Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is the most famous of Jane Austen's novels. It was written between 1796 and 1797, and was initially called First Impressions. Revised in 1811, it was published two years later in 1813 by the same Mr. Egerton, of the Military Library, Whitehall, who had brought out Sense and Sensibility. Like both its predecessor and Northanger Abbey, it was written at Steventon Rectory.

Themes

Marriage plays a large role in Pride and Prejudice. Some characters marry for security, some marry for wealth and some marry for love. While Jane Austen does not satirise the institution of marriage, she does in fact satirise women's role in marriage. The idea of marriage is very important throughout the novel.

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Social classes are also taken into account and play a major role as a theme in Pride and Prejudice. People of higher class are very proud of themselves and do not like to socialise with those of lower class. A pure example is Darcy when we first meet him. Also, the Bingley sisters often talk together about the way people of lower classes act and look bitterly upon them. It is also seen as bad for people of higher classes to mingle with lower classes, but Bingley puts this idea away and proves to be a very social character.

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