Pride And Prejudice - Nation, Genre & Gender

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Pride & Prejudice

Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, is best remembered for its depiction of the iconic romance between spirited Elizabeth Bennet and haughty Mr. Darcy. This relationship – initially characterised by a mutual dislike – might never have progressed beyond its shaky beginnings, without the attempts by a third party, Darcy’s boyhood-friend-turned-enemy Mr. Wickham, to separate the two.

In these images, we demonstrate how Wickham’s interference actually brings the couple together, by forcing them to confront uncomfortable truths about themselves, which gradually brings about a mutual understanding and respect.

Podcast

In this podcast, Karen Wade describes how social networks can be used to throw new light upon even a novel as familiar and well-studied as Pride and Prejudice.

Overview

Published in 1813, the events in Pride and Prejudice take place in a society that is very different from our own, yet the book continues to be read, adapted and enjoyed by audiences throughout the world. What can new research methods tell us, if anything, about a novel that’s been so thoroughly read and studied over its 200-year lifespan?

In this podcast, we discuss how social network analysis gives us new ways of viewing characters and their relationships in the novels, at different levels of detail. We can zoom in and examine a novel chapter by chapter, or zoom out and compare characters and their different levels of influence throughout the entire novel. Using these methods lets us uncover new facets of Pride and Prejudice and the way in which relationships work in the imagined society of the novel.

Gallery

Pride and Prejudice has always inspired people to recreate the characters and events that take place in the book. Our network visualisations are part of a long history of visual representations of the novel, ranging from the first pictures from the 1833 illustrated edition, to the TV and film adaptations of the 20th century.

Citation info for images:

From Morris, Francis Orpen. The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. vol. 1, 2. (Vol. 3-5. A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen … of Great Britain and Ireland. With descriptive letterpress.) London, Longmans and Co., 1866. Digitised by the British Library Labs. (URL)
From Green, William. The picture of England. Illustrated with colour’d maps of the several counties. London, 1804. Digitised by the British Library Labs. (URL)
From Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Illustrated by Charles Edmund Brock. Macmillan and Co, 1895. Digitised by the British Library Labs. (URL)
From Brimley, Reginald (ed), Jane Austen. The novels and letters of Jane Austen. New York: F. S. Holby, 1906. From the Internet Archive Book Images Collection. (URL)
From Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: R. Bentley; Edinburgh: Bell and Bradfute, 1833. In the Internet Archive. (URL)

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Characters

Although Pride and Prejudice contains around 120 characters in total, by most assessments only the top 20 or so would be considered the “main cast”. Here you can find the top 20 characters ranked in accordance with degree centrality – the number of other characters each individual in the novel is linked to. We have also included the complete list of aliases for each character, or names by which they are known or described in the novel. Additionally, a set of known attributes that are held by each character is included.

Definitive Name	Aliases	Attributes
Elizabeth Bennet	eliza, eliza bennet, elizabeth, elizabeth bennet, lizzy, miss elizabeth bennet	cousin, daughter, english, female, sister, unmarried/married, wife
Jane Bennet	jane, jane bennet, the eldest miss bennet	cousin, daughter, english, female, sister, unmarried/married, wife
Mr. Darcy	darcy, fitzwilliam darcy, mr darcy, mr fitzwilliam darcy, mr. darcy, mr. fitzwilliam darcy, the present mr darcy, the present mr. darcy	brother, employer, english, gentleman, husband, landowner, male, nephew, son
Mrs. Bennet	mama, mamma, mrs bennet, mrs. bennet	aunt, english, female, gentlewoman, mother, sister, wife
Mr. Bingley	a young man of large fortune from the north of england, bingley, charles, mr bingley, mr. bingley	brother, english, gentleman, male, unmarried/married
Mr. Wickham	dear wickham, george wickham, mr wickham, mr. wickham, one of the most worthless young men in great britain, w, w.	army, english, ensign, husband, male, officer, soldier, son, unmarried/married
Lydia Bennet	lydia, lydia bennet	cousin, daughter, english, female, sister, unmarried/married, wife
Mr. Collins	a man who has not one agreeable quality, mr collins, mr. collins, william collins	clergyman, cousin, english, husband, male, son, unmarried/married
Charlotte Lucas	charlotte, charlotte lucas, miss lucas, mrs collins, mrs. collins	daughter, english, female, sister, unmarried/married, wife
Mr. Bennet	mr bennet, mr. bennet, papa	english, father, gentleman, husband, male
Mrs. Gardiner	m gardiner, m. gardiner, mrs gardiner, mrs. gardiner, sister gardiner	english, female, mother, wife
Lady Catherine De Bourgh	her ladyship, her ladyship lady catherine, lady catherine, lady catherine de bourgh, your ladyship	aristocrat, aunt, english, female, mother, wife
Mr. Gardiner	brother gardiner, e gardiner, e. gardiner, edw gardiner, edw. gardiner, mr gardiner, mr. gardiner	brother, businessman, english, father, husband, male, uncle
Miss Bingley	caroline, caroline bingley, miss bingley	english, female, gentlewoman, sister
Kitty Bennet	kitty, kitty bennet	cousin, daughter, english, female, sister
Colonel Forster	colonel forster	army, colonel, english, husband, male, soldier
Mrs. Philips	aunt philips, mrs philips, mrs. philips	aunt, english, female, wife
Miss Darcy	georgiana, georgiana darcy, miss darcy	daughter, english, female, gentlewoman, sister
Sir William Lucas	sir william, sir william lucas	aristocrat, english, father, husband, male
Mr. Philips	mr philips, mr. philips, uncle philips	attorney, english, husband, male, uncle