Pride and Prejudice (TV Mini Series)
Episode 1 (1995)
Jennifer Ehle: Elizabeth Bennet
Quotes
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Miss Bingley : And now the mother! Are we to be invaded by every Bennet in the country? Oh, too much to be borne.
Mr. Hurst : Oh, lord!
[the door opens and Mrs. Bennet, Lizzy, Kitty and Lydia enter]
Mr. Bingley : Mrs. Bennet, you are very welcome.
[He and Darcy bow]
Mr. Bingley : I hope you do not find Miss Bennet worse than you expected.
Mrs. Bennet : Indeed I do, sir. She is very ill indeed, and suffers a vast deal...
[Lizzy looks down, mortified; Bingley looks worried]
Mrs. Bennet : ...though with the greatest patience in the world, for she has the sweetest temper, Mr. Bingley. But she is a great deal too ill to be moved.
[Bingley's sisters, off to the side, look furious at this imposition]
Mrs. Bennet : We must trespass, a little longer, on your kindness.
Mr. Bingley : But of course.
Miss Bingley : Miss Bennet will receive every possible attention, ma'am, I assure you.
Mrs. Bennet : You are very good.
[She laughs, and then immediately dismisses the matter of Jane's health]
Mrs. Bennet : Well, you have a sweet room here! I think you will never want to leave Netherfield, now you are come here.
Mr. Bingley : I believe I should be happy to live in the country forever! Wouldn't you, Darcy?
Mr. Darcy : You would? You don't find the society somewhat confined and unvarying for your taste?
Mrs. Bennet : "Confined and unvarying?" Indeed, it is not, sir! The country is a vast deal pleasanter than town, whatever *you* may say about it!
[Darcy turns his back and walks over to look out the window. Lizzy feels humiliated]
Elizabeth Bennet : Mama, you mistake Mr. Darcy's meaning.
Mrs. Bennet : Do I? Do I? He seems to think the country nothing at all!
Elizabeth Bennet : Mama!
Mrs. Bennet : "Confined!" "Unvarying!" I would have him know we dine with four-and-twenty families!
[the Bingley sisters try unsuccessfully to contain their sniggers; Bingley looks at them in anger and distress]
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Mr. Darcy : Miss Bennet!
Elizabeth Bennet : Mr Darcy.
[Long, awkward pause]
Elizabeth Bennet : I am come to see my sister.
Mr. Darcy : On foot?
Elizabeth Bennet : As you see.
[Another long, awkward pause]
Elizabeth Bennet : Would you be so kind as to take me to her?
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Mrs. Bennet : [Discussing Darcy] He slighted poor Lizzy you know, flatly refused to stand up with her.
Mr. Bennet : Slighted my Lizzy, did he?
Elizabeth Bennet : I didn't care for him either, father, so it's of little matter.
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Mr. Bingley : All young ladies are accomplished. They sing, they draw, they dance, speak French and German, cover screens and I know not what.
Mr. Darcy : But not half a dozen would satisfy my notion of an accomplished woman.
Miss Bingley : Oh, certainly. No woman can be really esteemed accomplished who does not also possess a certain something in her air, in her manner of walking, in the tone of her voice, her address and expressions.
Mr. Darcy : And to all this she must yet add something more substantial in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.
Elizabeth Bennet : I am no longer surprised at you knowing only *six* accomplished women, Mr. Darcy. I rather wonder at your knowing *any*.
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Miss Bingley : Miss Eliza Bennet, let me persuade you to follow my example and take a turn about the room. It's so refreshing. - Will you not join us, Mr Darcy?
Mr. Darcy : That would defeat the object.
Miss Bingley : What do you mean, sir? What on earth can he mean?
Elizabeth Bennet : I think we would do better not to inquire.
Miss Bingley : Nay, we insist on knowing your meaning, sir.
Mr. Darcy : Well, that your figures appear to best advantage when walking and that I might best admire them from my present position.
Miss Bingley : Shocking, abominable reply! How shall we punish him, Miss Eliza?
Elizabeth Bennet : Nothing so easy. Tease him, laugh at him.
Miss Bingley : Laugh at Mr. Darcy? Impossible, he is a man without fault.
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Elizabeth Bennet : I am determined that nothing but the deepest love could ever induce me into matrimony.
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Elizabeth Bennet : For a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Mrs. Bennet : Yes, he must indeed! And who better than one of our five girls?
Lydia Bennet : What a fine joke if he were to choose me!
Kitty Bennet : Or me!
[Lydia and Kitty laugh]
Jane Bennet : [Reprimanding] Lydia!
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Jane Bennet : [Referring to Mr. Darcy and his company at the first dance] They're very elegant.
Elizabeth Bennet : Better pleased with themselves than what they see, I think.
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Jane Bennet : He's just what a young man ought to be, Lizzie. Sensible, lively and I never saw such happy manners.
Elizabeth Bennet : Handsome, too, which a young man ought to be, if he possibly can. And he seemed to like you very much, which shows good judgment. No, I give you leave to like him, you've liked many a stupider person.
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Sir William Lucas : [to Elizabeth as she's trying to pass] Oh, Miss Eliza, why are you not dancing? - Mr. Darcy, allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner. You cannot refuse to dance, I am sure, when so much beauty is before you.
Elizabeth Bennet : Indeed, Sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. Please don't suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner.
Mr. Darcy : I would be very happy if you'd do me the honour of dancing with me, Miss Bennet.
Elizabeth Bennet : Thank you, but excuse me... - I am... not inclined to dance.
Sir William Lucas : Come, come, why not, when you see that Mr. Darcy has no objection, although he dislikes the amusement so much in general.
Elizabeth Bennet : [Sardonically] Mr. Darcy is all politeness.
Sir William Lucas : He is, he is! And why should he not be, considering the inducement, for who could object to such a partner! Eh, Darcy?
Elizabeth Bennet : I beg you would excuse me.
[She leaves]
Sir William Lucas : Oh, well, well...
[Looks away]
Sir William Lucas : Oh, capital, Lydia, capital!
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Jane Bennet : And Mr. Darcy may improve on closer acquaintance.
Elizabeth Bennet : You mean he'll be in a humour to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men? "She is tolerable, I suppose, but she's not handsome enough to tempt me".
Jane Bennet : It was very wrong of him to say so.
Elizabeth Bennet : Aye, a capital offence!
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Mrs. Bennet : Did you ever meet such a proud, disagreeable man?
Elizabeth Bennet : The very rich can afford to give offense wherever they go. We need not care for his good opinion.
Mrs. Bennet : No, indeed.
Elizabeth Bennet : Perhaps he is not so handsome after all...?
Mrs. Bennet : Indeed not. Quite ill-favored.
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Elizabeth Bennet : For a single man, in possession of a good fortune, MUST be in want of a wife.
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[Elizabeth notices that Darcy is watching her, and looks for a new subject of conversation with Colonel Forster]
Elizabeth Bennet : Are you in Meryton to subdue the discontented populace, sir, or do you defend Hertfordshire against the French?
Col. Forster : Neither, ma'am, I trust. We hope to winter very peacefully at Meryton. My soldiers are in great need of training, and my officers, they have a great need of society.
Elizabeth Bennet : Then, as soon as you are settled, I hope you will give a ball.
Mrs Forster : Oh, yes, my dear, do!
Col. Forster : You think a ball would be well received?
Lydia Bennet : A ball? Who's giving a ball? I long for a ball!