Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is essentially a retelling or rather a parody of Austen’s classic work Pride and Prejudice. However, the twist is clearly the inclusion of a zombie storyline within the original tale that entails themes of love, social strata, and personal character. The novel falls under the emerging literary space of mash-up literature that combine original works or history with elements of contemporary fantasy and horror fiction.
The success of the sub-genre attests to the gravitation towards the modern twist to classic stories that give them a unique edge. Thus, the author retells the original narrative with few changes to the human dramas, scenes, and plot but still remaining faithful to the spirit of the story. Modern fiction has adopted a trend to align the world of heroes and heroines with fantasy, horror-related, and monster elements. Therefore the subliminal nature of human nature and heroism in classic romantic stories are more human and less fanciful in comparison. In consequence, the author brings the story to the modern audience for those familiar or less familiar with Austen’s work through the zombification of the setting.
The plot of the novel remains the same, as it is a narrative of the characters overcoming their flaws and biases as they seek love in the Regency era. The backdrop, however, is of a zombie-filled England that poses threat to the living humans as they conduct their day-to-day activities. Therefore, the upper class send their families particularly women to Eastern nations to train in the arts of combat. The Bennet sisters are sword-bearing warriors who on top of overcoming their challenges as women have to fight the undead. Accordingly, the main characters in the original narrative become heroines or heroes in a more fantastical manner in the parody. The horror-related backdrop accentuates the traits of the characters rather than re-characterize them, as they all possess their original personalities.
