How Does Jane Austen Use Satire In Pride And Prejudice

Using irony and satire, Jane Austen (1775-1817) provided important insights to her attitude about life through her character’s experiences in her novel Pride and Prejudice (1813). Protagonist Elizabeth Bennet “Lizzie”, reveals Austen’s suppressed yet forward thinking opinions regarding the social restrictions of women, class mobility and marriage during the early nineteenth century England amidst a humorous romantic story of love and misunderstanding. The novel begins with: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen, 1) which sums up the central theme of the story; the search for a marriage partner. Austen’s romantic satire depicts the search for a mate predominantly the main concern of women, ironically contradicting the task’s assignment to “a single man”. Aside from all the single women in actual need of husbands, securing a suitable union with financial stability was the desperate mission of Mrs. Bennet, the mother of five unmarried daughters further multiplying the undertaking of matrimonial quarry. Mrs. Bennet took this responsibility very seriously since the task before her was not only for the concern of each of her five daughters’ futures; it also greatly affected her own future due to England’s entitlement laws. …show more content…
Life in Jane Austen’s world was one of male superiority; inheritance laws were established based on the opinions of contemporary men of science who assumed women’s bodies were the cause of random ill thinking and foolish whims. In this male dominated society, a woman had no control over her own life or financial future, a woman of the early 19th century society had to rely on the attainment of a husband. As stated by Davis