"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen in the years following 1796 before its original publication in 1813. It is Austen's second published novel, the first being Sense and Sensibility. Pride and Prejudice is written in a style of free, indirect speech like most of Jane Austen's works and has been the subject of many different film and television adaptations over the years. First Impressions[1] is believed to be a first draft of the novel and was written before 1800. This is why many interpret the setting of the novel to be in the late 1790s, as opposed to the Regency period.[2]
Written primarily from the perspective of the female protagonist, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the reader follows her life and the lives of her sisters and the ever constant pursuit of marriage by nearly all of the female characters, excluding herself.
Reception
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Pride and Prejudice is one of the most well known and beloved novels. Many during Austen's time and afterward have praised it.
Plot
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Tells the story about the Bennet family, which has five daughters, all of the marrying age.
Characters
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- Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist and second child of the Bennet family.
- Mr. Bennet, the owner of Longbourn.
- Mrs. Bennet
- Jane Bennet
- Catherine Bennet
- Mary Bennet
- Lydia Bennet
- Fitzwilliam Darcy
- Charles Bingley
Supporting Characters
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- Lady Catherine de Bourgh
- George Wickham
- William Collins
- Louisa Hurst
- Mr. Hurst
- Caroline Bingley
- Charlotte Lucas
- Georgiana Darcy
- Colonel Fitzwilliam
- Mr. Gardiner
- Mrs. Gardiner
Notes
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Give details on critical reception, textual history, dedication, composition, editions, etc.
Includes many important themes: Class, Marriage, Pride, etc.
Adaptations
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- Pride and Prejudice (1940)
- Pride and Prejudice (1980)
- Pride and Prejudice (1995)
- Pride and Prejudice (2005)