Pride and Prejudice Deceit Quotes

"Elizabeth Bennet," said Miss Bingley, when the door was closed on her, "is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by undervaluing their own; and with many men, I dare say, it succeeds. But, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art."
"Undoubtedly," replied Darcy, to whom this remark was chiefly addressed, "there is meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 8. After Elizabeth and Caroline Bingley debate about what makes "an accomplished woman," Caroline attempts to damage Elizabeth’s reputation by accusing her of employing a "very mean art." She falsely claims that Elizabeth tries to make herself look good in a man’s eyes by criticizing other women – but the irony is that we all know it is Caroline who is guilty of doing that. However, Mr. Darcy’s response shows that he sees through Caroline and is far from impressed by her ruse.

I had not thought Mr. Darcy so bad as this – though I have never liked him. I had not thought so very ill of him. I had supposed him to be despising his fellow-creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 16. This is Elizabeth’s reaction when George Wickham tells her that Mr. Darcy ignored the wishes of his father’s will to provide money to Wickham to pursue a career in church ministry because Mr. Darcy disliked him. Elizabeth appears to be taken in by the good looks and charm of Wickham and she doesn’t see him for the real cad and liar that he is.

A young man too, like you, whose very countenance may vouch for your being amiable.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 16. Elizabeth seems easily fooled by the charming and handsome George Wickham’s outward appearance, when he spins his lies about Mr. Darcy. He has told her a completely false story about Darcy cheating him. Elizabeth who prides herself on being a good judge of character is too mesmerized by Wickham to see him for the deceiver he is and how she is being cleverly and subtly manipulated. She is exhibiting a prejudice towards Wickham, just as she has developed one against Darcy.

"They have both," said she, "been deceived, I dare say, in some way or other, of which we can form no idea. Interested people have perhaps misrepresented each to the other. It is, in short, impossible for us to conjecture the causes or circumstances which may have alienated them, without actual blame on either side."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 17. Jane says this to Elizabeth, when she hears from her sister of George Wickham’s accusations about Darcy. Wickham alleges that Darcy used a loophole in a will to stop Wickham getting money left him by Darcy’s father to pursue a career in the ministry. However, Jane prefers to keep an open mind and suggests that they both have been deceived. She turns out to be right about Darcy. But she fails to see the true character of Wickham, who is an unprincipled liar and deceiver.

I can much more easily believe Mr. Bingley’s being imposed on, than that Mr. Wickham should invent such a history of himself as he gave me last night; names, facts, everything mentioned without ceremony. If it be not so, let Mr. Darcy contradict it. Besides, there was truth in his looks.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 17. Elizabeth shows her naivety here when she finds Mr. Darcy guilty of treating George Wickham badly, solely on the word of Wickham and without hearing the other side of the story. She doesn’t consider that Wickham may be lying and deceiving her – which he is! She remains blind to her prejudice against Darcy.

"It is difficult indeed – it is distressing. One does not know what to think."
"I beg your pardon; one knows exactly what to think."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 17. Jane Bennet debates with Elizabeth the credibility of George Wickham’s allegation made to Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy cheated him out of an inheritance. The more steadfast Jane hesitates to condemn Mr. Darcy, but Elizabeth shows her prejudice towards Darcy by siding with Wickham, who has deceived her with a false story.

To such perseverance in wilful self-deception, Elizabeth would make no reply, and immediately and in silence withdrew; determined, that if he persisted in considering her repeated refusals as flattering encouragement, to apply to her father, whose negative might be uttered in such a manner as must be decisive, and whose behaviour at least could not be mistaken for the affectation and coquetry of an elegant female.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 19. Elizabeth can no longer stay and listen to Mr. Collins’s "wilful" exercise in self-deceit as he refuses to accept her refusal to marry him. She leaves the room and determines that if Mr. Collins should persist, she will have her father give him the message. She believes that Mr. Bennet’s "no" won’t be mistaken for female pretension or flirtation.

Is it not clear enough? Does it not expressly declare that Caroline neither expects nor wishes me to be her sister; that she is perfectly convinced of her brother’s indifference; and that if she suspects the nature of my feelings for him, she means (most kindly!) to put me on my guard? Can there be any other opinion on the subject?

