Irony

In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses irony extensively to express certain ideas indirectly and also to reveal the character’s personal traits. Austen uses verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony in the various chapters scattered around the novel.

Verbal irony is a type of irony in which the character says one thing, but means the other. There are many instances of verbal irony in this novel. Mr. Bennet is a character who uses verbal irony abundantly. Mr. Bennet’s first introduction portrays him as someone who loves to be sarcastic towards other characters’, especially his wife. He prides himself on being the most intelligent in the Bennet household, along with his daughter, Elizabeth Bennet. Talking about his daughters, Mr. Bennet says, “…they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters”(Austen 7). Mr. Bennet tends to talk to people who he doesn’t like in a very sarcastic tone. In the beginning of the book, there is a conversation with his wife. She is criticizing him for his lack of passion towards his kids and for having “…no compassion for my poor nerves” (Austen 7). He responds by saying, “ You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends.” Mr. Bennet is using verbal irony when he says that her nerves are his old friends. The word “friends” tends to be a positive word, but in this case he is using it to express his irritation, hatred towards her. Because of Mrs. Bennet’s lack of knowledge, she is unable to catch the verbal irony in her husband’s dialogue. Elizabeth Bennet follows in her father’s footsteps and uses verbal irony. Talking about Darcy she sarcastically says, “ I am perfectly convinced by ...

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...you, Miss Bennet. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased’" (Austen 347). Lady Catherine means her farewell to be very vulgar. Mrs. Bennet responds by saying, “She is a very fine-looking woman! And her calling here was prodigiously civil” (Austen 347). This response is a good sign of situational irony. We are expecting Mrs. Bennet to reply in a more appropriate manner. However, once again Mrs. Bennet proves her lack of intelligence by not catching the insults made by Lady Catherine.

Irony has many effects on a character or characters in a novel. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen separated the perceptive and witty characters, who were able to use irony and catch it within the dialogue of other characters, from those who weren’t able. Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth are adept at both using irony and catching it.