Pride and Prejudice : key facts

“Pride and Prejudice” is a novel written by English author Jane Austen. It was first published in 1813 and has since become one of the most well-known and beloved works of English literature. Here are some key facts about the novel:

• Author: Jane Austen (1775-1817)
• Full title: “Pride and Prejudice”
• Type of work: Novel
• Genre: Comedy of manners 
• Language: English
• Time and place setting: Rural England, between 1796 and 1813.
• Date of First Publication: 1813
• Publisher: Thomas Egerton of London
• Narrator: Third-person omniscient
• Tense: Past tense
• Tone: Comic—or, in Jane Austen’s own words, “light and bright, and sparkling”.
• Total Words: Approximately 708,000 characters, including spaces.
• Narrator: Third-person omniscient
• Climax: Mr Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth (Volume 3, Chapter 16)
• Protagonist: Elizabeth Bennet
• Antagonist: Snobbish class consciousness (epitomized by Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Miss Bingley)
• Setting (Time): Some point during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815)
• Setting (Place): Longbourn, in rural England
• Point Of View: The novel is primarily told from Elizabeth Bennet’s point of view.
• Falling Action: The two chapters of the novel after Darcy’s proposal
• Tense: Past tense
• Themes: Love, Reputation, Class, Marriage. 
• Motifs: Courtship; Journeys
• Symbols: The novel is light on symbolism, except on the visit to Pemberley, which is described as being “neither formal, nor falsely adorned,” and is clearly meant to symbolize the character of Mr Darcy.
• Pairs in this Novel: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley, Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, and Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham etc.