Pride and Prejudice

Austen, Jane

Dec 2015 · Aegitas

About this ebook

Pride and Prejudice is the most famous of Jane Austen's novels, and its opening is one of the most famous lines in English literature — "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". Its manuscript was initially called First Impressions, but was never published under that title. It was published on 28 January 1813 and, like both its predecessors Sense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey, it was written at Steventon Rectory.

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism.Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.