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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Darcy's Love:
Darcy falling in love with Elizabeth is an example of situational irony because, at the beginning of the novel (in Chapter 3), he makes it clear that he is not interested in her. When Bingley suggests that he should ask Elizabeth to dance, Darcy responds harshly:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"Which do you mean?” and turning round he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.”
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Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—No Defect:
While staying at Netherfield to take care of a sick Jane, Elizabeth spends more time with Darcy and witnesses more of his prideful behavior firsthand. In an example of verbal irony, Elizabeth states the following to Caroline Bingley in front of Darcy:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.”
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Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Delicate Flattery:
As one of the most heavily satirized characters in Pride and Prejudice, Collins—who has very little self-awareness—is easy for other characters to mock. While having dinner with Collins and the rest of the family, Mr. Bennet uses verbal irony to tease Collins about his obsession with complimenting his patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“You judge very properly,” said Mr. Bennet, “and it is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are the result of previous study?”
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Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Second Proposal:
In a moment of foreshadowing, Elizabeth rejects Collins’s marriage proposal and, after he says that he will ask her again, she tells him that she is not the type of a woman to say yes to a proposal after previously saying no:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Upon my word, sir,” cried Elizabeth, “your hope is a rather extraordinary one after my declaration. I do assure you that I am not one of those young ladies (if such young ladies there are) who are so daring as to risk their happiness on the chance of being asked a second time. I am perfectly serious in my refusal.”
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Chapter 31
Explanation and Analysis—Elizabeth's Denial:
Because the narration of Pride and Prejudice is third-person omniscient, readers learn that Darcy has feelings for Elizabeth long before she does. This leads to moments of dramatic irony, such as when Darcy comes close to Elizabeth while she plays piano and she assumes he seeks to intimidate her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
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Chapter 36
Explanation and Analysis—Elizabeth's Prejudice:
The fact that Elizabeth misjudges Darcy—considering him overly prideful and cruel when he is in fact caring and considerate—is an example of situational irony.
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Chapter 45
Explanation and Analysis—Darcy's Love:
Darcy falling in love with Elizabeth is an example of situational irony because, at the beginning of the novel (in Chapter 3), he makes it clear that he is not interested in her. When Bingley suggests that he should ask Elizabeth to dance, Darcy responds harshly:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"Which do you mean?” and turning round he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.”
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Chapter 51
Explanation and Analysis—Lydia's Marriage:
In a moment of dramatic irony, Lydia returns home from her elopement with Wickham and flaunts her haphazard marriage as if it's something to be celebrated, telling her mother:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Oh! mamma, do the people hereabouts know I am married to-day? I was afraid they might not; and we overtook William Goulding in his curricle, so I was determined he should know it, and so I let down the side-glass next to him, and took off my glove, and let my hand just rest upon the window frame, so that he might see the ring, and then I bowed and smiled like anything.”
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Chapter 57
Explanation and Analysis—Delightfully Absurd:
In a moment of dramatic irony near the end of the novel, Mr. Bennett reads a letter Collins has sent him about the impending nuptials of Elizabeth and Darcy and, telling Elizabeth about it, says the following:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“[T]hat is what makes it amusing. Had they fixed on any other man it would have been nothing; but his perfect indifference, and your pointed dislike, make it so delightfully absurd!”
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Chapter 59
Explanation and Analysis—Happily Ever After:
The fact that Darcy and Elizabeth end up with a “happily ever after” at the end of the novel is an example of situational irony. Not only did they both dislike each other at the beginning and almost let their pride and prejudice get in the way of their relationship, but they also had to navigate class differences, betrothals to other people, Lydia almost “ruining” her sisters’ reputations, and Elizabeth rejecting Darcy’s first proposal.
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