Irony in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Pride and Prejudice

Irony in soak and Prejudice Critics have examined Jane Austens novel, Pride and Prejudice, since its creation. In this novel, Austen uses and jeering to farm a masterpiece. Austen opens the novel with what appears to be a sarcastic sentence. She writes, IT is a rectitude universally acknowledged, that a single art object in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a married woman (Austen 5). Most readers think of this as humorous and quite laughable. It does not of necessity follow that a man with a large fortune is meddlesome for a wife. However, by the end of the commencement exercise page, the reader may occur himself asking, Was Austen being sarcastic or was she simply stating a fact? In Pride and Prejudice, the opening sentence is merely a fact. The text presents devil men with large fortunes. Moreover, the end of the novel unites both men of a good fortune with wives. Austen sealed their ends. What appears mere derision becomes ironic when maven realizes IT is a truth universally acknowledged. The first character to express banter and irony is Mr. Bennett. Austen brings forth the irony of her opening thesis in his sarcastic speech. The opening dialogue between Mr. Bennett and his wife is a worthy example. She comments on a man leasing a piece of property, Netherfield Park. Mr. Bennett shows very little stakes in her story. His disinterest perturbs her and she asks him if he wants to know who has rented the property. He replies You want to furcate me, and I have no objection to hearing it (5). She remarks that the man is a young man of large fortune (5). Aside from asking his name, the first thing Mr. Bennett wants to know about this man is Is he married or single? Oh single my dear, to be sure A single man of large... ...e seems like utter stupidity to the reader. Yet the most important irony is the irony between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. As the novel progresses, Darcy and Elizabeth put away their hook and prejudice to unite in m arriage. Also, Mr. Darcy mutates from the villain to the hero as Wickham goes from hero to villain. Finally, Austens use of authorial intrusion adds a final touch of sarcasm and irony that completes the novel. WORKS CITED Brower, Reuben A. Light and Bright and Sparkling Irony and allegory in Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. red-hot York W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 374-388. Mudrick, Marvin. Irony as Dicrimination Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 388-409. Wright, Andrew H. Feeling and Complexity in Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 410-420.