Pride
and Prejudice takes place in England in the early 1800s, during a time
known as the Regency period. The term refers to England’s ruler between 1810
and 1820, George IV. He served as regent, or substitute monarch, his father, George
III who suffered increasingly from periods of insanity. Most of the novel’s
action occurs in the homes of middle- and upper-class families living in the
countryside not far from London.
The Regency
period is sometimes called the age of elegance. By the early 1800s, the
industrial revolution had been in full swing for several decades and was
transforming English society. Technology was making commerce and manufacturing
more efficient and profitable. As a result, many middle-class business owners and
professionals became wealthy. The newly rich were eager to adopt the lifestyle
of England’s traditional landed aristocracy. They displayed their wealth in
large country homes with landscaped grounds, fine carriages, and elegant
fashions.
The upwardly
mobile middle class, isolated in their life of comfort and leisure, generally
gave little thought to what was going on outside their world. The economic
system that had made them prosperous, however, had left others struggling to
survive. In the age of industrialism, work that had previously been done
manually was now being done by machines. Many were left unemployed. A third of
the country was living near starvation—a situation that fuelled social unrest. Bread riots and
worker protests were met with force and repressive measures, such as denying
freedom of speech. In addition, England was experiencing an agricultural
depression and, until 1815, was fighting the Napoleonic wars in Europe.
Many critics
find it odd that Jane Austen’s novels almost totally exclude these important
events, for she would certainly have been aware of them. But Austen’s focus was
consistent with the subject she had chosen to depict. Her novels faithfully
reflect the self-centered view of the well-to-do classes. Moreover, as an artist,
Austen knew what her particular gifts were: observing and commenting on the
manners and morals of the middle class she knew intimately.