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 21. An upset Jane Bennet has received a letter from Caroline Bingley suggesting that Charles Bingley no longer cares for her. But Jane doesn’t realize that a deceptive Caroline is trying to persuade Jane of this in order to break up their relationship.

Hope was over, entirely over; and when Jane could attend to the rest of the letter, she found little, except the professed affection of the writer, that could give her any comfort. Miss Darcy’s praise occupied the chief of it. Her many attractions were again dwelt on, and Caroline boasted joyfully of their increasing intimacy, and ventured to predict the accomplishment of the wishes which had been unfolded in her former letter.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24. Jane receives a letter from Caroline Bingley to say that her brother Charles and the family have settled in London. Caroline, who pretends to be Jane’s friend, is trying to break up the relationship between Jane and Charles. To Jane’s dismay, Caroline writes of the growing intimacy between Charles Bingley and Georgiana Darcy and predicts their marriage to each other.

"It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does."
"And men take care that they should."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24. This exchange between Jane and Elizabeth takes place after Charles Bingley suddenly ups and leaves Meryton and Jane. While Elizabeth is critical of Bingley and his sister, Jane refuses to attach bad motives to them. She believes that women’s vanity often leads to self-deceit and a woman thinking that a man likes them more than he does.

My dearest Lizzy will, I am sure, be incapable of triumphing in her better judgement, at my expense, when I confess myself to have been entirely deceived in Miss Bingley’s regard for me. But, my dear sister, though the event has proved you right, do not think me obstinate if I still assert that, considering what her behaviour was, my confidence was as natural as your suspicion. I do not at all comprehend her reason for wishing to be intimate with me; but if the same circumstances were to happen again, I am sure I should be deceived again. Caroline did not return my visit till yesterday; and not a note, not a line, did I receive in the meantime. When she did come, it was very evident that she had no pleasure in it; she made a slight, formal apology for not calling before, said not a word of wishing to see me again, and was in every respect so altered a creature, that when she went away, I was perfectly resolved to continue the acquaintance no longer.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 26. The good-hearted Jane Bennet decides it is time to call a halt to a friendship with Caroline Bingley. In a letter to Elizabeth, Jane confesses that her sister’s suspicions about Caroline were right. Jane reveals that Caroline did not answer a letter she wrote to her and was subsequently cold towards her when they met. Jane at last recognizes Caroline’s insincerity and deception and realizes that she is a false friend.

This letter gave Elizabeth some pain; but her spirits returned as she considered that Jane would no longer be duped by the sister at least. All expectation from the brother was now absolutely over. She would not even wish for any renewal of his attentions. His character sunk on every review of it; and as a punishment for him, as well as a possible advantage to Jane, she seriously hoped he might really soon marry Mr. Darcy’s sister, as by Wickham’s account, she would make him abundantly regret what he had thrown away.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 26. Jane has written from London to Elizabeth saying that she hasn’t heard from Charles Bingley since he left Netherfield. Elizabeth is pained by her sister’s situation, but her spirits lift when she considers that Jane will no longer be duped by Caroline Bingley. She hopes that Mr. Bingley ends up marrying Georgiana Darcy, a match that Caroline has been trying to bring about.

In town I believe he chiefly lived, but his studying the law was a mere pretence, and being now free from all restraint, his life was a life of idleness and dissipation.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 35. Darcy reveals in a letter to Elizabeth the truth about George Wickham’s slanderous and deceitful story to her that Darcy cheated him of an inheritance. Wickham resigned his church ministry studies in exchange for money for law school, said Darcy. But instead of using the money to attend law school, he squandered it on idleness and pleasure. When the money was gone, he asked Darcy for more, and when Darcy refused he was "violent in his abuse of me."

