojgan says:

Pride and prejudice is one of our usual common mistakes.
From Colombia says:

Elizabeth was a empowering character for women because she decided to marry only with someone who she love.
virginia says:

Is her own storie
Samuel says:

Now I think our communities need stories like this 🙂
The King Of Love From IRAN says:

thank you so much,
Agus kristiani br Sembiring says:

I want to exercise again
Shahzaib Adeel says:

Asmr
Satnam Singh says:

Good english teach
Satnam Singh says:

Thank you