Happy Birthday, Pride and Prejudice!

Extra: My article for The Atlantic from the archives

One of my favorite novels, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, was published on this day, January 28, in 1813.

Several years ago, I published in article at The Atlantic celebrating Austen as a reader and a writer of this great work:

Before she was a writer, Jane Austen was a reader. A reader, moreover, within a family of readers, who would gather in her father’s rectory to read aloud from the work of authors such as Samuel Johnson, Frances Burney, and William Cowper—as well as, eventually, Jane’s own works-in-progress.

Not surprisingly, then, in Austen’s novels, the act of reading is a key indication of how a character should initially be judged, and of major turning points in her development. For Austen, the way a character reads is emblematic of other forms of interpretation: One’s skills in comprehending written language are linked to one’s ability to understand life, other people, and oneself.

Here’s a link to the whole article. (It’s supposed to be a gift link. I really hope it works!)