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Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

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Irony and Satire in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Summary:

Irony and satire are central to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Dramatic irony arises when characters are unaware of information that readers know, such as Mrs. Bennet's obliviousness to her own absurdity. Situational irony occurs when outcomes differ from expectations, like Lady Catherine's interference inadvertently encouraging Elizabeth and Darcy's union. Verbal irony, including sarcasm, is evident throughout, notably in Mr. Bennet's remarks. Austen employs satire to critique social norms, especially through characters like Lady Catherine, highlighting the absurdity of class distinctions.

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What are examples of dramatic and situational irony in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

Dramatic irony is created when the audience or readers know more than the characters do.  Mrs. Bennet, often, does not understand that her behavior is completely inappropriate or that she is an object of ridicule and disdain; these moments are examples of dramatic irony.  For example, when Mr. Darcy suggests that the company the Bennets keep in the country is not as varied as what one finds in London, Elizabeth insists that people have a tendency to change so much that there is always something new to see in them. Moreover, Mrs. Bennet responds in such a way as to indicate that she was "offended by his manner of mentioning a country neighborhood."  After her outburst, Mr. Darcy silently turns away.  Mrs. Bennet "fancied she had gained a complete victory over him [and] continued her triumph," then went on to say that the Bennets dined with twenty-four local...

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families, an apparently abysmally small number as "nothing but concern for Elizabeth could enable Bingley to keep his countenance."  His sister, however, is less discrete.  Mrs. Bennet does not comprehend her own rudeness or the fact that she has made herself and her family appear provincial in front of their guests.  She thinks she is "victorious" when she is really only ridiculous.

Situational irony is created when what we expect to happen differs from what actually happens.  For example, when Mrs. Bennet is discussing the Lucas girls with Mr. Bingley, she says, 

"It is a pity they are not handsome!  Not that I think Charlotte is so very plain—but then she is our particular friend."

Then, in the next moment, when Mr. Bingley compliments Charlotte Lucas's personality, Mrs. Bennet is quick to say, 

"Oh! dear, yes [she is pleasant]; — but you must own she is very plain."

Now, given Mrs. Bennet's defense of Charlotte's looks, as well as her pointed proclamation that Charlotte is such a good friend of the family's, one would not expect—in her very next speech—to hear her insult Charlotte; therefore, when she does, the reality differs from expectation and situational irony is created.  We can assume she only insults Charlotte because she wishes to contrast Charlotte's looks with her own daughter's (Jane) beauty in the next line.  It makes Mrs. Bennet look quite insincere.

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While dramatic irony is a classification of situational irony, along with tragic irony, and Socratic irony, the difference is that in dramatic irony the words of characters come back to haunt them, whereas situational irony involves a turn of events in the plot.

In Pride and Prejudice, an example of dramatic irony can be seen when Elizabeth begins to reproach herself after reading Darcy's letter. When Darcy proposes to her, she lays out many accusations about his treatment of her sister and his treatment of Wickham, concluding that he is a prideful and detestable man. After reading his letter, she is forced to eat her words and realizes that all of her accusations stemmed from prejudicial judgement of his character. She calls the realization a "humiliating discovery" that she considers "just" because she had been blinded by Wickham's story and blinded by what she perceived to be Darcy's pride (Ch. 13, Vol. 2).

An example of situational irony would  be Lady Catherine de Bourgh's attempted interference in Elizabeth's engagement to Darcy. Lady Catherine condescends to visit Longbourn with the sole desire of telling Elizabeth that she is not worthy of marrying Darcy and demanding that she promise not to accept his marriage proposal. The irony is that Lady Catherine makes this visit just when Elizabeth is wondering what Darcy thinks of her, believing that he no longer cares for her (Ch. 12, Vol. 3). The further irony is that Lady Catherine's visit, contrary to Lady Catherine's desires, leads Elizabeth to hope, even just a little, that Darcy still does care, because Lady Catherine would not have condescended to visit if she had not genuinely heard that Darcy meant to propose (Ch. 15, Vol. 3). Yet there is even more irony in this situation because Elizabeth's refusal to promise Lady Catherine never to accept Darcy's proposal actually gave him his first instance of hope that Elizabeth now cares for him because if Elizabeth still detested him, Darcy knew that she would not hesitate to say so, even to Lady Catherine. As Darcy states, "It taught me to hope...as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before" (Ch. 16, Vol. 3). Hence, in two respects, Lady Catherine's visit did exactly the opposite of what she intended to do.

