Key Facts
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
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
tone · Comic—or, in Jane Austen’s own words, “light and bright, and sparkling”
themes · Love; Reputation; Class