From 2 February 2020 to 17 June 2020, we read through Pride and Prejudice. In every episide, we covered approximately six chapters of the book, and also looked at one character in detail, and some aspect of the historical context. Each episode finished with a discussion of how the chapters were addressed in the various popular culture versions of the book.
Episode | Character | Historical |
Episode 1: Chapters 1-6 | Mrs Bennet | Class and the neighbourhood |
Episode 2: Chapters 7-12 | Charles Bingley | Accomplishments |
Episode 3: Chapters 13-18 | Mr Collins | Entails |
Episode 4: Chapters 19-26 | Charlotte Lucas | The marriage market |
Episode 5: Chapters 27-34 | Fitzwilliam Darcy | Presentation of livings to country rectors |
Episode 6: Chapters 35-41 | Lydia Bennet | The militia and the regular army |
Episode 7: Chapters 42-46 | Elizabeth Bennet | Landed gentry |
Episode 8: Chapters 47-52 | George Wickham | Marriage settlements and marriage laws |
Episode 9: Chapters 53-57 | Jane Bennet | What makes someone a gentleman |
Episode 10: Chapters 58-61 | Mr Bennet | Social changes in the nineteenth century |
We also talked about the following popular culture versions in most episodes:
- Pride and Prejudice (1940, MGM)
- Pride and Prejudice (1980, BBC)
- Pride and Prejudice (1995, BBC)
- Pride & Prejudice (2005, Focus Features)
- Bride and Prejudice (2004, Pathé Pictures International)
- Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012, YouTube)
and these popular culture versions on more than one occasion:
- Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy (2003, Bestboy Pictures)
- Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (2011)
- Eligible (The Austen Project #4) by Curtis Sittenfeld (2016)