Pride and Prejudice

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Pride and Prejudice
Author Jane Austen
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Romantic comedy, Novel of manners
Publisher T. Egerton, Whitehall
Publication date 28 January 1813
Media type Hardcover, 3 volumes

Pride and Prejudice, first published on 28 January 1813, is the most famous of Jane Austen's novels and one of the first "romantic comedies" in the history of the novel.[citation needed] The book is Jane Austen's second published novel. Its manuscript was initially written between 1796 and 1797 in Steventon, Hampshire, where Austen lived in the rectory. Called First Impressions, it was never published under that title, and following revisions it was retitled Pride and Prejudice.

Contents

[edit] Background

The novel was originally titled First Impressions, and was written between October 1796 and August 1797.[1] Jane Austen's father wrote to London bookseller Thomas Cadell on November 1, 1797, offering it for publication, but it was rejected unseen by return of post.[2] The unpublished manuscript remained with Austen, and it was not until 1811 that the first of her novels would be published, Sense and Sensibility.

Buoyed by the release of her first published novel, Austen revised the manuscript for First Impressions, likely between 1811 and 1812.[1] She renamed the story Pride and Prejudice, an "apparent cliche" phrase of the times. In renaming the novel, Jane Austen probably had in mind the "sufferings and oppositions" summarized in the final chapter of Fanny Burney's Cecilia called "Pride and Prejudice", where the phrase appears three times in block capitals.[3] It is also possible that the novel's original title was altered to avoid confusion with other works. In the years between the completion of First Impressions and its revision into Pride and Prejudice, two other works had been published under that name: a novel by Margaret Holford and a comedy by Horace Smith.[2]

Austen sold the copyright for the novel to Thomas Egerton of Whitehall in exchange for £110 (Austen had asked for £150).[4] This proved a costly decision. Austen had published Sense and Sensibility on a commission basis, whereby she indemnified the publisher against any losses and received any profits, less costs and the publisher's commission. Unaware that Sense and Sensibility would sell out its edition, making her £140,[2] she passed the copyright to Egerton for a one-off payment, meaning that all the risk - and all the profits - would be his. Jan Fergus has calculated that Egerton subsequently made around £450 from just the first two editions of the book.[5]

[edit] Plot introduction

Mr and Mrs Bennet's five daughters are all unmarried, and when a rich, amiable young man moves into the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet hopes to secure him as a husband for her beautiful, eldest daughter. The growing relationship, however, is sabotaged by the young man's haughty friend, who regards the match as unsuitable. When the friend in turn falls in love with the second Bennet daughter, his condescending offer is rejected with scorn and the connection seems over. However, events conspire to bring the various parties together despite the obstacles and misunderstandings that separate them. Pride on one side and prejudice on the other are slowly overcome and the characters come to a better knowledge of themselves and each other.

[edit] Plot summary

The novel opens with the line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The arrival of such a man in the neighbourhood greatly excites Mrs Bennet, whose sole interest in life is to see her five daughters married. The wealthy young man in question, Mr Bingley, has leased the Netherfield estate and plans to settle for a while with his two sisters and his brother-in-law.

The newcomers excite great interest locally, particularly amongst mothers of marriageable daughters. They attend a public ball in the village of Meryton, where Mr Bingley shows himself to be amiable and unpretentious, dancing with many young ladies and showing his decided admiration for Jane Bennet. His friend Mr Darcy, however, makes himself unpopular despite his fine figure and income of £10,000 a year, being proud and disagreeable. Of Elizabeth Bennet he is heard to say, "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." Following the ball, Jane is invited for an evening to Netherfield, but catches a bad cold and is forced to stay for some days. Elizabeth comes to nurse her, engaging Darcy's guarded attention and the not-so-guarded hostility of Miss Bingley, who has an interest in Darcy herself.

