Elizabeth Bennet is Austens most liberated and unambiguously appealing heroine, and Pride and Prejudice has remained over most of the past two centuries Austens most popular novel. The story turns on the marriage prospects of the five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet: Elizabeth forms a prejudice against the proud and distant Mr. Darcy; Darcys charming friend Charles Bingley falls in love with her sister Jane; and the handsome officer George Wickham forms attachments successively to Elizabeth and to her sister Lydia.
Irvines extensive introduction sets the novel in the context of the literary and intellectual history of the period, and deals with such crucial background issues as early-nineteenth century class relations in Britain, and female exclusion from property and power. The appendices present an unrivaled selection of background contextual documents.
