At just 21 years old, Jane Austen began working on her novel Pride and Prejudice in 1796. Originally titled First Impressions, Austen made major revisions to her work between 1811 and 1812 to the point where it was essentially a new novel entirely. Now titled what we know it as today, Austen sold the book to publisher Thomas Egerton for just £110.
As with all of Austen’s novels at the time, Pride and Prejudice was not published under her name but rather was attributed either to “by a lady” or “by the author of Sense and Sensibility. Austen’s novels would never be published under her name in her lifetime. Following her death in 1817, her brother, Henry Austen, revealed her identity as a writer in a note attached to the posthumous publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
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In the 200+ years since its original publication, Pride and Prejudice has become not only a literary classic, but a beloved story in the world of romance. On the reader website Goodreads, the novel took the top spot on its ranking of the “Best Romance Novels of All Time,” beating out other titles like Gone with the Wind and even Austen’s own Sense and Sensibility.
Pride and Prejudice follows the life, struggles, and joys of the main characters Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth, the daughter of a countryman, and Darcy, a wealthy suitor, are drawn to each other but have to overcome familial dynamics, class disparity, and other issues in order to make their relationship work. Labeled as “a novel of manners,” Pride and Prejudice is a romantic story but one that masterfully depicts the social world occurring within the story in and of itself.
A massive success as a novel and now considered a literary classic, Pride and Prejudice has been subject to multiple adaptations over the last two centuries since its publication. Films, TV series, web series, reimaginings, and even stage versions have all been created, some even to critical acclaim.
Pride and Prejudice is available wherever books are sold in person and online.
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