Irony and Social Commentary in Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Jane Auste

Irony and social commentary in compliment and PrejudiceLike any other society, nineteenth-century England had its share of foppish fools and fawning leeches, hot-blooded lovers and garrulous, gossiping women. While fewer plenty exhibitthese failings with abandonment, few escape their taint altogether. In the new(a) Pride andPrejudice, the author Jane Austen satirizes these instances of not social evils rather,unpleasant social peculiarities, via a most careful example of irony in the dialogues and thoughts ofsome of her most delightful citations. The main character indulging in this precious commodityis Mr. Bennet, whom Austen considers important enough that a razor-sharp wit forms anecessary part of his personality. The irony is in general exhibited in two ways a general ambiencethat results from a frequent use of satirical language (as for instance, the invariant use ofantithesis in the conversations) and brief but concentrated attacks by Mr. Bennet against allforms of da ftness inoffensive or otherwise. All the formulaic mannerisms affected by thepeople in his society as well as the social obligations that reach them become the target of Mr.Bennets criticism. However, it is clear that Mr. Bennet is real much a part of the society that heso right away despises. That he rests in making fun of it is what makes his ripostes so rife withincongruity.The novel contains a large array of conversations between different characters theseconversations are, in memory with the style that prevailed in that period, quite elaborate, indeedsometimes to the point of tedium. Austen portrays an placement of unflagging boredom in Mr.Bennet when confronted with such speeches, through his incessant ironic asides. T... ...eaning in these seemingly innocuous words, for the former implies prostitution and the last mentioned a dishonorable pregnancy with a bastard child. Given the lethal character of such fairlycommonplace gossip even among the presumptively respe ctable rural middle-class tis nowonder that Austen rallies against such a harmful form of frivolity.Austen therefore uses the difficult tool of irony to huge effect in portraying thefoolishness both harmful and harmless which afflicts most people. In doing so, sheeffectively delivers social commentary presumably for the settle of correcting these defects incharacter of her fellow Englishmen. Along the way, the reader is delightfully amused by thefools inhabiting Pride and Prejudice as well as the personalities that persist in denouncing it, ina manner that is at times much farcical than satirical.6