This is the only book about Pride and Prejudice to combine both analysis of the novel and excerpts from significant primary documents of Austen's own time. Teachman provides commentary and primary materials on inheritance, marriage, and women's roles in English society at the beginning of the 19th century.

Excerpts from 18th- and 19th-century etiquette guides, moral treatises, histories of women, legal documents and commentary, newspapers, magazines, and collections of letters provide evidence of the social and legal differences between Austen's era and our own - enabling the reader to understand the legal, historical, social, and cultural contexts of the novel.

Each section of this casebook contains study questions, topics for research papers and class discussions, and lists of further reading for examining the issues raised by the novel.