Laughter in Austen
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” What we read is just the opposite; a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune. In this first line of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice we are at once introduced to language rich with satire. The comic tendencies displayed in the novel’s language introduce a theme very important to the novel—the character’s laughter and their attitudes towards laughter as an index to their morality and social philosophy. Beginning with Darcy’s opinion, expressed early in the novel, that Miss Bennet “smiled too much,” attitudes towards laughter divide the characters. Most obviously Darcy, all “grave propriety,” is opposed to Elizabeth, who has a “lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.” We tend to consider Elizabeth’s position the normative—more closely aligned with modern theories of humor. She laughs at hypocrisy, vanity, pretension, the gap between statement and action, and between theory and practice. On the other hand, Darcy takes a conservative attitude toward laughter. His taciturn disposition and unwillingness to be the butt of mirth are clearly de
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Jane Austen, Miss Bingleys, Miss Bennet, Bennet Lydias, Aye Lord, Darcy Elizabeth, Lydia Wickham, Mary Bennet, Pride Prejudice, Harriet Forster, darcy elizabeth, attitudes towards laughter, lydias laughter, pride prejudice, attitudes towards, piece fun, darcys own, view humor, towards laughter, jane austen, mary bennet,
Approximate Word count = 1597
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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