Pride and Prejudice is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was aged 20–21, and later published in 1813.
A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.
Her father Mr Bennet, owner of the Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, has five daughters; but this estate is entailed by a strict settlement[1] that Mr Bennet entered into when coming of age, so now can only be inherited in the male line. His wife brought a settlement[2] of £5,000 into the marriage as her ‘separate estate’, and has since inherited an additional £4,000 on the death of her father; but Mrs Bennet and her daughters face living only on the interest from these sums upon Mr Bennet’s death. To his regret, he has failed to save out of the income from the Longbourn estate to provide enhanced marriage portions for his daughters. From the Bennets’ perspective, it is imperative that at least one of their daughters marry well to support the others, which is a primary motivation driving the plot.
Pride and Prejudice has consistently appeared near the top of lists of “most-loved books” among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold, and has inspired many derivatives in modern literature.[3][4] For more than a century, dramatic adaptations, reprints, unofficial sequels, films, and TV versions of Pride and Prejudice have portrayed the memorable characters and themes of the novel, reaching mass audiences.[5]
