First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s second novel. It was written in 1797-1798 when she was only 21. Originally titled First Impressions the novel quickly made its way into print. It is written in the epistolary format, which is in the form of letters, that was extremely popular at the time. It is now considered an exemplary model of the epistolary form which emerged during the Romantic period in England of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
It is considered part of the genre of the novel of manners. It has been critically accepted as a novel which plays out the manners and customs of the age in which class, gender, and social standing were rigidly prescribed.