Pride
and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen which was first published in 1813.
The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues
of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of early
19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country
gentleman, living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near
London. The opening line 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”
lends itself to many purposes. One of the more obvious purposes of this
quotation is to introduce Mr. Bingley’s entrance to Netherfield. Another purpose of this line is to sketch out
the plot and theme of the novel which has to do with single men wanting a
female (wife) so that they could have a good fortune.
The opening line of the work
indicates how Austen pictures the idea of social conventions having a role in
how individuals are "supposed" to act. This line indicates the idea that
it’s a single man’s duty to get married. This social expectation is also placed
upon women. Women are expected to compete for a man's affection. The fact that Austen uses the words
"universally" and "truth" to describe this condition indicates
that social conventions are something that are meant to be upheld under all
circumstances, such as universal truths are supposed to be upheld in all
circumstances.
This first line of the novel also exemplifies
satire. It sets the mood of how the rest of the novel is presented. As you
continue to read, you start to take notice that it’s not the men’s objective to
get married but instead the young women’s intent of assuming these objectives
for these men. This presents this sort of irony that it is less the ‘want’ of a
man for this sort of fortune and more the ‘want’ of a girl to become married to
a single man. Verbal irony is presented through the opposite literal meaning of
the line which is the fact that quite a number of women would like to trap a
single man in possession of a good fortune for a husband.
As I continue to read this novel, I
think it will be interesting to see how the tone and style of Jane Austen’s narrative
models after the use of satire in the first line of the novel. From the beginning,
the lines give us a glimpse of her use of irony towards the mothers who are
obsessed with getting their daughters married off to a rich husband. Just as
Mrs. Bennet’s attempt to get one of her daughters to marry a young bachelor.
Therefore, I believe as the story continues the use of satire will get even
more clever which will make the book as a whole extremely fascinating. I will definitely
keep you guys updated. Bye for now.
I don't really understand how the first line is satire. Satire does use irony, but I’m not seeing how the first line is verbal irony because that type of irony usually has another side to it which is the actual thing the statement is trying to say. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” doesn’t really have another concept that could be conveyed within the depths of it, or at least I don’t see it. Could it be that you meant situational irony which is when you expect something to happen, but instead something else happens? Like in this case, based off the first line, one would expect the men to want a wife, but in reality it’s the women who are more than determined to seek out the single men which is the concept that is conveyed throughout the novel, as you say. Also, you say that one of the purposes for this line is to sketch out the plot and a potential theme within the novel that regards single men wanting a wife so they could have a good fortune. Well, the quotation says that these single men are in “possession” of fortune already so it wouldn’t be that they want a wife just to be successful. You make these claims, but there isn’t much to support as far as evidence and explication of that evidence from the novel goes. Yes satire uses irony more often than not, but that’s not all it uses so I’m not really sure you understand the big picture of that literary device. Aside from this, I think you did well in attempting to prove the first line as satire! (Sorry I could have sworn I posted this a while ago I guess it didn't go through)
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand how the first line is satire. Satire does use irony, but I’m not seeing how the first line is verbal irony because that type of irony usually has another side to it which is the actual thing the statement is trying to say. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” doesn’t really have another concept that could be conveyed within the depths of it, or at least I don’t see it. Could it be that you meant situational irony which is when you expect something to happen, but instead something else happens? Like in this case, based off the first line, one would expect the men to want a wife, but in reality it’s the women who are more than determined to seek out the single men which is the concept that is conveyed throughout the novel, as you say. Also, you say that one of the purposes for this line is to sketch out the plot and a potential theme within the novel that regards single men wanting a wife so they could have a good fortune. Well, the quotation says that these single men are in “possession” of fortune already so it wouldn’t be that they want a wife just to be successful. You make these claims, but there isn’t much to support as far as evidence and explication of that evidence from the novel goes. Yes satire uses irony more often than not, but that’s not all it uses so I’m not really sure you understand the big picture of that literary device. Aside from this, I think you did well in attempting to prove the first line as satire! (Sorry I could have sworn I posted this a while ago I guess it didn't go through)
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