Pride and Prejudice: Blog Response #2

Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice, definitely has a unique way of writing. She uses a light, satirical tone throughout the novel to express her opinion on the mercenary and the ignorance of people concerning social status. Although she does some obvious mockery through characters such as Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, and Lydia, the one that caught my eye was the 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." Already by the first sentence, Austen accomplished introducing the subject of the novel. In this statement, she has cleverly done three things: she has declared that the main subject of the novel will be courtship and marriage, she has established the humorous tone of the novel by taking a simple subject to elaborate and to speak intelligently of, and she has prepared the reader for a chase in the novel of either a husband in search of a wife, or a woman in pursuit of a husband. The first line also defines Jane’s book as a piece of literature that connects itself to the 18^th century period. Pride and Prejudice is associated with the 18^th century because of the emphasis on man in his social environment rather than in his individual conditions. The use of satire and wit, a common form of 18^th century literature, also contributes to label the book as 18^th century. However, because Jane Austen had allowed personal feelings of the characters to be expressed in her work, she can also be classified as Romantic. In the figure of Elizabeth, Jane Austen shows passion attempting to find a valid mode of existence in society. Passion and reasons also comes together in the novel to show that they are complementary of marriage.

*The connection between the novel and the time when it was written was first brought up during the Literature Circle.