Pride and Prejudicewas first published in 1813, although Jane Austen had written it between October of 1796 and August of 1797.  This was at a time when women were expected to stay at home and just be a pretty face, not think for themselves, and not involve themselves in politics or careers (read: “men’s work”).  Men were authors; women were not.  Austen’s father first submitted Pride and Prejudice to a publisher in 1797, under the title First Impressions, but it was rejected probably for the sole reason that it had been written by a woman.  Even when Pride and Prejudice was finally published in 1813, Austen’s name did not appear as the author of the book, and in fact, Austen was never given credit for being the author of any of her works while she was alive.  The title page of Pride and Prejudice, when published, read “by the author of Sense and Sensibility.”

Regardless, Jane Austen is one of the most widely read authors of English literature and there is no doubt in my mind as to why this is true.  She had a lot to say about women and society in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  Pride and Prejudice is quite comic and it paints a clear picture of how women who lacked their own fortune oftentimes had to forsake love to marry for economic security and social status.