“It is a truth universally acknowledged…” that Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s most widely read and widely loved novel. It is the story of Elizabeth, the sharp-witted and level-headed second daughter of the Bennet family, and her slowly blossoming relationship with the honorable but haughty Mr. Darcy. Taking place among the rural aristocracy of England in the early nineteenth century, Austen creates characters that are so recognizably human and themes that are so universal, that the novel has never lost its popularity, inspiring nearly two centuries of adaptations, reinterpretations, and imitators. Austen’s original text, available here with illustrations from the 1895 edition, remains one of the most romantic, delightful, and indelible stories in the English language.