Mr Collins, a cousin who will inherit the Bennet estate as Mr Bennet's nearest male relative, arrives for a visit. He is also "in want of a wife", and intends to marry one of his cousins, thus atoning for his position as entailed heir and healing the breach in the family. A pompous buffoon of a clergyman, he has been advised by his imperious patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (who is also Darcy's aunt), to find himself a suitable wife. Finding that Jane appears destined for Bingley he switches his sights to Elizabeth, who refuses him absolutely despite the threats and entreaties of her mother. Eventually, to Elizabeth's surprise, he is accepted by her friend Charlotte Lucas, who neither loves nor respects him, but wishes to escape the fate of becoming an old maid. Elizabeth does not regret the loss of her suitor, but is disappointed in Charlotte and unsure how happy she will be as Mrs. Collins.

For some time Meryton has been home to a regiment of soldiers, delighting the giddy, young Bennet sisters Kitty and Lydia. Elizabeth is introduced to a pleasant young officer, Mr Wickham, who tells her that he has known Mr Darcy from childhood, and has been cheated by him of a bequest by Darcy's late father. This reinforces Elizabeth's growing dislike of Darcy and she is relieved when he leaves the neighbourhood, although Bingley and his party also leave, dashing the hopes of Jane, who has fallen very much in love with him. However, Elizabeth encounters Darcy again on a visit to the newlywed Mr and Mrs Collins, as he arrives to visit Lady Catherine at Rosings Park, the estate to which Mr Collins's living is attached. She tolerates him, unaware of his growing admiration, and is astounded when he suddenly proposes to her. His offer is high-handed and condescending – he does so, he says, "against his own will" and in spite of her objectionable family. He is stunned and mortified to be rejected in no uncertain terms: Elizabeth tells him he is "the last man in the world whom [she] could ever be prevailed on to marry." She has recently learnt that it was Darcy who persuaded Mr Bingley to sever ties with Jane, increasing her dislike for him, and also cites his treatment of Wickham, his arrogance and his ungentlemanly conduct as reasons for her refusal.

The next day, Mr Darcy intercepts Elizabeth on her morning walk and hands her a letter before coldly taking his leave. In it, he justifies his actions over Bingley and Jane, and reveals the true nature of Wickham, who has misrepresented his treatment by Darcy, and, shockingly, even attempted to seduce and elope with Darcy's young and vulnerable sister. New light is shed on Mr Darcy's personality and Elizabeth begins to reconsider her opinion. Later, on holiday with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, Elizabeth is persuaded to tour Pemberley, Mr Darcy's estate, on the understanding that he is away. To her embarrassment he returns unexpectedly; however, his altered behaviour toward her – distinctly warmer than at their last meeting – and his polite and friendly manner toward her aunt and uncle, begin to persuade her that underneath his pride lies a true and generous nature. Her revised opinion is reinforced on meeting his sister Georgiana, a gentle, shy young girl upon whom he dotes.

Just as her relationship with Mr Darcy is beginning to thaw, Elizabeth receives the dreadful news that her headstrong younger sister Lydia has apparently eloped with Mr Wickham, who has resigned his commission to evade gambling debts. She returns home, believing that this scandal can only further disgust Darcy with the idea of a connection with her family, whatever he may feel for her personally. All is in chaos at home, particularly when it becomes apparent that Wickham has not married Lydia and the two are living together in London. Mr Gardiner apparently traces them and arranges the wedding, delighting the foolish Mrs Bennet. Only from a careless remark of Lydia's does Elizabeth discover that it was really Darcy who secretly intervened, buying Wickham's compliance and saving Lydia's reputation at great financial cost. This completes the reversal in Elizabeth's sentiments, and she regrets having turned down his earlier proposal of marriage.

Lady Catherine discovers Mr Darcy's feelings for Elizabeth, which threaten her long-cherished desire for him to marry her daughter. She pays Elizabeth an unannounced visit and brusquely tries to intimidate her into refusing such an engagement. Unfortunately for Lady Catherine, her visit only serves to consolidate Elizabeth's intentions. Furthermore, Lady Catherine later visits Mr Darcy, and relates the entire conversation to him – giving him the hope that if he proposes to Elizabeth again, she may accept him. After ensuring the rekindling of Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet's relationship, Mr Darcy and Elizabeth become engaged.

The book ends with two marriages: Jane and Bingley's, and Darcy and Elizabeth's.

