Pride and Prejudice

In Hertfordshire, the Bennet family has five unmarried daughters and an estate that will pass to a male cousin, so marriage is a pressing matter. When the wealthy, good-natured Mr. Bingley rents nearby Netherfield, he brings his proud friend Mr. Darcy, who promptly offends the sharp-witted Elizabeth Bennet at a local ball. As visits and gossip multiply, Elizabeth forms firm opinions of Darcy and of the charming officer Mr. Wickham, while her gentle elder sister Jane falls for Bingley.

Austen turns a small world of drawing rooms into a sharp study of judgement, class and self-knowledge. Her famous irony, brisk dialogue and gallery of comic figures, such as the pompous clergyman Mr. Collins, keep the pages lively, while beneath the comedy lies a serious look at how women's futures depended on money and marriage. Readers return to it for Elizabeth herself, one of the most likeable and independent heroines in fiction, and for the pleasure of watching two clever people learn to see clearly.

Austen drafted an early version under the title First Impressions in the late 1790s. Revised, it was published anonymously by Thomas Egerton in January 1813 as the work of the author of Sense and Sensibility. It was well received at once and has never gone out of print. The novel has inspired many film and television versions, stage productions and many modern retellings.

Pride and Prejudice is a classic by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. On BookClassics you can read it free online in English. A free audio excerpt is also available. You may also like Emma, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey.

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