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Satire in Pride and Prejudice


            Satire in Pride in Prejudice .
             In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen attacks the idea of marriage for money and social standing. Austen does this by magnifying the absurdness of common attitudes toward marriage and the customs that are practiced. Her criticisms are of the people who make up and embody the different class systems, usually those who are acting in what would be considered the correct manner for the time. Austen tends to paint her more rebellious characters as heroes. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are very atypical of the social correctness of the time, whereas the characters that Austen is poking fun at are socially acceptable for the time, if slightly exaggerated. It is mostly around the crucial issue of marriage that Austen weaves the sub-themes of social criticism, making fun of snobbery, hypocrisy, the spiteful gossip of respectable housewives and the prying impertinence of ladies of title. .
             The first character being satirized is Mrs. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet is excited about Mr. Bingley coming to town. Her sole purpose in life is to get her daughter's married, preferably to a rich man. She insists that Mr. Bennet "go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighborhood" in order to ensure favor for their daughters (Austen 4). Mr. Bennet, however, teases that he will not go, causing Mrs. Bennet to assert, "you take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves" (Austen 4). After the first ball, she takes great delight in Mr. Bingley's attentions toward Jane, and makes known to everyone she knows that she expects much more to come of their relationship. However, Mrs. Bennet's lack of sense and judgment goes to extreme lengths to damage their prospects. When Jane goes to visit the Bingley's, Mrs. Bennet insists that she "go on horseback, because it seems likely to rain and you must stay all night" (Austen 21). Her plan works, but instead of just having to stay the night because of the rain, Jane falls ill.


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