Jane Austen's irony is devastating in its exposure of foolishness. There are various forms of exquisite irony in Pride and Prejudice, sometimes the characters are unconsciously ironic, as when Mrs. Bennet seriously asserts that she would never accept any entailed property, though Mr. Collins is willing to. "Often Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth serve to directly express the author's ironic opinion" (Trevor 352). When Mary Bennet is the only daughter at home and does not have to be compared with her prettier sisters, the author notes that: "it was suspected by her father that she submitted to the change without much reluctance" (Austen 189). Mr. Bennet turns his wit on himself during the crisis with Whickham and Lydia: "let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enough"(Austen 230). Elizabeth's irony is lighthearted when Jane asks when she began to love Mr. Darcy: "It has been coming on so gradually that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pembe

rly" (Austen 163). "She can be bitterly cutting however in her remark on Darcy's role in separating Bingley and Jane" (Bowen 107): "Mr. Darcy is uncommonly kind to Mr. Bingley, and takes a prodigious deal of care of him" (Austen 202). "The author also independent of any character, uses' irony in the narrative parts for some of her sharpest judgments" (Bradley 9). The Meryton Community is glad that Lydia is marrying such a worthless man as Whickham: "... and the good nature wishes for her well doing, which had proceed before from all the spiteful old ladies in Meryton, lost but a little of their spirit in this change of circumstances, because with such a husband, her misery was certain" (Austen 270). "Austen uses irony to provoke gentle, whimsical laughter and to make veiled, bitter observations as well; in her hands' irony is an extremely effective device for moral evaluation" (Francis 21): "She has Elizabeth say that she hopes she will never laugh at what is wise or good" (Austen 143).

The characters on Pride and Prejudice are full of social values. "Every character is measured against the intelligence and sensitivity which eighteen-century people called good sense, and they stand and fall by common consent of the evaluati

Some common words found in the essay are:
Pride Prejudice, Meryton Community, Darcy Elizabeth, Whickham Lydia, Jane Bowen, Mary Bennet, Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth Gardiners, Bennet Elizabeth, Jane Austen's, pride prejudice, intelligence sensitivity, exposure foolishness, social values,
Approximate Word count = 831
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)