Aug 30, 2008

Pride and Prejudice | Overview

Background
Austen’s fiction reveals little awareness of the political and economic turmoil that pervaded Europe during her lifetime. Wars, such as the Napoleonic Wars, did not affect her middle-class upbringing. The lower classes were recruited, and the upper class purchased commissions and became gentleman officers who enjoyed social prestige.

During Austen’s life, the countryside was fragmented into semi-isolated agricultural villages and provincial settlements. London, the only metropolis, was the center of commerce and the arts. Austen had exposure to all three of these...