Satire's Comments on Social Expectations

   

     What exactly is satire? Satire is a literary device that uses humor and sarcasm to point out the absurdity of certain parts of life. Satire often points out flaws in society's expectations by creating characters who fit into a social stereotype and who the audience finds ridiculous. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses satire to make these points. One major theme in the book that requires Austen's use of satire is the focus on the silliness of the expectation of women and marriage in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Women were expected by society to want to find a wealthy and powerful man to marry, and to give birth to and raise children who they hoped would be boys. Women often did not expect much of themselves except to live this lifestyle where they upheld their duty to these expectations.

      Just like I mentioned in my last blog (If you haven’t checked it out, you should!), 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 sketch out the plot and theme of the novel which has to do not only the expectation of women to marry the perfect guy but also 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.

       In this particular work Austen attacks the society’s condoning of marriage for money and social standing. Austen does this by magnifying the irrationality of their attitude towards marriage and the customs they practice. When she sets up the gathering scene in the novel, Austen got the chance to demonstrate some of the foolishness of the characters. This first scene is when a ball is held and all the young eligible bachelors and young unmarried ladies are given the opportunity to interact with one another and perhaps even find their future wife or husband.

     In this scene, Mr. Darcy’s pride and views of social superiority are clearly revealed. He refuses to dance with anyone who’s socially inferior to him, and rejects Mr. Bingley’s suggestion to dance with Elizabeth, because he believes she isn’t good enough to tempt him. Mr. Darcy’s views of social superiority that are presented in the ball scene contribute to the novel as a whole because even though Mr. Darcy begins to fall in love with Elizabeth throughout the novel, he fights against his feelings because of how strong his values of social superiority are.