The Subtle Humor of Pride and Prejudice
The Subtle Humor of Pride and Prejudice
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 that such a person cannot exist. Mr. Collins is another exaggerated character in the novel. But would such characters seem humorous without somebody to react to
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 that such a person cannot exist. Mr. Collins is another exaggerated character in the novel. But would such characters seem humorous without somebody to react to