How many type of Irony used in Pride and Prejudice? A Short Note on; Pride and Prejudice as Ironic novel \ Irony in Pride and Prejudice

Irony in Pride and Prejudice

Why, where and when she uses?

How many types of irony are used in pride and prejudice?

Irony is the contrast between appearance and reality. Irony is the very soul of Jane Austen’s novels and great deal of Austen’s wit is actually seen through the use of irony. In “Pride and Prejudice”, we see three types of irony; verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony.

The use of ¹verbal irony particularly expresses Austen’s use of wit. Verbal irony is usually recognized as sarcasm (mockery, cynicism). It is the moment when character or narrator says one thing but meaning is complete opposite. One perfect example of verbal irony can be seen in the very opening statement of the novel; “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”. As Dorothy Van Ghent remarks that what we read in it is opposite – a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune. It also sets and foreshadows the narrative tone and humor in the novel.

²Situational irony describes a moment when something occurs and the exact opposite was expected to occur. This we see During the party, when Bingley asks Darcy to dance with Elizabeth, he refuses to dance with her with insulting remark; “she is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me…” But soon after, he gets captivated by her charming eyes and in the next party wishes to dance with her. Moreover, Elizabeth tells Mr. Collins that she is not the type to reject the first proposal and accept the second but does exactly this when Darcy proposes second time. In addition, Collins proposes to Elizabeth when her heart is full of full of Wickham and Darcy proposes to her when she hates him most.

³Dramatic irony occurs when the reader is aware of something that the characters have no idea of. It is also called the irony in character. It is even more prominent than irony of situation. For example, it is ironical that Elizabeth who prides herself on her perception and scorns Jane’s blindness to the realities, is herself blinded by her prejudice. More, Bingley’s sisters hate the Bennets for their vulgarity but are themselves vulgar in their behavior. Jane Austen portrayed such characters for the amusement and moral education of the readers.

Anyhow, Austen did not show any cynicism or bitterness in using her irony to draw satirical portraits of whims and follies. Rather her irony can be termed comic. She uses irony to shake her major figures of their self-deception and to expose the hypocrisy, absurdity and insanity of some of her minor figures. Andrew H Wright rightly points out that irony in her hand is “the instrument of a moral vision”.

(448 words)

SHARE

Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•