Of all the novels that Jane Austen has written, critics consider Pride and Prejudice to be
the most comical. Humor can be found everywhere in the book; in it's character descriptions,
imagery, but mostly in it's conversations between characters. Her novels were not only her way
of entertaining people but it was also a way to express her opinions and views on what
surrounded her and affected her. Her novels were like editorials. Austen uses a variety of
comic techniques to express her own view on characters, both in her book and in her society
that she lived in. We, the readers are often the object of her ridicule, and Austen makes the
readers view themselves in a way which makes it easy for the reader to laugh at themselves. She
introduces caricatures and character foils to further show how ridiculous a character may be.
Pride and Prejudice has many character foils to exaggerate a characters faults or traits.
Austen
also uses irony quite often to inform the readers on her own personal opinions. The comic
techniques caricatures, irony, and satire, not only helped to provide humor for Austen's readers,
but they also helped Austen to give her own personal opinion on public matters.
When an action is exaggerated on stage by an actor, it becomes all the more noticeable
to the audience. An author can exaggerate a character in order to make fun of them. Austen
exaggerates many of her characters and therefore makes caricatures of them in order to
emphasize their ridiculousness. Mrs. Bennet is such a character. Her extremely unpleasant
manner and reactions causes readers to delight in the situations which Mrs. Bennet places herself
into. Mrs. Bennet's harsh tongue and simple mind causes the reader to laugh, because it is so
exaggerated that the reader thinks...
Good job
You've hit upon the central themes of the novel quite well; both irony and satire comprise most of the stylistic techniques that have distinguished Austen's writings. One thing: Austen was not commenting on the tendency of the masses to harbor public opinion, as you've explained it, but on social propriety in general. The expected prerequisites and absurd behavior of the aristocracy that Austen satirizes are what created such a scathing criticsm of 19th century society. Overall though, good job.
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