In her novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses several literary strategies to emphasize her point that both pride and prejudice act as road blocks and get in the way of relationships. Austen proves this point through the use of: dialogue, foreshadowing, and irony.
One literary technique that Austen uses to suggest that both pride and prejudice act as road blocks and get in the way of relationships is dialogue. For example, when Darcy first notices Elizabeth, he states, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me." (Austen 8). Here, Austen is using dialogue to prove how Darcy is portraying his pride and prejudice and displaying his arrogant sense of social superiority and distaste for the inferior world. This is what prevents Darcy from finding his way to Elizabeth. In this quotation, Darcy, who is the full embodiment of pride and prejudice, is speaking to his friend Mr. Bingley at a ball at the exact moment that he spots Elizabeth for the first time.
English: Back View of Jane Austen, Watercolor
English: Français : Une gravure de 1833 illustran...
Lady Catherine confronts Elizabeth about Darcy, on...Here, he says that Elizabeth is not beautiful enough for him to go over and socialize with or even dance with.
Moreover, dialogue is used to suggest that both pride and prejudice get in the way of relationships. Similarly, when Elizabeth is speaking to Wickham, her pride and prejudice causes her to misjudge Darcy also. Elizabeth states, "Can having such abominable pride as his have ever done him good?" (Austen 70). In this quotation, Austen is using dialogue to show that Elizabeth recognizes Darcy's pride, and it is her pride and prejudice that makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression. Similarly, at the beginning of the novel, Elizabeth had distaste for Darcy because of his condescending nature towards her because of her inferior social class, but now as...