Pride and Prejudice is a perceptive examination of the relationship between the classes in Britain with middle class, upwardly mobile aspirations to progress rubbing against upper class efforts to keep them in their place. Austen's adroit depiction of the plight of women in pre-Victorian Europe also shows her superlative insight into her own world. And this insight is skillfully mirrored through one of the most intriguing and admired heroines of English novels Elizabeth Bennet.