Irony In Pride And Prejudice

A great
deal of Austen's wit is actually seen through the use
of . In , we see all three types of irony displayed:
verbal, situational, and dramatic.

The use of
verbal irony particularly expresses Austen's use of wit. Verbal
irony is usually recognized as sarcasm. It is the moment someone, such as a character or
narrator, says one thing, but means the complete opposite. One perfect example of verbal irony
can be seen in the very opening line of the book, "It is a truth universally acknowledged,
that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" (Ch. 1). The
irony in this line is that, while the women of an English village in Austen's time might
"acknowledge" the truth above, the wealthy men the line is referring to actually might
not; therefore, the above is not really a "truth universally acknowledged." Instead,
this opening line is a perfect example of sarcasm, or verbal irony, and a perfect
example of Austen's
wit.

Situational irony describes
a moment when something occurs and the exact opposite was expected to occur. Either the audience
or thecan have the opposite expectations. One instance of situational irony can be seen early on
in the novel at a party that takes place at Lucas Lodge. Afteris asked to play and sing, the
party begins to dance. At the same moment that Sir Lucas is trying to convinceto join in the
dancing, Elizabeth begins walking towards them. Mr. Darcy so adamantly protests dancing to Sir
Lucas, even insulting the activity, saying, "Every savage can dance," that when Sir
Lucas sees Elizabeth and encourages Darcy to dance with her the reader as well as Elizabeth are
very surprised when Darcy "requested to be allowed the honour of her hand" (Vol. 1,
Ch. 6). Darcy's behavior in this instant is a true reversal of his earlier behavior, especially
at the Meryton assembly. Hence, this is a perfect example of situational irony. In addition, the
moment is also amusing due to the sudden change of behavior, also making it another
example of Austen's wit.
 

Dramatic irony occurs when the reader is aware
of something that the characters have no idea of. This scene is also a fine example of dramatic
irony. The reader has already begun to get the impression that Darcy feels an attraction for
Elizabeth, which the reader began to see when she was tending to her sister at Netherfield.
Therefore, the reader knows that Darcy's sudden interest in dancing with Elizabeth is actually
genuine while Elizabeth still believes that he dislikes her and is merely asking in an attempt
to be well mannered. Again the situation is amusing due to both Elizabeth's and Darcy's
reactions to the situation. Hence, again, this use of dramatic irony also
demonstrates Austen's
wit.