In the early nineteenth century, when Jane Austen published her first two novels Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Writes B. C. Southam in his introduction to Jane Austen. The Critical Heritage, "fiction reviewing had no ... dig nity, and in the light of prevailing standards the two novels were remarkably well-received The reviewers were in no doubt about the superiority of these works. Although their notices are extremely limited in scope they remark on points which any modem critic would want to make." These points, in the case of Pride and Prejudice, include the spirited characterizations of Elizabeth Bennet and her family, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the other major personalities of the novel. Those people that criticized the novel, however, complained that the author of the book (who was unknown at the time—Austen published her.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 994 words. This
study guide contains 33,437 words (approx. 111 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Pride and Prejudice Access Pass.
