Reception of Pride and Prejudice Over Time
- Audrey Wang
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Audrey Wang is a high school freshman. She is an editor and regular writer for Penrose Magazine. In her free time, she loves volunteering, coding, and reading. Audrey is excited to write for the Jane Austen Summer Program!
At a time when authoresses were looked down upon, Jane Austen published four of her novels anonymously and two posthumously. Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28th, 1813. Now, over 200 years later, it is wildly popular with around 20 adaptations and inspired series, over 20 million copies sold, and a dedicated scholar and fan culture.
However, the fame of Pride and Prejudice didn’t come instantly. When it was first published by Thomas Egerton, it received only three reviews. In the period immediately following, a small, distinct readership emerged: aristocrats and people engaged in literary pursuits. Playwright Richard Sheridan, for example, thought that it “was one of the cleverest things” he had ever read. Anne Milbanke, future wife of poet Lord Byron, believed it was “a very superior work” and “at present the fashionable novel”. Novelist Walter Scott wrote a longer and glowing review of Emma in 1816 and Pride and Prejudice 10 years later as a journal entry:
'Also read again, and for the third time at least, Miss Austen's very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The Big Bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!'
-The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, 14 March 1826
Scott also lent credence to Austen’s works as novels, a genre that was criticized for being immoral. Nevertheless, Pride and Prejudice was to be confined to an elite audience for the time being. Many of its readers felt that the book depicted ordinary life well but lacked the passion and sensibility that one could expect from a novel. Charlotte Brontë was similarly disappointed and compared the book to “a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of bright vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck”.
Outside of Britain, European translations of Pride and Prejudice removed its irony and wit and injected sentimentalism and decorum through their own changes. For instance, the quote that Elizabeth had "always seen a great similarity in the turn of [their] minds" because they are "unwilling to speak, unless [they] expect to say something that will amaze the whole room" was changed to "Me, I keep silent, because I don't know what to say, and you, because you excite your features for effect when speaking." in French. In addition, not all European countries were well versed with Austen. The first Russian translation of Pride and Prejudice did not occur until 1967. Pride and Prejudice remained situated in the select upper echelon of literary society.
Eventually, change was brought about with a biography of Austen written by her nephew, A Memoir of Jane Austen. It made her novels seem safe and proper for young ladies and portrayed Austen as a matronly aunt who wrote for personal enjoyment rather than publication. These ideas contributed to a massive eruption in popularity for Austen and even caused a reissue of her novels. Many reviews were now being published from critics that analyzed Austen’s writing style rather than just expressing personal enjoyment.
From around the early 1900s to the turn of the century, Pride and Prejudice’s popularity endured and expanded. Academic scholars continued to interpret the novel in their own way and write essays. In 1940, the average population was first introduced to the book in film form with the black and white movie. Although anachronistic and not necessarily a faithful adaptation, it paved the way for more successful adaptations such as the 1995 miniseries, which garnered over 10 million views in the original broadcast, and the 2005 movie, praised for its cinematography and cast. Other notable adaptations include Bride and Prejudice, Death Comes to Pemberley, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and many more. In the fall of 2026, Netflix will be releasing a miniseries starring Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy.
(Left) Pride and Prejudice (1940) has anachronistic costumes and an out-of-character Mr. Darcy; (Right) Bride and Prejudice (2004) is a Bollywood-style adaptation.
From earning only three reviews to attaining the first place on the Goodreads Top 100 Literary Novels of All Time list, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of, if not the most beloved novels.
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