Jane Austen

Anne Elliot resents being expected to court the society of anyone simply because of social status.

Anne Elliot’s snobbish father Sir Walter, of Camden Place in Bath, usually wastes no time on those who fall short of his exacting standards in beauty or manners. But as Anne complains to her attentive cousin, Mr Elliot, he makes a grovelling exception for his aristocratic relations, the Dalrymples.

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There is an art to making one’s compliments seem artless.

Mr Bennet delights in meeting ridiculous people. His cousin, the Revd Mr Collins, is a revelation, singing the praises of his snobbish neighbour Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and her smothered, chronically ill daughter Anne.

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A touchy subject, especially when your lover is listening in.

Captain Wentworth once proposed to Anne Eliott, but to her lasting regret her family persuaded her to reject him. Years later, Captain Wentworth is eavesdropping while Anne tells a friend, Captain Harville, that men soon forget such disappointments.

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Fanny Price, eight years after being adopted by her wealthy uncle and aunt, has gone back home for the first time, full of anticipation.

At ten years of age, Fanny Price was taken by her wealthy uncle and aunt to live in Mansfield Park, a country house. Now eighteen, she has gone back home to Portsmouth for the first time, eager to meet her own family once more. They, however, do not seem quite as eager to meet her.

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First impressions prove to be quite misleading in the case of handsome, disagreeable Mr Darcy.

The Bennet family’s near-neighbours, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, make an appearance at their first dance in Meryton, and public opinion upon them and their London relatives swings bewilderingly to and fro.

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