Pride and Prejudice

Because when Jane Austen referred to this novel as “light, and bright, and sparkling” she wasn't kidding!

Austen is hailed as an expert on social manners, but there is much more to discover about Austen’s point of view and her themes here in Pride & Prejudice, her second novel to be published. In the early 1800s, the novel as an art form was still in flux, and its proper style and characteristics were not yet fixed, as famous male writers such as Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens had not yet claimed it for themselves. It is perhaps due to this that Austen gets away with depicting a quick-witted and opinionated woman as her protagonist, who refuses not one but two decent marriage proposals, which would have been scandalous at the time. Yet Austen grants her heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, absolute freedom to be an individual—freedom even to initially reject the man she will eventually marry. While some of Austen’s ideas may be political, the tone of her writing is as fun and sharp-witted as ever. She proves herself to be a master of dialogue and character voice here, as no one could forget the flighty Mrs. Bennet, the obsequious Mr. Collins, or the outrageously snobbish Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Nor is it possible to forget the depth of feeling on display when Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy finally come to understand one another.