Having “poor nerves” in this case suggests that Mrs. Bennet is inclined to have panic attacks; however, she clearly uses her nervousness to control other people. If things do not go her way, she becomes something of a hypochondriac who suffers from more than just anxiety: “‘Ah,” as she says to Mr. Bennet, “‘you do not know what I suffer!’” To her, nervousness is almost a sort of illness. She uses this “illness” to manipulate others because she expects them to do whatever it takes to make her feel better.

“Abuse” in this case means speaking against or putting down as opposed to physical abuse. Of course, Mrs. Bennet is being hypocritical; though Mr. Bennet has openly favored Elizabeth over his other daughters, Mrs. Bennet has just done the same thing by favoring Jane and Lydia.

Mr. Bennet is being prideful but not as obviously as Mrs. Bennet. His refusal to take Mrs. Bennet seriously suggests that he feels he is above (or too good for) his wife’s concerns. When she urges him to visit Mr. Bingley for the sake of his daughters, he tells her that she and the girls should go on their own—which would have been quite scandalous—and jokes that Mr. Bingley would probably prefer Mrs. Bennet.

The themes of pride and prejudice have already begun to take shape in Mrs. Bennet’s character by the end of the first chapter. For example, she exhibits prideful behavior when she implies that her daughters are more deserving of Mr. Bingley than other eligible daughters in the neighborhood. She is also being prejudicial because she believes other girls, such as the Lucases, are inferior to her daughters—though she doesn’t have any real reason for thinking this way.

“Bingley” is the name of one of a town in northern England that prospered during the Industrial Revolution.Though we are not told whether Mr. Bingley comes from Bingley the town, his name strongly associates him with the growth of industrial manufacturing. This further supports our identification of the Bingleys with the nouveau riche (newly rich people who made their fortunes from trade) because they probably made their money from manufacturing.

Austen may have chosen the name “Netherfield” because the Bingleys are not truly aristocratic. They acquired wealth through trade, so they would have been considered nouveau riche: newly rich people who are not actually part of the aristocracy (the highest social class besides royalty). The nouveau riche were controversial in Austen’s time because, though they had a lot of money, they were not members of the noble landed gentry that passed down their wealth over centuries.

Netherfield Park is a fictional estate located in Hertfordshire, a county just north of London. “Nether” means “lower” or “lower in position,” so it’s a strange choice for a wealthy man like Mr. Bingley.

“Caprice” means an unpredictable or inconsistent change of mood, behavior, or opinion. Mr. Bennet is capricious because his feelings and thoughts tend to change without apparent reason, sometimes on a whim.

Michaelmas is the Christian Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (as it is traditionally named by the Anglican Church). St. Michael is one of the primary angelic warriors who fought against Satan and is considered a protector against the darkness of night. It was believed that evil, or at least negative energy, intensified in the dark. Families would therefore require strength during the darker months of the year, so Michaelmas is celebrated (in Western churches) on September 29—right as the days begin to noticeably shorten. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast usually celebrates Saints Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and the archangels.

A “chaise-and-four” is a carriage (or chaise) that is drawn by four horses. It was a standard mode of transportation for families that were well-off, though not extraordinarily wealthy. The fact that Mr. Bingley owns a chaise-and-four indicates that he is both financially stable and socially respectable.

That is, Mrs. Bennet’s priorities and interests are fairly trivial. Though her instinct to secure sensible marriages for her daughters is well-founded, it does not seem to be based on intelligent reflection. Instead, she just seems self-involved and silly.

Mrs. Bennet is not an intelligent or perceptive person; instead, she is concerned with frivolous things like neighborhood gossip, parties, and other social matters. Her shallowness contributes to her lack of self-awareness in social situations—or even in her own family.

The word “mean” is being used here to describe something average, mediocre, or unremarkable. Though the word is not always negative, it is clearly being used to disparage Mrs. Bennet: she is small-minded and unable to understand anything particularly complicated. Interestingly, she does seem to understand that her daughters will be financially destitute if they do not marry men like Mr. Bingley (men who are respectable and well-off).

In other words, Mrs. Bennet's mind is not as complicated or difficult to understand as Mr. Bennet’s. Though she has an “uncertain temper,” her opinions and behaviors are otherwise a lot more consistent and predictable.

Four thousand pounds a year is roughly equivalent to $400,000 US dollars. Trying to understand the current buying power of currency in Austen’s day is difficult. However, from a literary standpoint, buying power is not as important as Austen’s overall message that it is important to have a comfortable level of wealth.

Michaelmas is also one of the English quarter days—one of four days each year on which servants are hired and rents are due. The other three quarter days are Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer Day (June 24), and Christmas Day (December 25).

The initial comic exchange that arises between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet provides us with an early allusion to the themes that directly relate to the novel’s title. While “pride” and “prejudice” certainly figure prominently (and in more complex ways) later on, Mr. Bennet is here shown to be detached and prideful while Mrs. Bennet is completely prejudicial.

This humorous, tongue-in-cheek beginning sets the tone for the entire novel. Though it often deals with serious issues, such as the financial dependency of women in a patriarchal society, the novel is generally lighter fare than other Austen novels: as Austen herself admits in a personal letter, it is “rather too light, and bright, and sparkling.”