Pride And Prejudice As A Classical Comedy Analysis

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If anyone brings up the book Pride and Prejudice people automatically know what it is and can tell anyone something about it. That is because Pride and Prejudice is known as one of the greatest classical comedy novels. What made it such a great classical comedy in the first place? To start the story is relatable; it’s extremely well structured and is easy to follow. The reason is because it’s so it greatly influenced by Aristotle’s Poetics, as most novels where in the 18th century. Aristotle has requirements, stated in Poetics, that a story must follow in order to be considered a classical comedy and Pride and Prejudice fills those requirements of a classical comedy novel.
First off, what makes a comedy a classical comedy? According to Aristotle it has to be an imitation of characters from a lower class, people shouldn’t take what happens to the characters seriously, and it always starts from bad fortune and ends with good fortune for those that deserve it; unlike a tragedy. The story must have imitation, probability, and the characters must be capable of recognition and reversal. Then similar to a tragedy there must be the unity of time, place, and action. The last requirement for a classical comedy is every character in the novel ends up getting what they deserve.
Taking all of this and fitting it into Pride and Prejudice is simple.
…show more content…
In the novel everything is probable, nothing in this story is coincidental and the characters are capable of recognition and reversal. Pride and Prejudice is a classical comedy and is highly influenced by Aristotle’s Poetics. It is a model for 18th century literature where the mercenary and the ignorance of people was a popular topic for novels. Pride and Prejudice is an exemplary novel that will go on and remain a

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