Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen in the early 19th century,

has long been regarded one of her greatest, and most enjoyable love

stories. It was indeed hailed as the 'greatest miracle of English

literature' by Reginald Farrer, and pronounced a 'timeless

masterpiece' by Sir Walter Scott, both of whom were distinguished

novel critics in her time. Through the novel, Austen harshly exposes

hypocrisy in certain aspects of Regency society. She expertly uses

various shades of satire through comical characters such as Mr Bennet

and Lady Catherine, to examine the corruption of the marriage market,

the pride and ineptitude of the ruling classes, and the mercenary of

the clergy. Possible two of the most celebrated satirised comical

characters in English literature, Mr Collins and Mrs Bennet will

always be remembered for exposing key negative aspects of Regency

Society. I will now go on to describe their development through the

novel, and exactly what aspects of her society Austen exposes through

them.

Perhaps the most comical character that Austen satirizes in the novel

is Mrs Bennet, who we see in all her foolishness and petulance

conversing with Mr Bennet in the opening chapter. Their dialogue

beautifully sums up the Bennet's characters, indeed making Austen's

ferocious authorial intervention at the end of the chapter

unnecessary. We can clearly see that Mr Bennet character, with its

quick parts, and pithy humour, is almost that of a professional

satirist, making him a most unnatural father. Mrs Bennet however,

speaks another language; her talk does not crackle with irony and

epigram; her ...

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clergyman is absolutely outrageous. I feel that, unlike with Mrs

Bennet, Austen is strongly and nastily criticizing Mr Collins and the

clergy of her time, using biting Juvenalean satire to convey her

message to the reader.

It is indeed 'a truth universally acknowledged' that the ebullience

and confident assurance of its comedy, combined with its fairy tale

gratifications, has made Pride and Prejudice the best known, and

possibly the best liked, of all the Jane Austen novels. Initially

called 'First Impressions', Pride and Prejudice brilliantly describes

the fusion between upper class and bourgeoisie society. In it Austen

flaunts beautifully her rare and uncanny ability to mock her

characters exaggerated faults, and in doing so, criticize many aspects

of the ostentatious and repressive world in which she lived.