Why You Should Read Pride and Prejudice in Other Eras

If you’re anything like me, you’ve read Pride and Prejudice so many times that you can practically recite Mr. Collins’s proposal while brushing your teeth. (A hazardous activity. The line about “your portion is unhappily so small” almost made me choke on toothpaste once.)

But here’s the thing: Jane Austen’s most famous couple, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, are not trapped forever in 1811 Hertfordshire. Oh no. They’ve been time-traveling, globe-hopping, fantasy world visiting, and occasionally teleporting into universes that would make Lady Catherine clutch her pearls. And I’m here to convince you that you should give these variations a whirl.

Yes, I’m publishing a modern P&P  Christmas story this week–Unwrapping Christmas. But bear with me.

Reason One: Pride and Prejudice Is Basically Indestructible

Darcy and Elizabeth are like sourdough starter. You can stick them anywhere, and they rise. Historical Regency? Works, of course. But also:

Contemporary London? Delicious. Modern India? Let me just say: Bride and Prejudice. Zombies? Strangely, hilariously satisfying. American Old West? You could toss them into a spaceship, and Elizabeth would still roll her eyes while Darcy brooded handsomely on the bridge.

The basic chemistry of prideful man meets sharp-tongued woman, sparks fly, lessons are learned? Yeah, that transcends empire waisted gowns and horse-drawn carriages.

Reason Two: The Comedy Writes Itself

Moving Darcy and Elizabeth into a different era creates comic gold. Picture Darcy at a Starbucks trying to order “just black coffee” while Elizabeth raises an eyebrow at his stubborn refusal to say “venti.” Imagine Lydia on TikTok. Or Elizabeth as a modern journalist, grilling Darcy, the billionaire tech bro, on his environmental practices (oh wait, I already did).

By shaking up the setting, you shake out new jokes—and let’s be honest, Austen herself would be 100% here for it. She loved skewering human folly. If she’d lived today, she’d probably be writing satire (A LOT of satire) about people who won’t mute themselves on Zoom calls, the bizarre tribal wars over oat milk versus almond milk, and the humble-bragging LinkedIn posts that somehow turn into essays about “leadership.”

Reason Three: The World Is Wide—Elizabeth and Darcy Deserve a Passport

One of the delights of variations is that they can take us places. Why stop at Pemberley when you can have Pemberley in Paris? Or Pemberley in Tokyo? Or Pemberley as a Mexican hacienda with Darcy in a perfectly cut charro suit (yes, please).

Different nationalities bring different cultural obstacles and flavors to the story—arranged marriage expectations in South Asia, class divides in Victorian-era America, or simply trying to date in the age of whatever dating app is the latest thing. The themes of pride, prejudice, love, and self-realization are universal, so why not let them play out in fresh, colorful contexts?

Reason Four: You Already Know the Ending

There’s comfort in variations: no matter the zombies, the CEOs, the space helmets, we know Darcy is going to fall hopelessly in love with Elizabeth, and Elizabeth will eventually say yes. It’s the promise of the genre. (And if that’s not going to happen, authors will generally warn you up front). Reading these stories is like watching a beloved rom-com with a twist—you know the beats, but the fun is in seeing how the new setting changes the rhythm.

It’s also strangely reassuring in a chaotic world: no matter what, Elizabeth and Darcy will end up together. And if they can survive social media misunderstandings, post-apocalyptic wastelands, or corporate boardrooms, maybe there’s hope for us too.

Reason Five: No, Austen’s not “Rolling over in her grave.”

There’s sometimes a sniffy attitude that Jane Austen should be left untouched. But Austen regularly engaged in writing fanfiction with her family. She was also witty, playful, and deeply observant of human nature. She knew a good joke when she saw one. I like to imagine her ghost peeking over our shoulders, chuckling as she reads Darcy trying to master texting etiquette.

Besides, the very act of retelling stories is as old as storytelling itself. Shakespeare stole plots shamelessly. Alexadre Dumas took D’Artagnan from another writer and wrote him into The Three Musketeers. Both The Inferno and Paradise Lost are essentially Bible fanfiction. Myths get remixed every generation. Austen has joined the pantheon of endlessly renewable tales—and that’s an honor, not an insult.

In Conclusion: Give Pride and Prejudice a Chance (in Any Era)

So the next time you see a Pride and Prejudice non-regency variation—whether it’s Elizabeth as a lawyer, Darcy as a firefighter, or both of them battling zombies—don’t wrinkle your nose like Lady Catherine caught you reading improper novels. Dive in instead!

At worst, you’ll get a chuckle out of Mr. Collins trying to run for public office. At best, you’ll find yourself falling in love with Elizabeth and Darcy all over again, just in a fresh costume.

Because let’s face it: some stories are too good to stay locked in one time and place. Elizabeth Bennet deserves Wi-Fi. Darcy deserves to learn how to pump gas. And we readers deserve the joy of discovering, again and again, how universal their love story really is.

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