How Does Jane Austen Use Satire In Pride And Prejudice

Jane Austen used two literary devices, irony and satire, to poke fun on the accepted standards of community of England during early nineteenth century in her novel Pride and Prejudice. These devices make this research paper important because it highlights the inequalities and flaws of pre-Victorian era. Basically, the purpose is to mock the ignorance and stupidity of people in a humorous way, because the irony or satire is very “subtle to a fault”. (Conrad) It emphasize on satire, also called as Horatian satire, and irony which may be confined my investigations to reveal realities that will make a sense that Jane Austen’s satire is very subtle, not like Jonathan Swift’s Juvenalian satire. By using light-hearted satire and irony, the questions

are raised that; is these devices only focussed on the silliness of the expectations of women or is Jane Austen ridiculed men also? Is the use of these devices meant to be comedic or is there any moral purpose? Is Jane Austen used hyperbole or understatement to poke fun on human’s social inequalities? Although considerable research has been devoted to the criticism on social conventions (a topic arises from above questions) that will prove through the use of Karl Marx theory, Socialist Realism, rather less attention has been paid to show the connection of Pride and Prejudice with The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. My objective is to highlight that connection that is very obvious. To some extent Jane Austen imitate the use of wit and irony that Chaucer used to portray the silliness
Literature Review
Satire and irony are the most important components of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to make this novel an example of morality and comedy. A critic, Jan Fergus, remarks that Pride and Prejudice is a “didactic comedy of judgment, a comedy which implicates and educates the reader’s critical judgement while relentlessly poking fun at it.”(90)