Pride and Prejudice | Humor in Pride and Prejudice

In the following essay, C. Cordero relates the many bits of humor in the novel, particularly Austen’s ironic and scathing treatment of specific characters, which help to clarify the major themes and make the work an enjoyable read.

Pride and Prejudice is an extremely funny novel, but most students miss the humor because of difficulty with the language. Close examination of Austen’s ironic and scathing treatment of specific characters and scenes in the novel not only helps to clarify the novel’s major themes, but also makes Pride and Prejudice an enjoyable experience.

The novel is sarcastic from its opening line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (1). This is obviously not true—as any major...

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