Satire in Jane Austens Pride in Prejudice Essay - 3688 Words

Jane Austen’s Satirical Writing: Analyzing the Satire of Social Class Within Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice delves into the issue of why social standing in a society based solely on class should not be the most important thing when evaluating the worth of a person. Through several different literary techniques – such as letters and abundant focalizers – Austen conveys important information about key issues she has with the significance placed on social standing. The theme of class and social standing is echoed constantly throughout Austen’s novel in numerous ways, highlighting several aspects of the gentry that she distrusts. The entirety of the novel focuses mainly on the distances placed between characters†¦show more content†¦In assessing the weight that social standing has on the progression of the story in Pride and Prejudice, one can attain a great bit of insight into why specific characters act the way they do throughout the novel. The infamous Bingley sisters, for instance, are so attached to the idea of mater ial wealth that they fail to realize when their comments are unacceptable. Ms. Bingley herself, who is so attached to the idea that she is superior to Elizabeth in every way, cannot understand why Mr. Darcy could possibly find Elizabeth attractive in any sort of manner. It is her status-hungry and conceited personality that allows the audience to see the sheer difference between her and her brother, Mr. Charles Bingley. Unlike his sisters, he is not trying to climb up the social hierarchy to gain status and power; instead, he shows a gentler, more levelheaded side to the gentry as he falls in love with Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane. It is characters with personalities and ideals like Mr. Bingley’s that Austen revered and trusted above all others. Curiously enough, however, the hardheaded Mr. Darcy, who is very aware of his social standing, is the one character in the novel who goes through the most drastic personality change. Though Elizabeth Bennet had the positive, clever and levelheaded personality that Austen herself may have had when dealing with the social mobility of her time, it is insteadShow MoreRelatedClass In Pride And Prejudice Analysis844 Words   |  4 Pagesembodies† (17). Yet, while Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice sets out to challenge societal misgivings, it also suggests hints at a reinforcement of a patriarchal and capitalistic hierarchy. Therefore, one must ask if Austen’s work is readily attempting to challenge society and transform it to match the more feminine and self-aware conceptions presented in the text through its protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and her experience. Ultimately, does Austen in Pride and Prejudice reinforce or challenge ‘class’Read More Comparing S atire in Canterbury Tales, Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock1351 Words   |  6 PagesUse of Satire in Canterbury Tales, Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock Jane Austen and Alexander Pope had had a myriad of writing styles and techniques from which to express the desired themes of their works.   Satire, however, seemed to be the effective light-hearted, yet condescending, tool that enabled them to surface the faults and follies of their moral and elite society.   In Chaucers Canterbury Tales, satire is used to the full extent in revealing the glutton within a piousRead MoreSatire Of Being Earnest And Jane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1533 Words   |  7 PagesNineteenth century European society was characterized by organized religion and a rigid class system. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice use satire to reveal faults in these elements of society. Many of Wilde’s criticisms of society are provoked by his closeted homosexuality. He portrays religion as a restricting, meaningless convention and depicts the aristocratic class as a hypocritical and unempatheti c lot. Austen similarly finds faults in theseRead MoreNorthanger Abbey as a Precursor to Pride and Prejudice Essay1614 Words   |  7 PagesJane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is frequently described as a novel about reading—reading novels and reading people—while Pride and Prejudice is said to be a story about love, about two people overcoming their own pride and prejudices to realize their feelings for each other. If Pride and Prejudice is indeed about how two stubborn youth have misjudged each other, then why is it that this novel is so infrequently viewed to be connected to Austen’s original novel about misjudgment and reading one’s fellowsRead More Essay on Pride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism1398 Words   |  6 PagesPride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism       To a great extent, Jane Austen satirizes conventional romantic novels by inverting the expectations of love at first sight and the celebration of passion and physical attractiveness, and criticizing their want of sense. However, there are also elements of conventional romance in the novel, notably, in the success of Jane and Bingleys love.    The first indication of Austens inversion of accepted romantic conventionsRead MoreNontraditional Women in Jane Austen ´s Pride and Prejudice Essay983 Words   |  4 Pages19th century, these women express attitudes that deviate from the typical stereotype. Pride and Prejudice offers Jane Austen’s take on the traditional 19th century woman through indirect characterization, tonal elements, and heavy satire and irony to portray the idea that flawed women (in the 19th century sense) hold the key to success. Charlotte Lucas, the rational, plain often overlooked character in Austen’s novel is one of these nontraditional women. She is older than many of the central charactersRead MoreJane Austen: Pride and Prejudice 1086 Words   |  5 PagesJane Austen, born December 16, 1775, was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction earned her a place as one of the most widely read authors in English literature. Austen’s novels critique the life of the second half of the eighteenth century and are part of the transition to nineteenth-century realism. Though her novels were by no means autobiographical, her fictional characters do shed light on the facts of her life and but more importantly, they offered aspiring writers a model of howRead MorePride and Prejudice: Exploring the Chasm Between Love and Marriage in Georgian England1675 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, is a novel which explores the huge chasm between love and marriage in Georgian England. Jane Austen’s presentation of passion and matrimony reiterates the fact that marriage is a â€Å"business arrangement†. Austen uses irony to make fun of polite society in this satire and Austen also emphasizes the point that social hierarchy dictates whom you can marry. The pressures of men and women in Georgian England are revealed through her exploration of the aristocracy’s prejudice againstRead MoreIrony in Pride and Prejudice995 Words   |  4 PagesIrony in Pride and Prejudice Irony forms the alma mater of Jane Austen’s novels. Likewise, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† is steeped in irony of theme, situation, character, and narration. Austen uses it to establish the contrast between appearance and reality. As one examines â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, one discovers the ironic significance of how pride leads to prejudice and prejudice invites pride. Importantly, the novel elucidates how both â€Å"Pride† and â€Å"Prejudice† have their corresponding virtues bound upRead More Essay on the Irony of Pride in Pride and Prejudice1262 Words   |  6 Pagesof Pride in Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚  Ã‚   Jane Austen uses the elements of both pride and prejudice to develop the satire in her novel. Austen presents pride as both a vice and a virtue. Austen first introduces pride as a vice of arrogance and prejudice, but as the characters in the novel develop so does the concept of pride. Towards the end of the novel pride becomes the vehicle for many of the noble actions taken by the main characters. Austen skillfully interweaves the two parts of pride, the