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Cover of “Pride and Prejudice”

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen (1775–1817)

Elizabeth Bennet has a quick wit, four sisters to marry off and a mother determined to do it. When she meets the proud Mr. Darcy, first impressions could hardly be worse. Austen turns balls, letters and misunderstandings into one of the cleverest comedies ever written.

First published
1813
Genre
Novel
Length
335 pages · 121,966 words
Reading time
≈ 8 h 50 min
Language
English
License
Public domain

How it begins

I

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

“But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

“Do not you want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.

“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”

This was invitation enough.

“Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”

Keep reading in the Library

This edition

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1775–1817) was first published in 1813. It is in the public domain worldwide: its author died more than a hundred years ago.

Text based on the Standard Ebooks edition (dedicated to the public domain under CC0), https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice. Their cover, imprint, colophon and licence pages were removed; the text and its structure were kept and restyled for this edition.

Original cover and design by the Arcadópolis Library.

Text source: Standard Ebooks

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