Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy exchange witticisms at a ball while they turn gracefully on the dance floor. A few pages later, Elizabeth Bennet delivers a swift side-kick to the head of an attacking zombie.

Since when did Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen’s most famous heroine, start drop-kicking zombies? Ever since Seth Grahame Smith decided to re-tool “Pride and Prejudice” with the addition of (yes, you guessed it) zombies.”Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is a clever and contemporary re-interpretation of a classic text. Sometimes the only way into an old text is through modern re-interpretation.

Modern re-interpretations can unlock a text for readers. Re-interpreting a text can help us understand how an older text can speak to our contemporary world. Re-interpreting a text can lead readers back to the original with fresh eyes.
“We’ve been re-interpreting Shakespeare for 50 years,” said Associate Professor of English Heather Hayton. “Why not Austen?”

Zombies may seem like a strange way to re-interpret Austen. The combination is ridiculous enough to appear pointless, and for die-hard Austen purists it may seem sacrilegious.

There is more to the novel than meets the eye. Austen has long been considered an early form of “chick lit.” But I watched my 17-year-old brother (who has never read Austen) buy a copy of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” over the summer. According to Hayton, zombies might be a way of allowing Austen to appeal to both genders.

Hilarious incongruities can also comment on more serious subjects. Just think of the peasant in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” who lectures King Arthur on fair governance. Elizabeth Bennet fighting the undead is funny, but it’s also feminist. Miss Bennet doesn’t need to be rescued: her father taught her martial arts and musketry.

Ultimately, zombies are keeping Austen alive. “It (Pride and Prejudice) is a living document,” said Hayton. “The minute we forget that, it dies for real.”
Published this past April, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” has spent 31 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, and over 120,000 copies have been sold.

The novel, along with its companion, “Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters,” and the upcoming prequel “Dawn of the Dreadfuls,” might lead to more re-interpretations of classics in the public domain.

Love them or hate them, zombies are here to stay. Although I will always love the originals, I’m happy to mix a little blood, gore, and undead monsters with my favorite classics.