Full Title   Pride and Prejudice

Author  Jane Austen

Type of work  Novel

Genre  Comedy of manners

Language  English

Time and place written  England, between 1796 and 1813

Date of first publication  1813

Publisher  Thomas Egerton of London

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

Foreshadowing  The only notable example of foreshadowing occurs when Elizabeth visits Pemberley, Darcy’s estate, in Volume 3, Chapter 1. Her appreciation of the estate foreshadows her eventual realization of her love for its owner.

Tone  Comic—or, in Jane Austen’s own words, “light and bright, and sparkling”

Themes  Love; Reputation; Class

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.