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What quotes show satire in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice can certainly be considered satirical, especially a work of indirect satire, which uses irony and exaggeration in order to criticize any "stupidity or vice" (Dr. Wheeler, "Literary Terms and Definitions"). Jane Austen can certainly be considered a social critic of her time, and one of the social circumstances she criticizes and satirizes in Pride and Prejudice is the typical behavior of the noble class.

Austen uses her characterization of Lady Catherine de Bourgh to satirize the behavior of the noble class. We especially see Lady Catherine's satirical characterization expressed in Mr. Collins's absurd admiration of her and her treatment of him. As he phrases it, "He had never in his life witnessed such behaviour in a person of rank--such affability and condescension, as he had himself experienced from Lady Catherine" (Ch. 14). Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet would see irony in Mr. Collins's comment because no dignified human being, regardless of rank, should be "condescended" to. Therefore, Mr. Collins's characterization of Lady Catherine is ironic and a perfect example of satire.  

We further see Lady Catherine being satirized in her treatment of Elizabeth. The best moment is when Lady Catherine ventures to Longbourn to make Elizabeth promise she will never enter into an engagement with Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine's argument is that Elizabeth is not equal to Darcy. As she states, Darcy is "descended, on the maternal side, from {a] noble line; and, on the father's, from respectable, honourable, and ancient--though untitled--families" (Ch. 56).  Elizabeth, on the other hand, though a gentleman's daughter, on her mother's side is a descendant of the merchant class. This heritage is not good enough for Lady Catherine and she further tells Elizabeth that if she "were sensible of [her] own good, [she] would not wish to quit the sphere in which [she has] been brought up," meaning, that she would not have the ambition to marry outside of her class (Ch. 56). Austen best portrays how she views Lady Catherine's thoughts on family line and ambition to be absurd and ironic with Elizabeth's response, "He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal" (Ch. 56). Hence, we see that Austen is using Lady Catherine's views on class equality to satirize the ridiculous notions of the noble class. Elizabeth is very obviously equal to Darcy, regardless of her mother's lineage.

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What are examples of irony in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

There are three different types of irony: dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. All types of irony are a contrast between what's literally expected and what actually happens. Dramatic irony is achieved when the audience or reader understands more about what is happening as a result of the action than a character understands at the time (Kansas State University, "Critical Concepts: Dramatic Irony"). Situational irony is achieved when the audience is led to believe something else will happen as a result of a situation than what actually happens ("Critical Concepts: Situational Irony"). Verbal irony is the most common and can also be called either sarcasm or facetiousness. Verbal irony is achieved when a person says something that literally means one thing but the speaker means to imply the exact opposite.  Dr. Baker of Kansas State University gives us the example of a mother saying to her son in reference to his television viewing, "When you're finished with your serious studies there [television viewing], maybe we could take some time out for recreation and do a little math" ("Critical Concepts: Verbal Irony").

We can certainly see all uses of irony throughout Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. One example of verbal irony can actually be seen in the very first sentence of the book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." We can clearly hear the facetiousness, meaning non-literal and humorous tone, in the sentence because it is certainly not true that a man wants to marry simply because he has a fortune; therefore, it is certainly not a "truth universally acknowledged." Austen particularly uses hyperbole, meaning exaggeration, to build the verbal irony expressed in this sentence.

We can see dramatic irony created as the relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth begins to develop. There are several moments early in the novel in which it is very clear to the reader Mr. Darcy is beginning to feel attracted to Elizabeth, such as when he comments on her "fine eyes"; yet Elizabeth sees all of his remarks to her as being antagonistic. Hence, Darcy's proposal comes as a surprise to Elizabeth, but the reader isn't at all surprised.

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One could argue that the biggest irony in Pride and Prejudice is that two people who seemed so completely incompatible—Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy—end up falling in love and getting married.

For much of the story this seemed like an unlikely outcome, to say the least. The brooding, aloof figure of Mr. Darcy always seemed far too proud to marry beneath himself. He was pretty scathing about the Bennets, seeing them as frightfully vulgar and ill-bred, certainly not the kind of family he'd want to marry into. And yet, miraculously, he's able to put aside his overweening pride and realize that Lizzie is the woman for him, whatever his sniffy relatives may think.

