Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen was a major English novelist, whose brilliantly witty, elegantly structured satirical fiction marks the transition in English literature from 18th century neo-classicism to 19th century romanticism. Pride and Prejudice opens with 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." The story concerns courtship and marriage among the landed gentry in the late 18th century and early 19th century. The main character is Elizabeth Bennet, a 20-year-old woman possessed of a quick mind and a quick tongue. Besides marriage, the novel deals with social classes, and how pride and prejudice can interfere with relationships. The novel was first offered to a publisher in 1797, but it was rejected. Austen revised it and it was published in 1813, only four years before she died of Addison's disease at the age of 41. She never married.