Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, was set in the 19th century. This time is also called the Regency era in English history. Jane Austen created her works within this exact period. More precisely, the events of the book most likely take place between 1795 and 1810. Austen managed to provide an excellent social critique of her contemporaries. She did it by witty exposing the damaging social norms of that period.
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Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice takes place in England in the late 18th – early 19th century. The novel itself was written around the same period and reflected on Austen’s contemporaries. This time corresponds to the Georgian era (1714-1830). It has its name due to the reign of four successive kings, from George I to George IV. The span from 1795 to 1837 is further referred to as the Regency period.
During the Regency, a significant class disparity existed in the society. The gap between the upper and lower classes was huge. The main character’s family, the Bennets, owned an estate. Mr. Bennet also received an annual income of more than £2,000. That technically assigned the family to the upper class. A landed gentry was another name for such families as the Bennets during Regency England. The term represents a class that owned land in the countryside and didn’t have to work.
However, during the early 19th century, personal connections and family determined one’s social status. Land ownership and income played a secondary role. Mind that Mrs. Bennet’s father was merely an attorney. It means she was of a lower origin. Since Mr. Bennet married her, the Bennets actually became a middle-class family. Social class issues, prejudice, and disparity are the novel’s most important themes.