[edit] Main characters

  • Elizabeth (Lizzy, Eliza) Bennet (Main article: Elizabeth Bennet) - Main female protagonist. The reader sees the unfolding plot and the other characters mostly from her viewpoint.[6] The second of the Bennet daughters at twenty years old, she is portrayed as intelligent, lively, attractive and witty, with her faults being a tendency to judge on first impressions and to mock people excessively. As the plot begins, her closest relationships are with her father, her sister Jane, her aunt Mrs. Greene, and her neighbour Charlotte Lucas.
  • Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Main article: Fitzwilliam Darcy) - Main male protagonist. Twenty-eight years old, unmarried, the wealthy owner of an estate in Derbyshire. Portrayed as handsome and intelligent, but proud, judgmental and concerned with social status. He makes a poor impression on strangers, such as the people of Meryton, but is valued by those who know him well. Initial close relationships are with his friend Charles Bingley and his sister Georgiana Darcy.
  • Mr. Bennet - Elizabeth's father, the owner of the medium-sized and financially troubled Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, near Meryton. Has a wife and five daughters. Portrayed as a scholarly and intelligent man somewhat withdrawn from society, who dislikes the frivolity of his wife and three younger daughters, but makes fun of them them rather than attempting to correct them. He is closest to his older daughters, Elizabeth and Jane.
  • Mrs. Bennet - Wife of Mr. Bennet and mother of Elizabeth and her sisters. Her main objective in life at the time the novel unfolds is to find wealthy husbands for her five daughters. She is portrayed as frivolous, excitable and narrow-minded; her manners are seen as lower-class and embarrassing by her eldest daughters. Her favourite daughter is the youngest, Lydia.
  • Jane Bennet - The eldest Bennet sister. Twenty-two years old when the novel begins, she is considered the most beautiful young lady in the neighbourhood. Her character is contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer and equally sensible but not as clever; her most notable trait is a desire to see only good in others. Jane is closest to Elizabeth. She is later befriended by Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst.
  • Mary Bennet - The middle Bennet sister, aged around eighteen. The only plain one of the five; spends most of her time reading and studying, but is portrayed as pompous and lacking in common sense.
  • Catherine (Kitty) Bennet - The fourth Bennet sister, aged seventeen. Portrayed as a less headstrong but equally frivolous shadow of Lydia.
  • Lydia Bennet - The youngest Bennet sister, aged fifteen. She is repeatedly described as frivolous and headstrong. Her main activity in life is socializing, especially flirting with the military officers stationed in the nearby town of Meryton. She dominates her older sister Kitty, and is supported in the family by her mother.
  • Charles Bingley - Has just rented the Netherfield estate near Longbourn when the novel opens. Twenty-two years old at the start of the novel, handsome, good-natured and wealthy, he is contrasted with his friend Mr. Darcy as being less intelligent but kinder and more charming (and hence more popular in Meryton). He lacks resolve and is easily influenced by others.
  • Caroline Bingley - Unmarried sister of Charles Bingley, who accompanies him to Netherfield. Accustomed to fashionable society in London and looks down on Meryton people. She befriends Jane but dislikes Elizabeth. Closely associated with her sister Mrs. Hurst, her brother Bingley, and Darcy.
  • George Wickham - A militia regiment lieutenant touring Meryton early in the novel. He was also the son of Darcy's father's steward. Charming and handsome, he makes a good impression in Meryton society, and his reports that Darcy has cheated him out of a rightful inheritance serve to further damage Darcy's reputation there. He is later revealed to be financially irresponsible and morally bankrupt.
  • William Collins - A cousin of Mr. Bennet, and the entailed heir of Longbourn. At twenty-five years old, has recently obtained a clerical living on the estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Kent. Travels to Hertfordshire intending to look for a wife among his cousin's daughters. They find him pompous, dull and sycophantic.
  • Charlotte Lucas - Daughter of the Bennets' neighbours Sir William and Lady Lucas. Still unmarried at age twenty-seven, she is intelligent but unromantic and ready to accept any financially stable husband. She is Elizabeth's best friend at the beginning of the novel.
  • Lady Catherine de Bourgh - Darcy's widowed aunt, mistress of Rosings Park in Kent, and Mr. Collins' patroness. She is arrogant about her social rank, but takes a controlling interest in the personal affairs of those beneath her, particularly the Collinses. She is disliked by Elizabeth.
  • Georgiana Darcy - Darcy's younger sister and ward, aged sixteen. Has a reputation throughout the novel for being proud and formidably accomplished, but upon her appearance in person late in the story is revealed to be sweet-tempered and shy.
  • Colonel Fitzwilliam - Another of Lady Catherine's nephews. He and Darcy are joint guardians of Georgiana. Befriends Elizabeth while she is in Kent and gives her important information about Darcy's and Wickham's past actions.

