Jennie's Pride and Prejudice Fan Site

(Please Note: This site contains material that is, in effect, a spoiler for the original work. If you'd like to read the original or watch a film adaptation without being spoiled, read cautiously.)

The content of this mini-site is part and parcel taken from an overview of the Pride and Prejudice fandom that I put together for a multi-fandom recomendation LiveJournal community called crack_van.

So, why is there such a collection of fan fiction on the internet today that is based on a book by Jane Austen? The answer is simple. In 1995, the BBC aired its famous production of Pride and Prejudice.

They cast Colin Firth as the brooding, smoldering, and sexy Mr. Darcy. They took a little poetic license and added a scene where he dives into a pond. Immediately after, he happens upon Elizabeth Bennet again for the first time in months and his shirt is wet. She gets flustered at the sight of him (I would say she got wet at the sight of him, but that's just crass! ;) ), as did fangirls around the world, and the rest, as they say is history.

Poor Colin Firth has since been elevated to pop icon status. He can't seem to escape Mr. Darcy and, according to recent interviews (as well as his willingness to play Mark Darcy, an homage to the original Mr. Darcy, in not one, but two Bridget Jones' Diary movies), it looks like he's actually stopped trying.

I'd say that it is reasonable to assume that most of the P&P fic out there was largely inspired by this BBC production, commonly referred to as P&P2.

For more information on all things Pride and Prejudice, check out the Pride & Prejudice FAQ at The Republic of Pemberley.

Our Friend Jane

It should be noted that there are two major types of Pride and Prejudice fan fiction. The first type are stories that are set in regency-era England, like the novel. They are generally either meant as epilogues or retellings of the original. The second type are stories set in modern times. While they generally contain the same themes and resemble the plot of the original story, they can greatly differ in style and tone, etc. All of the other general things we know and love about fan fiction apply for both types. While most stories center on the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth, some are about other couples. There are het and slash pairings and ratings vary from "All Audiences" though "Adult." There are some genuinely wonderful original characters, as well as plenty of "Mary Sues."

Fan Fic Links

• Firthness
  All Darcy, all the time. This is a multi-dimensional site for fans of Colin Firth and Jane Austen. There are very active message boards, fic challenges, and an extensive fic archive, containing regency-era stories and ones set in modern times. Go ahead, take a dive into the pond! Darcyfic is a Yahoo! mailing list for fan fic that is Darcy-centric and it's archive is located at Firthness.

• darcy.gatefiction.com
  One of my favorite places to get my Darcy-fic fix. It houses five author's works, has a great smut page, and most of the fic is set in modern times. (Judy-Lynne's work is my favorite!)

• The Derbyshire Writers' Guild
  This is a huge archive where you can find fic based on all of Jane Austen's works, but the majority of the fic is Pride and Prejudice-based, since it is arguably the most well-known and best-loved of her books. It is divided into two areas: the Epilogue Abbey, where you can find fic set in the time, and usually written in the style, of Austen's original works, and the Fantasia Gallery, which houses AU fic, usually set in modern times, but using the same general characterizations of your favorite Austen personas. This site also has a message board.

• bennetgirls.com
  A new addition to my fan fic recommendations. I haven't explored the site fully but I recently read a very sweet regency era piece there called "Sleeping Beauty" by Alicia.

• An Unexpected Song by Rika
  Rika is in the midst of an epic masterpiece. A modern-day retelling of our favorite story, where Darcy is an extremely accomplished pianist and Lizzy is a wonderful singer and vocal coach, with a Broadway backgorund. The site is full of photos to illustrate the story. It's rare and wonderful--such a truly well thought out and executed fannish experience! You shouldn't miss it!

• Interested in reading a published sequel (fan fic for money, folks) to Pride and Prejudice? Then check out this page at The Republic of Pemberley site. Be warned! These are novels written by contemporary authors, and are usually written in a completely different style and tone from the original, and sometimes including themes that Jane Austen would have never tackled in the early 1800s. (The only one that I've read is The Bar Sinister, by Linda Berdoll. While I think it was a great read and an excellent book by today's romance novel standards, it was certainly jarring to think of it as a sequel to the original.)

Jennie's Pride and Prejudice Home | jenniellamb.com