Author: Jane Austen | Adapted by Rachel Draelos | ISBN: 979-8-950637-00-1 | Page count: 448 | Published June 13, 2026
Get a copy of the ebook on Gumroad
Welcome to matriarchal Regency England, where inheritance flows through daughters, mothers rule the household, and a frantic Mr. Bennet is determined to secure advantageous marriages for his sons. Theodore Bennet finds himself instantly at odds with the proud, aloof Ms. Daphne—and thus begins a reading experience that is at once recognizable and deeply disorienting, revealing the hidden assumptions embedded in one of the most beloved novels in English literature.
Using a painstaking, word-by-word transformation, this edition preserves Jane Austen’s original text while inverting its gendered language.
The first in the Matriarchy Classics series, Gender-Swapped Pride & Prejudice is a striking literary experiment that invites you to experience a familiar world through an unsettling new lens.
Quotes
| Gender-Swapped Pride & Prejudice | Original Pride & Prejudice |
| “I am not now to learn,” replied Ms. Colleen, with a formal wave of the hand, “that it is usual with young gentlemen to reject the addresses of the woman whom they secretly mean to accept, when she first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time. I am, therefore, by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.” | “I am not now to learn,” replied Mr. Collins, with a formal wave of the hand, “that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time. I am, therefore, by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.” |
| Mrs. Bennett: “They have none of them much to recommend them,” replied she: “they are all silly and ignorant like other boys; but Teddy has something more of quickness than his brothers.” | Mr. Bennett: “They have none of them much to recommend them,” replied he: “they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.” |
| Ms. Daphne: “If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.” Theodore, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of her situation, now forced himself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave her to understand that his sentiments had undergone so material a change since the period to which she alluded, as to make him receive with gratitude and pleasure her present assurances. | Mr. Darcy: “If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.” Elizabeth, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances. |
| Ms. Daphne soon drew the attention of the room by her fine, tall person, beautiful features, noble mien, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after her entrance, of her having ten thousand a year. The ladies pronounced her to be a fine figure of a woman, the gentlemen declared she was much prettier than Ms. Beverley, and she was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till her manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of her popularity; for she was discovered to be proud, to be above her company, and above being pleased… | Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased… |
| In Lydian’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. He saw, with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing-place covered with officers. He saw himself the object of attention to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. He saw all the glories of the camp: its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and, to complete the view, he saw himself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once. | In Lydia’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw, with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing-place covered with officers. She saw herself the object of attention to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp: its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and, to complete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once. |
Chapter 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband.
However little known the feelings or views of such a woman may be on her first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that she is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their sons.
“My dear Ms. Bennet,” said her gentleman to her one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”
Ms. Bennet replied that she had not.
“But it is,” returned he; “for Mr. Long has just been here, and he told me all about it.”
Ms. Bennet made no answer.
“Do not you want to know who has taken it?” cried her husband, impatiently.
“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”
This was invitation enough.
“Why, my dear, you must know, Mr. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young woman of large fortune from the north of England; that she came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that she agreed with Ms. Morissa immediately; that she is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of her servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”
“What is her name?”
“Beverley.”
“Is she married or single?”
“Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single woman of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our boys!”
“How so? how can it affect them?”
“My dear Ms. Bennet,” replied her husband, “how can you be so tiresome? You must know that I am thinking of her marrying one of them.”
“Is that her design in settling here?”
“Design? Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that she may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit her as soon as she comes.”
“I see no occasion for that. You and the boys may go—or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for as you are as beautiful as any of them, Ms. Beverley might like you the best of the party.”
“My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of handsomeness, but I do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a man has five grown-up sons, he ought to give over thinking of his own handsomeness.”
“In such cases, a man has not often much handsomeness to think of.”
“But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Ms. Beverley when she comes into the neighbourhood.”
“It is more than I engage for, I assure you.”
“But consider your sons. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Dame Wilma and Lord Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account; for in general, you know, they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit her, if you do not.”
“You are over scrupulous, surely. I dare say Ms. Beverley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure her of my hearty consent to her marrying whichever she chooses of the boys—though I must throw in a good word for my little Teddy.”
“I desire you will do no such thing. Teddy is not a bit better than the others: and I am sure he is not half so beautiful as John, nor half so good-humoured as Lydian. But you are always giving him the preference.”
“They have none of them much to recommend them,” replied she: “they are all silly and ignorant like other boys; but Teddy has something more of quickness than his brothers.”
“Ms. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.”
“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.”
“Ah, you do not know what I suffer.”
“But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young women of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.”
“It will be no use to us, if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.”
“Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.”
Ms. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make her husband understand her character. His mind was less difficult to develope. He was a man of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When he was discontented, he fancied himself nervous. The business of his life was to get his sons married: its solace was visiting and news.