The story told in Pride And Prejudice of the Bennet family, centred as it is on the relationship between the proud aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy and the high-spirited Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most enduringly popular novels of all time and has had a far-reaching influence on all romantic fiction right up to the present day.

Jane Austen described Elizabeth Bennett as “quite the most delightful creature as ever appeared in print”. Tens of millions agree, and it is the closest the author came to true romantic comedy. The determination of the bright and sparkilng Elizabeth to dislike Mr Darcy is matched only by his arrogant pride.