[edit] Interrelationships

A comprehensive web showing the relationships between the main characters in Pride and Prejudice
A comprehensive web showing the relationships between the main characters in Pride and Prejudice


[edit] Major themes

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Many critics take the novel's title as a starting point when analysing the major themes of Pride and Prejudice; however, Robert Fox cautions against reading too much into the title since commercial factors may have played a role in its selection. "After the success of Sense and Sensibility, nothing would have seemed more natural than to bring out another novel of the same author using again the formula of antithesis and alliteration for the title".[7]

A major theme in much of Austen's work is the importance of environment and upbringing on the development of young people's character and morality. [3] Social standing and wealth are not necessarily advantages. In Pride and Prejudice, the failure of Mr and Mrs Bennet (particularly the later) as parents is blamed for Lydia's lack of moral judgment; Darcy, on the other hand, has been taught to be principled and scrupulously honourable, but also proud and overbearing.[3] Kitty, rescued from Lydia's bad influence and spending more time with her older sisters after they marry, is said to improve greatly in their superior society.[8] This theme that could be described as 'you become who you associate with' is also seen when Miss Lucas, Elizabeth's very good friend, marries Mr Collins and associates with Lady Catherine. We discover this after Lydia's elopement and Mr Collins writes that his wife informed him of Lydia's upbringing. It is doubtful that Charlotte would have said such a thing of her good friends sister prior to her marriage.

[edit] Style

Pride and Prejudice, like most of Jane Austen’s works, employs the narrative technique of free indirect speech. This has been defined as “the free representation of a character’s speech, by which one means, not words actually spoken by a character, but the words that typify the character’s thoughts, or the way the character would think or speak, if she thought or spoke.”[6] By using narrative which adopts the tone and vocabulary of a particular character - in this case, that of Elizabeth - Austen invites the reader to follow events from Elizabeth’s viewpoint, sharing her prejudices and misapprehensions and being surprised along with her when events prove these to be mistaken. “The learning curve, while undergone by both protagonists, is disclosed to us solely through Elizabeth’s point of view and her free indirect speech is essential… for it is through it that we remain caught, if not stuck, within Elizabeth’s misprisions.”[6]

[edit] Publication history

After the pubication of her first novel, Austen sold the copyright for Pride and Prejudice to Thomas Egerton for £110. Egerton published the first edition of Pride and Prejudice in three hardcover volumes in January 1813, priced at 18s.[1] Favourable reviews saw this edition sold out, with a second edition published in November that year. A third edition was published in 1817.[4]

Foreign language translations first appeared in 1813 in French; subsequent translations were published in German, Danish and Swedish.[9] Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United States in August 1832 as Elizabeth Bennet: or, Pride and Prejudice.[4] The novel was also included in Richard Bentley's Standard Novel series in 1833. R. W. Chapman's scholarly edition of Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1923, has become the standard edition from which many modern publications of the novel (usually abridged) are based.[4]

[edit] Reception

The novel was well received, with three favourable reviews in the first few months following publication.[5] Jan Fergus calls it "her most popular novel, both with the public and with her family and friends",[5] and quotes David Gilson's A Bibliography of Jane Austen (Clarendon, 1982), where it is stated that Pride and Prejudice was referred to as "the fashionable novel" by Anne Isabella Milbanke, later to be the wife of Lord Byron.

