Elements of Wit, Humor, and Irony in Pride and Prejudice BY Jane Austen prepared by Khandoker Mufakkher Hossain

1. Pride and Prejudice
BY
Jane Austen

2. Elements of Wit,
Humor, and Irony in
Pride and Prejudice

3. The Novel, Pride and Prejudice
has been considered to be the
best of Jane Austen’s novels.

4. Jane Austen has written only six novels
in her short life but most of her novels
have been successful in drawing the
attention of the readers because of their
intrinsic qualities.

5. Somerset Mangham has
commented on the unique
importance of the novel in the
following line in his critical book,
Great Novelists and their Novels:

6. “the great mass of readers, I believe, has accepted Pride and Prejudice as her (Jane Austen’s)
masterpiece, and in such a case, I think it’s well to accept their judgment. My own opinion, for what it
is worth, is that Pride and Prejudice is, on the whole, the most satisfactory of all the novels for its
fascinating qualities.”
“the great mass of readers, I believe, has
accepted Pride and Prejudice as her (Jane
Austen’s) masterpiece, and in such a case, I
think it’s well to accept their judgment.+

7. My own opinion, for what it is worth, is
that Pride and Prejudice is, on the whole,
the most satisfactory of all the novels for
its fascinating qualities.”
“the great mass of readers, I believe, has accepted Pride and Prejudice as her (Jane Austen’s)
masterpiece, and in such a case, I think it’s well to accept their judgment. My own opinion, for what it
is worth, is that Pride and Prejudice is, on the whole, the most satisfactory of all the novels for its
fascinating qualities.”

8. “the great mass of readers, I believe, has
accepted Pride and Prejudice as her (Jane
Austen’s) masterpiece, and in such a case,
I think it’s well to accept their judgment.
My own opinion, for what it is worth, is
that Pride and Prejudice is, on the whole,
the most satisfactory of all the novels for
its fascinating qualities.”

9. Such a wide popularity of the
novel is due to its brilliant wit,
genial humor and realistic irony.

10. It is a fact that the novel does not contain
stormy passion and high tragedy of
emotional life, yet for its craft and artifice,
incomparable freshness and sharpness of
outline it can be compared with the drama of
Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing.

11. In Much Ado About Nothing, the Benedick
and Beatrice, the witty hero and heroine,
who hate each other in the beginning of
the play are ultimately married at the end.
Similarly, we have Darcy and Elizabeth
representing Pride and Prejudice and their
ultimate union at the end.

12. In this novel, we have a perfect
comedy of manners presented in a
spirit of amusement derived from
bitterness. The excellence of the novel
rests on to a greater part on the witty
dialogue.

13. The paucity of action has been
compensated by the wit in
dialogues; wit sparkles the
characters of Elizabeth and her
father Mr. Bennet.

14. Elizabeth’s witty exchange with Darcy is
amusing but Mr. Bennet’s remarks and
replies to his wife’s queries are sharp and
scathing. The dull situations are rendered
highly investing through the witty
dialogues of the characters.

15. When Mrs. Bennet was talking to her
husband about his indifference towards the
interest of the family, Kitty was coughing
and she lost temper with Kitty: “Don’t keep
coughing so, Kitty, for Heaven’s sake; have a
little compassion on my nerves, you tear
them to prices.”

16. “Kitty has no discretion in her cough,” said
her father, “she times them ill.” “I do not
cough for my own amusement,” replied
Kitty fretfully.

17. When Mrs. Bennet approaches her husband
to persuade Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins,
Mr. Bennet answers: “I have not the
pleasure of understanding you, said he,
when she finished her speech of what are
you talking?”

18. Mr. Bennet’s sparkling wit has been the
source of enjoyment throughout the
novel; Mrs. Bennet wants Elizabeth to
accept the proposal of Mr. Collins; failing
which she says, “Yes, I will never see her
again.”

19. To this warning, Mr. Bennet replies in a sharp
way,
“An unhappy alternative is before you,
Elizabeth from this day, you must be a
stranger to one of your parents. Your mother
will never see you again if you do not marry
Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if
you do.”

20. The conversation between Darcy and Elizabeth
is equally perceptive of wit.
“Jane Austen’s attitude toward life as
presented in her novels,” says a critic, “is of a
humorist.” Undoubtedly she is a comedian;
from the beginning to the end of her creative
life she retains humor but towards the end of
her life, humor becomes an integrated part of
her writing.

21. Humor is in the very tone of her
language. For this, her language has been
described to be poetic replete with
humor.But her humor is genial and
amusing. It is free from the bitterness of
malice. “I dearly love a laugh,” says
Elizabeth and it is equally applicable to
her creator.

22. She laughs at follies and nonsensical whims
and inconsistencies. But this is confined to a
particular class, namely, the upper middle
class and her range is limited to the family
life only. Her pleasant humor has become
very much effective in bringing out the
specialties of her characters.

23. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that
a single man in possession of a good fortune
must be in want of a wife.” Jane Austen
never leaves the realm of comedy. A.C.
Bradley has rightly remarked, “There are
two great distinct strains in Jane Austen. She
is a moralist and a humorist.”

24. One of the most important elements of
the novel is her profound sense of
irony.She has made a varied use of irony.
Irony is a contrast between a reality and
an appearance. There are two kinds of
irony- verbal and rhetorical.

25. Irony shows the contrast between the
apparent, i,e the surface meaning of a
statement and its real intended meaning.
The theme of the novel presents the
contrast between ‘Intricacy and simplicity
as those terms apply to personality.”

26. Darcy and Elizabeth are intricate
characters; Jane and Bingley are simple.
If read carefully, we find irony at different
levels in the novels- irony of situations,
irony of characters and verbal irony. The
examples of irony of situations are found in
the proposals of marriages.

27. Collins proposes to Elizabeth when her
heart is full of Wickham; Darcy
proposes to her when she hates him
most. The departure of the militia from
Merylon was expected to part an end
to Lydia’s flirtation; it brings about her
elopement.

28. Both Darcy and Elizabeth do not like each
other and are prejudiced against each
other because of their pride; they are
united in a marriage at last. The very first
sentence of the novel can be quoted as
an example of verbal irony.

29. The novel Pride and Prejudice is a vital
record of what its writer has thought and
felt about the society. Although limited in
range, it faithfully holds up a mirror to the
society she lived in and it can be said
without any hesitation that she has
successfully reached her goal.

30. THE END