Pride & Prejudice & Slash Fiction 2026 (IG Post).png
Pride & Prejudice & Slash Fiction 2026 (IG Post).png

Pride & Prejudice & Slash Fiction

from $250.00
Tuition Level:

In this 7-week virtual class, participants will read and discuss Jane Austen’s novel Pride & Prejudice, paying special attention to how Austen builds the novel’s central love story. Then, in the tradition of ”slash fiction,” or fan fiction where characters are romantically paired off with characters other than the ones they fell for in the original text, we will imagine new stories for characters who never got a happily ever after from Austen. We will celebrate the strengths of Pride & Prejudice’s uniquely potent love story and then, following its example, try to create equally effective love stories showcasing types of love, and types of lovers, that Austen’s text overlooks.

Each week, we’ll take a different neglected character from the text and imagine a love story for them– how could self-definition through conflict help Caroline Bingley find her One True Pairing? Could better insight into his own shortcomings turn Mr. Collins into a worthy partner? Each person will have time during class to sketch out their idea, and then we’ll all come back together to discuss what we’ve made, and how it’s changed our understanding of the source material. For inspiration and further discussion, we will also watch the 2022 movie Fire Island, a brilliant modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in New York’s premiere gay vacation spot. Through this combination of rigorous close-reading and mischievous re-invention, I believe your relationship to the text will become both deeper and more personal.

If you already love Pride & Prejudice, this is your chance to shout about it. If you have never read the book, this class will be an ideal way to encounter it for the first time. I may not be able to shelter new readers from all spoilers, but they will be able to participate fully in the class and, I hope, really enjoy themselves. No one is required to know the text deeply or consider it faultless— you just need to believe that it is worthy of serious engagement.

If you would like to be a part of this class, but the cost is prohibitive for you, shoot me an email and I should be able to set you up with either a discount or a payment plan, whichever better suits your needs. Scroll down for further information about the class structure and schedule, missing class, materials needed, and how to reach out with any additional questions.

In this 7-week virtual class, participants will read and discuss Jane Austen’s novel Pride & Prejudice, paying special attention to how Austen builds the novel’s central love story. Then, in the tradition of ”slash fiction,” or fan fiction where characters are romantically paired off with characters other than the ones they fell for in the original text, we will imagine new stories for characters who never got a happily ever after from Austen. We will celebrate the strengths of Pride & Prejudice’s uniquely potent love story and then, following its example, try to create equally effective love stories showcasing types of love, and types of lovers, that Austen’s text overlooks.

Each week, we’ll take a different neglected character from the text and imagine a love story for them– how could self-definition through conflict help Caroline Bingley find her One True Pairing? Could better insight into his own shortcomings turn Mr. Collins into a worthy partner? Each person will have time during class to sketch out their idea, and then we’ll all come back together to discuss what we’ve made, and how it’s changed our understanding of the source material. For inspiration and further discussion, we will also watch the 2022 movie Fire Island, a brilliant modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in New York’s premiere gay vacation spot. Through this combination of rigorous close-reading and mischievous re-invention, I believe your relationship to the text will become both deeper and more personal.

If you already love Pride & Prejudice, this is your chance to shout about it. If you have never read the book, this class will be an ideal way to encounter it for the first time. I may not be able to shelter new readers from all spoilers, but they will be able to participate fully in the class and, I hope, really enjoy themselves. No one is required to know the text deeply or consider it faultless— you just need to believe that it is worthy of serious engagement.

If you would like to be a part of this class, but the cost is prohibitive for you, shoot me an email and I should be able to set you up with either a discount or a payment plan, whichever better suits your needs. Scroll down for further information about the class structure and schedule, missing class, materials needed, and how to reach out with any additional questions.

  • For the first 6 weeks of the class, you’ll have 6-9 chapters of Pride & Prejudice to read for each weekly class. Our final class will focus on the book as a whole and the modern film adaptation Fire Island.

    In addition to class time, there will also be an optional group viewing party for Fire Island on Sunday, November 1st, at 8pm ET.

    If you cannot join the group viewing party, you will simply want to find time before the final class (Tuesday, November 3rd) to watch the movie on your own.

    Each class session will be broken out as follows:

    • 15 minutes of introductory comments by Margaret

    • 20 minutes of small group discussion

    • 15 minutes of large group discussion

    • 10 minute break

    • 15 minute individual writing exercise

    • 20 minutes of small group discussion

    • 20 minutes of large group discussion

    • 10 minutes of wrap-up / information sharing for next week’s class

  • All seven class sessions will be recorded and made available to participants to watch or re-watch on their own time. If your schedule necessitates you missing all or part of any classes, we totally understand, and just appreciate a head’s up if possible.

    If the class schedule simply does not work for you, you are welcome to consume the class through these recordings alone, but you will miss out on the small group discussion portions.

    I will create a channel in our class Discord where folks who miss class can coordinate with others who may have missed class to arrange independent group discussions.

  • A copy of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice to read (or listen to, if you prefer!).

    For in-class discussions, we will use the Standard E-Books free edition of Pride & Prejudice as our common reference.

    In addition, you will need a computer with a strong enough internet connection to support a streaming meeting and a Zoom account to access our classes.

    Lastly, we will be using Discord as a space for discussion between class sessions and during our group viewing parties, so being willing to create an account with Discord and make use of it will be a large benefit to the class, although not a requirement.

  • As stipulated at the end of the class description, I do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone attending the class. If you would like to participate, but $250 is beyond your means, please email me and we will work out a partial or full scholarship to make your participation possible.

  • If you have any questions these sections have failed to address, please feel free to email me and I will try to respond to you as quickly as possible.