Comment
on the use of irony and humour in Pride and Prejudice.
The all pervading presence of
irony and humour makes the novels of Jane Austen a source of perennial interest for us. Irony is the hallmark of
her style and the soul of her comedy. In pride and prejudice, says
Marvin Mudrick, the irony is internal and consistent- it does not take the
disturbing tangents towards the author’s need for self-vindication. Austen’s
irony, as revealed in the novel, is Addisonian which is mild, genial and human
feathered with the bright streamers of humour.
The
word ‘irony’ comes from Greek root meaning ‘dissembling’ particularly
pretending ignorance while having knowledge. It is simply the use of words
whose intended meaning goes beyond the literal meaning. Chaucer, Lamb,
Shakespeare are ironical and so is Jane Austen. Her use of irony lends compactness,
clarity and subtlety to her narrative, depth to her characterization, a comic
touch to her plot keeping the readers titillated and amused.
Jane
Austen’s ironic tone is established in the very first sentence 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”. The first half of the sentence implies
that the subject the novel is going to deal with is some great universal truth;
the second half reveals that the great universal truth concerns a common social
problem- marriage. And the truth ironically implies that such a young man may
actually be hunted rather than hunter; the woman without a fortune must be
desirous of having such a husband. Summing up Mrs. Bennet’s character Jane
Austen writes “The business of her life was to get her daughters married……..”
Here the ironic implication is that she is not likely to show much
discrimination about the young men they choose as their husband- a fact later
confirmed by her sense of exultation in the Lydia’s marriage to Wickham.
