Pride and Prejudice

The central motif of the novel is the author’s attempt to update the characters and plot of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to take place in contemporary American society. The updates focus more on individual character traits than on the plot itself, which is only very loosely followed. The basic set-up of Eligible follows the model of Pride and Prejudice wherein the arrival of Mr. Bingley/Chip Bingley and his friend Darcy into the social circle of the Bennet family is the catalyst which sparks the rest of the events of the novel. In both the original and the adaptation, Jane ends up marrying Bingley and Elizabeth becomes engaged to Darcy. Other than these basic similarities, however, Eligible mainly abandons any attempt to update the intricate plot of Pride and Prejudice, focusing instead on updating the characters’ personalities and interpersonal dynamics.

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