As for Elizabeth she has somehow been able to overcome her prejudice in marrying Darcy. She always saw him as such a proud, disdainful individual. Though rich and handsome, his snobbishness was always a major turn-off for her. And when the scheming Mr. Wickham starts telling tales about Darcy, Lizzie is only too ready to believe his lies.

Yet she too is able, by a remarkable series of events, to overcome her preconceptions. On the face of it, this is no less ironic than Mr. Darcy's own quite remarkable transformation.

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What are examples of irony and foreshadowing in Pride and Prejudice?

In Pride and Prejudice, one very large irony is that while Elizabeth was being dismissive toward Darcy and while she believed he was being mercilessly critical of her, he was actually falling in love with her and then, despite his understanding of superiority of position and wealth, he had no emotional or personal choice but to break down and (badly) propose marriage to her. Another irony is that while on holiday with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner hoping to forget about Darcy, she encounters him at his own home, to which he has returned suddenly without notice. This led to another great irony in that Darcy became involved in searching for and saving Lydia, who, ironically wouldn't have been in danger if he had disclosed Wickham's true nature.

Foreshadowing appears in the encounter between Darcy and Wickham, which opens the gate to conflict and conflict resolution involving an uncomfortable alliance between the two men. Another instance of foreshadowing occurs when Darcy praises the virtues of a fine pair of eyes on the occasion of Elizabeth's journey to Bingley's estate to see Jane, who is stricken with illness, thus foreshadowing Darcy's growing love of Elizabeth.

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How does irony reveal turning points in Pride and Prejudice?

First, some simple definitions. Verbal irony is when you say one thing but mean another. Situational irony is when you do something that has a result other than what you intended. Dramatic irony is when the full meaning of a situation is clear to the audience, but not to the characters. 

There are plenty of examples of all three in "Pride and Prejudice."

An important turning point in the book, and an example of dramatic irony, occurs at the ball when Elizabeth overhears Darcy say that there are no women there that can tempt him to dance, and says of Elizabeth herself that "she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." (Ch 3). Darcy does not know Elizabeth has heard him, but we readers know that his remarks will prejudice her against him.

There are many examples of verbal irony in the novel. Mr Bennet is a master of the ironic cut. One thinks of his remark to Mary, when she is about to start singing another song: "That will do extremely well, child. You have delighted us long enough." (Ch. 16) Or his remark in Chapter fourteen to Mr Collins, who has been congratulating himself on his skill at flattery: "It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy." In both cases, Mr Bennet appears to be paying a compliment, but really means the reverse. 

How one defines a "turning point" in the novel is of course open to interpretation. To me, often the small moments are points that have the most significance. For example, in Chapter 31, Elizabeth begins to tease Darcy about his ill behavior at the ball (he still doesn't know she heard what he said), and Darcy responds with a bit of verbal irony, worth quoting at length:

“You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me."

"I shall not say you are mistaken," he replied, "because you could not really believe me to entertain any design of alarming you; and I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know that you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which in fact are not your own."

Elizabeth laughed heartily at this picture of herself, and said to Colonel Fitzwilliam, "Your cousin will give you a very pretty notion of me, and teach you not to believe a word I say. I am particularly unlucky in meeting with a person so able to expose my real character, in a part of the world where I had hoped to pass myself off with some degree of credit. Indeed, Mr. Darcy, it is very ungenerous in you to mention all that you knew to my disadvantage in Hertfordshire—and, give me leave to say, very impolitic too—for it is provoking me to retaliate, and such things may come out as will shock your relations to hear."

"I am not afraid of you," said he, smilingly.

This is the point where Darcy shows that he is intensely drawn to Elizabeth, perhaps against his better judgement. His statement, "I am not afraid of you," is ironic, because, of course, he is afraid of her, not of any secrets she might reveal, but of his attraction to her. It is also worth noting that unlike Mr Bennet, whose irony is always directed at others, Darcy makes himself the butt of his joke.

Situational irony comes into play when Darcy finally does go against his scruples and proposes to Elizabeth in Chapter 34. He fully expects his proposal to be accepted, yet the manner of his proposal, in which he dwells on "his sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles" which he would have to overcome, has exactly the opposite effect: they argue, and ultimately she says “You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner." Darcy is crushed by this rebuke, but it does cause him to do some soul searching.  

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