Reading Pride and Prejudice in the 21st Century

1 hour and 43 minutes

After Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy might just be the world’s most famous fictional couple.

The story of how they fall in love—Pride and Prejudice—has left an indelible imprint on popular culture. Readers, novelists, playwrights, filmmakers, and even zombies can’t leave Pride and Prejudice alone. Which raises the question: Why has this novel, of all Jane Austen’s works, remained the general favorite?

In Reading Pride and Prejudice in the 21st Century, Professor Patricia A. Matthew, a specialist in British Romanticism and the history of the novel, examines how fans and scholars engage with the novel today—and how contemporary storytellers continually surprise us with new retellings. Through this Audible Original, you’ll explore fresh perspectives on the heroic ideals of Elizabeth Bennet and the values of the women around her, the enduring sex appeal of Mr. Darcy and his various cinematic interpretations, how today’s readers grapple with the novel’s depictions of gender and class in the 1800s, the timeless power of Austen’s satire, and even the promises of a Pride and Prejudice multiverse of parodies, murder mysteries, and more.