About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an establishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with the lady who presided over it to Ramsgate; and thither also went Mr. Wickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior acquaintance between him and Mrs. Younge, in whose character we were most unhappily deceived; and by her connivance and aid, he so far recommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was persuaded to believe herself in love, and to consent to an elopement. She was then but fifteen, which must be her excuse…Mr. Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 35. Mr. Darcy, in a letter, reveals to Elizabeth how George Wickham attempted to elope with Darcy’s 15-year-old sister Georgiana, aided by his sister’s governess Mrs. Younge. Wickham’s sole aim was to obtain young Georgiana’s fortune. Darcy is explaining the reason for his quarrel with Wickham. This is foreshadowing that Wickham will later elope with Lydia Bennet, suggesting that Elizabeth and her family do not take seriously Darcy’s warning about Wickham.

What Wickham had said of the living was fresh in her memory, and as she recalled his very words, it was impossible not to feel that there was gross duplicity on one side or the other; and, for a few moments, she flattered herself that her wishes did not err.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 36. Darcy’s defense against George Wickham’s claims of mistreatment by him has certainly got Elizabeth’s attention. Darcy’s explanation turns out to be very different than the story Wickham told Elizabeth. She realizes that one of them is guilty of gross deception.

"How despicably have I acted!" she cried; "I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 36. This is the pivotal moment of self-knowledge and self-rebuke for Elizabeth when she realizes how much her judgment has been clouded by her own pride and prejudice. She has read the long letter from Mr. Darcy explaining himself. For her it sheds a new and clear light on the noble qualities of Darcy’s character and the deceit and predatory nature of the handsome George Wickham, all of which she had been blind to. In a moment of epiphany for her, she recognizes that her belief in her good judgment of others was mere vanity, and that she never really knew herself until now. Using a metaphor, she compares her unwillingness to see the true characters of Darcy and Wickham to the blindness that a lover has for the flaws of their beloved.

If I endeavor to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton, to attempt to place him in an amiable light.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. Elizabeth decides that it is better not to reveal the true noble nature of Mr. Darcy’s dealings with Wickham. She accepts that she has done an injustice to Darcy with her misjudgment of him. But she does nothing to correct the false perception of him since the prejudice against him is so strong she believes that she cannot overcome it. So people will continue to deceive themselves about Darcy until they find out for themselves.

But Jane knows, as well as I do, what Wickham really is. We both know that he has been profligate in every sense of the word; that he has neither integrity nor honour; that he is as false and deceitful as he is insinuating.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 47. Elizabeth makes this comment about George Wickham, when her aunt points out that Jane does not think Wickham is capable of taking advantage of Lydia. Lydia has run off to London with Wickham, provoking a family crisis. Elizabeth claims Jane knows that Wickham is a deceitful and immoral character without integrity or honor.

"He is as fine a fellow," said Mr. Bennet, as soon as they were out of the house, "as ever I saw. He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all. I am prodigiously proud of him. I defy even Sir William Lucas himself to produce a more valuable son-in-law."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 53. Mr. Bennet is having a little joke here as he engages in ironic mockery of his son-in-law George Wickham. Seemingly praising Lydia’s husband, Mr. Bennet is actually being sarcastic and insulting, letting Mrs. Bennet know that he can see through the smooth operator Wickham’s deceptive charms. He also sneers at Sir William Lucas’s "charming" son-in-law Mr. Collins, whom he can only tolerate for short periods of time.

"And this," said she, "is the end of all his friend’s anxious circumspection! of all his sister’s falsehood and contrivance! – the happiest, wisest, most reasonable end!"

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 55. Elizabeth is delighted and relieved that after months of "suspense and vexation" Mr. Bingley and Jane have got engaged. For her it is a happy ending to Darcy’s "anxious circumspection" about the match and Caroline Bingley’s "falsehood and contrivance" in her deception towards Jane.

"That is the most unforgiving speech," said Elizabeth, "that I ever heard you utter. Good girl!"

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 55. Elizabeth lauds Jane when she makes a critical remark about Caroline Bingley’s efforts to keep her brother Charles from seeing Jane. Elizabeth goes on to say: "It would vex me, indeed, to see you again the dupe of Miss Bingley’s pretended regard." Jane is a person who rarely attributes bad motives to anyone and instead tries to see the good in all. So Elizabeth is delighted that she at last sees through Caroline Bingley’s deceit .
Close