It has been made into four movies
and countless spin-offs
and at the P&P 95 Forever Club is celebrating by holding a competition.
Here is my entry: a letter of congratulation to Jane Austen upon the publication of Pride & Prejudice from Mrs. Phillips.
My dear Miss Austen
Congratulations upon the publication of your novel. I like it very well. However, there are a few things I would like to draw to your attention. To begin with, I am very proud to think of my niece as being a celebrity heroine. I will not deny that I myself played a key role in the development of the story. I did my best to encourage my niece's marriage with Mr. Collins. I am sorry it went off. I believe (not to impute any interference to Mr. Darcy) that the book should have been much more of a success if Elizabeth had married Mr. Collins. I think the hero is insipid and unemotional. And extremely haughty. If you plan to write another book, make the hero gallant and talkative. I should love myself to feature in it, preferably as the heroine........Oh, whoops, I am already married.....may I be the heroine's mother? Just a thought, however. Again congratulations.
My kindest regards,
Mrs. Agatha Phillips
P.S. Mr. Phillips has also read your novel and enjoyed it greatly, apart from the fact that "dashing" would be a better word to describe him than "stuffy."
