Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Review

Perhaps it is the world’s fascination with zombies, or one’s gravitation towards the style of the literary works of Jane Austen, which compels one to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth-Grahame Smith. Published in May of 2009 by Quirk Classics, it is a star example of a well-composed literary mash-up. The original Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen, and published in January of 1813 by Whitehall T. Egerton, Though it follows the general plot of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, elements of fantasy and gruesome horror (in this case, zombies) are well intertwined with the plot and characters to make the mash up of horror and classic join seamlessly. Though some may consider the author to have written this book more as a novelty, I disagree. I find it to be a wonderful re-imagination of a classic work. It seems, almost, as a dream of one who happened to read Pride and Prejudice, as well as watch a zombie movie before bed. It gives such great presentation to the reader that this work in itself could be entirely original, and would not seem odd. And while it incorporates the classical themes which Austen herself had in her own novel, such as romance, historical fiction, and satire, it also introduces the interests of a modern-day reader. (Such as zombies, comic, social commentary, mashup, and parody).

The story begins with a young Elizabeth Bennet, who lives in an alternate England to the one we know, where zombies roam the countryside, and strike terror upon the inhabitants of the English countryside. Elizabeth lives with her four sisters and parents, her mother, especially, is quite eccentric, and is obsessed with marrying off her girls. Her father, however, contrasts to this by teaching them ways of defense. Due to her mother’s obsession with finding suitors for her daughters, Elizabeth and her sisters go to the ball which is hosted by their new neighbor, Mr. Bingley. However, there is tension in the room as Elizabeth Bennet clashes with one of the guests at the party, Fitzwilliam Darcy. At the party, zombies attack, and it is only due to the training the girls received from their father that they were able to escape alive. It was not long after that when Mr. Bingley returned to his native London. And it is when the local militia come to destroy the dead bodies, which Elizabeth befriends a soldier, who tells her that Mr. Darcy robbed him of his inheritance, igniting her hatred for Mr. Darcy. This hatred continues as she learns of Mr. Darcy’s plan to separate Mr. Bingley from her sister Jane, with whom he had become quite acquainted to. Her hated becomes so strong that she plans to kill Mr. Darcy. It is later that night which Mr. Darcy proposes marriage, ending in a brutal fight in which Mr. Darcy is hurt. He escapes alive, and though Elizabeth wishes to be rid of him, he attempts to explain his actions by writing her a letter. In this letter, he explain his reason for breaking up her sister and her beloved was his own concern that her sister might turn into a zombie. In regards to the solider, he explained that the inheritance he was supposedly cheating the man out of, was rightfully his own. Elizabeth suddenly realizes that she has crudely misjudged Mr. Darcy, and attempts to be more civil with him. After this realization, Elizabeth Bennet goes around England, slaying zombies and attempting to free the world from the “unmentionables”. At Pemberly, she crosses paths with Mr. Darcy, who she works with to defeat a particularly large group of zombies. After seeing how truly similar they are in battle, the reconcile, though this peace is short-lived. It is discovered that Lydia married the soldier, though the Bennett's have nothing to fear- the once diabolical soldier has become crippled, and is of no threat to them. In the end, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet fall in love and destroy many zombies before beginning their future at one another’s sides.

This re-imagination of a classic work proves to be successful in capturing not only the language of the time period of the original work, but also weaves together the two ideas (zombies and Pride and Prejudice) seamlessly. In this work, one witnesses great efficacy. In reading this novel, I get the sense that Seth Grahame-Smith intended for it to be classical in nature, but have elements of the fantasy intertwined. I also believe that the author intended to create a work of mash-up so structurally sound that it could stand alone. Such is shown in the first line of the novel “It is a universally acknowledged truth that a zombie in want of brains must be in want of more brains”. For someone who has read the original novel, one would recognize the similarities between that first initial quote, and the first quote in the original Pride and Prejudice. (“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”) But to someone who has not read Austen’s original novel, the quote is merely a well-put together beginning to a story. It does not seem as if the author copied and pasted the words zombie into the beginning of another work. The language and wording of the quote make it appear to be the beginning of an original historical fiction/ horror novel. And in no way do I make the claim that Smith copied and pasted the word zombie into Austen’s novel. Quite the opposite in fact. To seamlessly tie together two very different subjects is a literary art form. This is why one hardly ever sees a mash-up being influential in the literary world. Most mashups are damned to the duty comedy shelves in the back of bookstore’s. Some would say mashups are published fan fiction, and have no depth. And to them I say, before passing judgement, you must read this novel. Grahame-Smith keeps the themes essentially the same, though the presence of zombies enhances them. Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance, and her personal worth is defined by her social class, as well as her marital status. And on top of that, she is defined by her ability (or lack thereof) to fight off zombies. Also similar to the original Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, courtship and the oddities of love are depicted. It sees in both novels, love can find its way into hardship, and even hatred.

In conclusion, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith is a great example of the literary evolution of mash-ups which are becoming increasingly more mainstream. This novel is proof to anyone who frowns upon mash-ups, and immediately places them carelessly upon the dusty shelves in the back of a bookstore, where it might sell as a novelty item. Grahame-Smith shows us that two very unlikely genres can in fact be combined to create a great work of literature which is not only enjoyable to read, but is also a work that could stand on its own without the crutches of the original plot line.