The novel was reviewed favourably in British Critic and Critical Review in early 1813.[10] In 1819 Henry Crabb Robinson called it: "...one of the most excellent of the works of our female novelists",[10] and Sir Walter Scott, in his journal, described it as: "...Miss Austen’s very finely written novel... That young lady had a talent for describing the involvement and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with."[10] However, others did not agree. Charlotte Brontë wrote to noted critic and reviewer George Henry Lewes after reading a review of his published in Fraser's Magazine in 1847. He had praised Jane Austen's work and declared that he "...would rather have written Pride and Prejudice, or Tom Jones, than any of the Waverley Novels".[10] Miss Bronte, though, found Pride and Prejudice a disappointment: "...a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but...no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck."[10]

[edit] Modern popularity

  • In 2003 the BBC conducted the largest ever poll for the "UK's Best-Loved Book" in which Pride and Prejudice came second, behind The Lord of the Rings.[11]
  • In a 2008 survey of more than 15,000 Australian readers Pride and Prejudice came first in a list of the 101 best books ever written.[12]

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Main article: List of artistic depictions of and related to Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice has engendered numerous adaptations. Some of the notable film versions include that of 1940 starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, and that of 2005 starring Keira Knightley (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Matthew Macfadyen. Notable television versions include two by the BBC: 1995 version starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and a 1980 version starring Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul. A 1936 stage version by Helen Jerome played at the St James's Theatre in London, starring Celia Johnson and Hugh Williams. First Impressions was a 1959 Broadway musical version starring Polly Bergen, Farley Granger and Hermione Gingold. In 1995, a musical concept album was written by Bernard J. Taylor, with Peter Karrie in the role of Mr Darcy and Claire Moore in the role of Elizabeth Bennet.

The novel has inspired a number of other works that are not direct adaptations. Books inspired by Pride and Prejudice include: Mr Darcy's Daughters and The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston; Pemberley: Or Pride & Prejudice Continued and An Unequal Marriage: Or Pride and Prejudice Twenty Years Later by Emma Tennant; The Book of Ruth by Helen Baker; Pemberley Remembered by Mary Simonsen and Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, which started as a newspaper column before becoming a novel, was inspired by the then-current BBC adaptation; both works share a Mr Darcy of serious disposition (both played by Colin Firth), a foolish match-making mother, and a detached affectionate father. The self-referential in-jokes continue with the sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Bride and Prejudice, starring Aishwarya Rai, is a Bollywood adaptation of the novel, while Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003) places the novel in contemporary times. The central premise of the television miniseries Lost in Austen is a modern woman suddenly swapping lives with that of Elizabeth Bennet. The off-Broadway musical I Love You Because reverses the gender of the main roles, set in modern day New York City. The Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango by Yoko Kamio, in which the wealthy, arrogant and proud protagonist, Doumyouji Tsukasa, falls in love with a poor, lower-class girl named Makino Tsukushi, is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Le Faye, Deidre (2002). Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3285-7. 
  2. ^ a b c Rogers, Pat (ed.) (2006). The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82514-6. 
  3. ^ a b c Pinion, F B (1973). A Jane Austen Companion. Macmillan. ISBN 333-12489-8. 
  4. ^ a b c d Stafford, Fiona (2004). "Notes on the Text", Pride and Prejudice, Oxford World's Classics (ed. James Kinley). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280238-0. 
  5. ^ a b c Fergus, Jan (1997). "The professional woman writer", in E Copeland & J McMaster: The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49867-8. 
  6. ^ a b c Miles, Robert (2003). Jane Austen, Writers and Their Work. Northcote House. ISBN 0-7463-0876-0. 
  7. ^ Fox, Robert C. (September 1962). "Elizabeth Bennet: Prejudice or Vanity?". Nineteenth-Century Fiction 17 (2): 185–187. University of California Press. doi:10.1525/ncl.1962.17.2.99p0134x. 
  8. ^ Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice, Ch 61. 
  9. ^ Valérie Cossy and Diego Saglia. "Translations". Jane Austen in Context. Ed. Janet Todd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-82644-6.
  10. ^ a b c d e Southam, B. C. (ed) (1995). Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage 1. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415134569. 
  11. ^ BBC - The Big Read - Top 100 Books (May 2003). Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
  12. ^ Aussie readers vote Pride and Prejudice best book. thewest.com.au.

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