Stylistic Elements of Jane Austen

An Introduction to Pride and Prejudice

Genre: A Novel of MannersA novel of manners is dominated by social customs, manners, conventions, and habits of a definite social classThe mores of a specific group, described in detail and with great accuracy, become powerful controls over charactersThey are often satirical and realistic

SatireSatire began with the ancient Greeks, but came into its own in ancient Rome, where the “fathers” of satire, Horace and Juvenal, had their names given to the two basic types of satire:

Juvenal satire: provokes a darker kind of laughter. It is often bitter and criticizes corruption or incompetence with scorn and outrage: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Satire Continued…Horatian satire: the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger of a Juvenal, but a wry smile. It is playfully amusing and seeks to correct vice or foolishness with quiet laughter and understanding. For example, Alexander Pope’s “A Rape of the Lock,” or Pride and Prejudice

Themes/Ideas to Look for…First impressions need to be re-examinedThe role of Pride: a proper amount is necessaryThe harmful nature of prejudice on relationships and personal growth and social situationsLimitations due to gender or social statusUnspoken social conventions play a huge role in character interaction

Themes/Ideas to Look for…Human nature doesn’t change, no matter the era, we retain our pettiness and jealousyThe capacity and desire to change/grow/learnParents’ influence on their children and overall societal perception based on parents’ influence

Important Literary ElementsThe role of humor in characterizationLook at the different types of satire and irony (verbal, dramatic, situational)More to come…

Other characteristic stylistic elementsIntrusive narrator

Subtext and comic ironyUnderstatementWit and words as weaponsSatire of social conventions/archetypesPoint of view/perceptionSuspenseNarrative economyCaricature/hyperboleDirect and indirect characterizationFormal syntax and complexity