Question

Read the excerpt from Chapter 29 of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

While they were dressing, he came two or three times to their different doors, to recommend their being quick, as Lady Catherine very much objected to be kept waiting for her dinner. Such formidable accounts of her ladyship, and her manner of living, quite frightened Maria Lucas who had been little used to company, and she looked forward to her introduction at Rosings with as much apprehension as her father had done to his presentation at St. James's.

How does Lady Catherine’s "manner of living” contribute to other characters’ reactions?

They are excited about being presented in such elaborate surroundings.
They are intimidated and feel they must live up to the surroundings.
They regard Lady Catherine’s demands as rude and resent her way of life.
They believe themselves equal to the setting at Lady Catherine’s manor.

Answer 1

They are intimidated and feel they must live up to the surroundings.

Maria is “quite frightened” by the formidable accounts of Lady Catherine and her way of living, so she dreads the introduction and feels pressured by the grand setting.