Austen is highly regarded as a prominent satirist of the Regency period in England, leveling criticisms against the clergy and the upper classes by exposing their behavior to ridicule. Though the more privileged or powerful members of society are principally her targets, Austen extends her behavioral critique to all those she observes, criticizing the parade of niceties and insincerity engulfing the field of acceptable social interaction. Lady Susan contains an early prototype of the sharp satirical wit Austen utilizes in such novels as Pride and Prejudice and Emma.
In Lady Susan, Austen directs her satirical eye toward the upper-class denizens of her cast of characters. While Lady Susan is initially the one portrayed as conniving, most of the characters are manipulative in some sense of the word. Take Sir Reginald De Courcey, for example, who uses his position as patriarch to financially manipulate his son and heir. In Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine De Bourgh is similarly manipulative, using her power and influence to degrade Elizabeth Bennet in an effort to prevent her marriage to Mr. Darcy. In both works, Austen satirizes the inhumanity of social and economic class systems in England, making proponents of its values into objects of ridicule.
