Writing Lessons from Jane Austen: Cause and Effect in Pride and Prejudice

Today’s post is by book coach Robin Henry.

As you are no doubt aware, dear reader, 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. It’s worth taking a moment to think about what makes her novels stand the test of time.

In my work with writers who are revising, we focus on six pillars of revision: Story Question, Structure, Cause and Effect, Character, Curiosity, and Language. In the first part of this series, we looked at how Austen used Story Questions in Northanger Abbey. In the second, we focused on the Structure of Sense and Sensibility.

We now turn to what is probably the gateway drug for Janeites everywhere: Pride and Prejudice, in which we will discuss Cause and Effect and why they matter in a novel.

Pride and Prejudice is many fans’ favorite of her novels and its plot has been adapted freely in both novels and films. If you’ve ever read an “enemies to lovers” themed romance novel, you might consider Pride and Prejudice as one of the earliest incarnations of this trope. Austen’s work is never only about the romance, though. She is also commenting on class, society, money, and female agency in a way that is frequently hidden beneath a layer of irony not to be missed by her readers, whom she considered intelligent. When writing to Cassandra, she commented about the process of writing P&P that “I do not write for such dull elves as have not a great deal of ingenuity themselves.” (Letter XL, Chawton, Friday, January 29, 1813).

Many 19th-century novels have fallen by the wayside, while Austen continues to draw new readers and admirers every year. Much of her appeal may be understood in the way she built her plots. They have a structure that still works for the modern reader and they also have a logical, cause and effect chain to keep the reader engaged and invested all the way through the novel. As readers, we want to predict what will happen and then find out whether we are right or wrong. We don’t mind being wrong, as long as there is logic behind it.

According to Pixar’s fourth rule of storytelling, the plot events are relayed using a sort of fill-in-the-blank form. To aid our analysis, I have filled in the blanks with our events of choice.

• Once upon a time (STASIS)
• Until one day (INCITING INCIDENT)
• Because of that (COMPLICATIONS)
• Because of that (MIDPOINT)
• Because of that (CRISIS)
• Because of that (CLIMAX)
• Until finally, (RESOLUTION)

Now, let’s fill in the blanks with the events from Pride and Prejudice:

• Once upon a time there was a girl with four sisters. Her older sister was the beautiful one, but she was clever and liked to be seen as clever, especially by her father. She had not yet met anyone whom she could esteem enough to marry, but she wasn’t worried. She had plenty of time. Her mother was worried, though. (Stasis)
• Until one day, the local manor, Netherfield, was let at last. Her mother began scheming to get all five sisters up to the house to meet whatever gentlemen might be there. Lizzie liked to dance, so she went, happy to spend time with her friend Charlotte and meet new people. Although her beautiful sister met the man of her dreams, Lizzie overheard another man, a tall proud one, say that his friend had danced with the only tolerable local girl at the party. She was hurt, and this made her determined to dislike the tall proud man. (Inciting Incident)
• Because of that, she went out of her way to annoy him at every opportunity. She skewered him with her wit, thinking to wound his pride. She was especially ready to believe gossip when it was told to her by someone who had known the man in his youth, and what is more, she repeated this to her family, without taking the time to make out the character of the teller. (Complications)
• Because of that, the man, far from being repulsed by her attempts to take him down a peg, found that he was attracted to an intelligent woman who challenged him to do better—to make an effort to be more friendly, to practice conversation and dancing. So, he proposes to her, and is astonished when she declines, citing among his failings the fact that he has separated her sister from his friend and repeats the gossip told her by his enemy. (Midpoint)
• Because of that, the tall proud man writes her a letter, in which he explains himself and reveals that the gossip she has been told is a fabrication by his enemy, whom he relates is a rake of the worst kind—even going so far as to confide in her about a private, and potentially damning, close call with his own sister. (still the midpoint)
• Because of that, the girl goes home, somewhat chastised, but still certain she has done right to refuse him. She is invited and decides to go on a trip with her aunt and uncle, in order to get away from her scheming mama and perhaps her own thoughts. On this trip, she visits his home and meets his housekeeper who speaks only very highly of him—a new perspective. He shows up and in the comfort of familiar surroundings is more affable and charming than he has been before, at least in her eyes. Or is it the grand house? Who knows. Anyway, she is in the process of changing her opinion of him when she receives dreadful news from home. The rake has seduced her own younger sister, and the whole family is in an uproar. She must return to help and see what might be done. She is not surprised that he hurries away. (Crisis)
• Because of that, after her arrival at home, when the remaining daughters receive word that the matter has been dealt with, she is relieved not to be ruined, but also regrets that perhaps she was wrong in her estimation of the tall proud man. However, it is too late. But then she finds out that the tall proud man had a hand in making sure her sister married the rake and therefore ensuring that she and her other sisters would not be ruined. He also brings his friend back to her beautiful sister as a peace offering. (Climax)
• Because of that, when Lady Catherine shows up to tell her not to accept her nephew, the tall proud man, she refuses and wonders if there might be hope. There is! The tall proud man repeats his offer and she accepts. It remains only to convince her papa that he is not the villain she had made him out to be. Wedding bells all around. (Resolution)

Obviously, a lot of the plot is left out, but notice how each event causes the next one, which causes the next one. It is true that the characters make decisions, but their decisions have consequences that lead to the next event in the plot. Without the logical connection, the reader would find the story unrealistic and possibly not want to keep reading. With the logical connection, we want to see what will happen next. Will the character make choice A or choice B? When they do, what will happen?

Take a look at your own plot. Does it maintain a logical connection between plot events? Does each event lead to the next? Or are the plot points like satellites or just a bunch of stuff that happens without a causal connection? Try the exercises below to test it out.

Exercises

1. List your plot events in a cause and effect chain. Event 1—because of that—event 2, and so on. Is it logical? See whether the events flow naturally as a consequence of previous events and decisions, or if there gaps or leaps without clear causes. If there is a clear cause and effect sequence, great! If not, fill the gaps; create the logic for your story.
2. Make a list of the big decisions your main character makes that drive the plot. Do all of these decisions reflect your character’s goals and motivations? Do they make logical sense for your character as stakes escalate? If yes, fantastic! If not, how can you line up the character with her decisions?

Robin Henry

Robin Henry is a lifelong Jane Austen fan and Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach. Writers work with her to craft compelling fiction that readers crave.

See more of her writing about Jane Austen here and here.

Find more book reviews and posts about writing at https://readerly.net