Chapter 39 Practice Quiz — Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 39
Where do Elizabeth, Jane, and Maria Lucas meet Kitty and Lydia?
At the appointed inn in Hertfordshire where Mr. Bennet's carriage is waiting. Kitty and Lydia have been there for over an hour, "happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner, watching the sentinel on guard, and dressing a salad and cucumber."
What does Lydia buy at the shop near the inn?
A bonnet she admits is "not very pretty," which she plans to pull apart and remake. She asks her sisters to lend her money since she has already spent her own, and she later buys prettier-colored satin to trim it.
What news does Lydia share about Wickham and Mary King?
Mary King has gone to stay with her uncle at Liverpool permanently, so "Wickham is safe" -- meaning he is no longer in danger of marrying her. Lydia dismisses Mary King as a "nasty little freckled thing."
Why is Elizabeth "shocked" by Lydia's comments about Mary King?
Elizabeth realizes that while she is incapable of Lydia's "coarseness of expression," the underlying sentiment -- relief at Wickham being free from a mercenary attachment -- "was little other than her own breast had harboured and fancied liberal." She recognizes her own bias.
Where is the militia regiment relocating, and when?
The regiment is going to be encamped near Brighton in a fortnight (two weeks). Lydia desperately wants the family to follow them there for the summer.
How does Elizabeth privately react to the news of the regiment's departure?
"The comfort to her of the regiment's approaching removal was indeed beyond expression." She dreads seeing Wickham again and hopes that once the regiment is gone, "there could be nothing more to plague her on his account."
What anecdote does Lydia tell about Chamberlayne?
At Colonel Forster's, they dressed up Chamberlayne in women's clothes to pass him off as a lady. When Denny, Wickham, Pratt, and other men arrived, none recognized him until the women's laughter gave the game away.
What does Lydia say about Jane's age and marriage prospects?
Lydia declares Jane "will be quite an old maid soon" since "she is almost three-and-twenty!" She adds that their aunt Phillips wants them to get husbands and says "Lizzy had better have taken Mr. Collins."
What does Mr. Bennet say to Elizabeth at dinner?
He says "I am glad you are come back, Lizzy" -- a voluntary, affectionate remark that stands out because Mr. Bennet typically communicates through irony rather than direct warmth.
What is Mary's response to Lydia's account of her fun at the George inn?
"Far be it from me, my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures! They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds. But I confess they would have no charms for me -- I should infinitely prefer a book." Lydia does not hear a word of it.
Why does Elizabeth oppose the walk to Meryton in the afternoon?
She argues that "the Miss Bennets could not be at home half a day before they were in pursuit of the officers." She also has a private reason: she dreads seeing Mr. Wickham again and is "resolved to avoid it as long as possible."
What is the "Brighton scheme" mentioned at the end of the chapter?
Lydia's plan to convince Mr. Bennet to take the whole family to Brighton for the summer to follow the regiment. Elizabeth discovers her parents are already debating it, with Mrs. Bennet pushing eagerly and Mr. Bennet giving vague, noncommittal answers.
How does Lydia propose to "treat" her sisters at the inn?
"And we mean to treat you all," she says, "but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there." This ironic generosity -- treating others with their own money -- captures Lydia's oblivious self-centeredness.
What are Mrs. Bennet and Lady Lucas doing at dinner?
Mrs. Bennet is "doubly engaged" -- collecting fashion news from Jane and relaying it to the younger Lucases. Lady Lucas is inquiring of Maria about "the welfare and poultry of her eldest daughter" Charlotte, now Mrs. Collins.