Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of theBritish Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton inHertfordshire, near London. Page 2 of a letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra (11 June 1799) in whic