1. Synopsis
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, published in April 2009, are the first of the current trend of literary
mash ups. Author Seth Grahame Smith took Jane Austen’s original text of Pride and Prejudice and
added zombie attacks and martial arts defences to turn the original text into an action thriller included
with the original base line of the text. The novel can be considered a product of the recent
capitalization on Jane Austen’s work in the form of sequels and retelling of the original novels. Some
critics claim that Grahame Smith’s work is merely a commercial tactic, while others view it as a
delightful reimagining of Austen’s novel.
The story remains essentially the same: Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy immediately dislike
one another, although as the tale continues the couple fall in love. The side plots of Jane Bennet’s
romance with Charles Bingley and Lydia Bennet’s misadventures with Wickham are also kept intact.
All of the Bennet sisters and the other gentlemen encounter well versed in martial arts and are able to
defend themselves from the “unmentionables” who wander the English countryside. The gardens
prominent in Austen’s original novel have been replaced with necessary for training and keeping the
defensive skills sharp. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is not merely respected for her wealth and
influence, but for her retinue of ninjas and her impressive skills.
Much of the social criticism of Austen’s novel applies in Grahame Smith’s rein visioning. The zombies
are referred to as the “unmentionables”, a mark of their social undesirability. The reader is left to infer
the origin of these unmentionables as it is not mentioned in the beginning or throughout the novel
where the unmentionables came from and their purpose which means that their origin is
indeterminate. The issues of wealth and class are of an increasing importance, as only the wealthy
are able to devote their time to training for combat. Marriage also continues to be an important point.
Charlotte Lucas marries Mr Collins here, not for the simple reason that she is afraid he is her best
chance at marriage, but because she has become one of the “unmentionables” and hopes Mr Collins
is too obtuse to notice. The issue of women’s equality is also present in the novel, as Elizabeth and
Darcy frequently engage in combat, both verbal and physical, with each other as well as with the
zombies, only to discover that they are equally matched. Elizabeth is not just Darcy’s intellectual
equal but his equal in combat.