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Motifs
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Fanny Dashwood:
Though Austen satirizes different aspects of most characters in the novel (such as Elinor’s compulsive suppression of her feelings and Marianne’s over-the-top display of hers), there are other characters, like Fanny Dashwood, whose entire existence is meant to satirize something. With Fanny, Austen seeks to mock wealthy landed gentry who would hoard wealth and think little of the welfare of others.
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Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Fanny Dashwood:
Though Austen satirizes different aspects of most characters in the novel (such as Elinor’s compulsive suppression of her feelings and Marianne’s over-the-top display of hers), there are other characters, like Fanny Dashwood, whose entire existence is meant to satirize something. With Fanny, Austen seeks to mock wealthy landed gentry who would hoard wealth and think little of the welfare of others.
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Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Mr. Palmer:
Amongst the characters that Austen uses to satirize aspects of British society in the early 19th century is Mr. Palmer. With Mr. Palmer, Austen is mocking older wealthy patriarchs who want comfort and ease yet choose to marry energetic younger women who frustrate them. For much of the novel, Mr. Palmer is overtly rude to his wife, including actively ignoring her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Only look, sister, how delightful every thing is! How I should like such a house for myself! Should not you, Mr. Palmer?”
Mr. Palmer made her no answer, and did not even raise his eyes from the newspaper.
“Mr. Palmer does not hear me,” said she, laughing, “he never does sometimes. It is so ridiculous!”
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Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy Steele:
Lucy Steele is a lower-class woman obsessed with marrying a wealthy man, seemingly without regard for his character. With Lucy, Austen is satirizing women who act as though they are from a higher class than they are and for whom marriage is a ticket to financial security rather than love or partnership. This comes across in the way that Lucy stays engaged to Edward for four years (even as it’s obvious that he no longer loves her) and then ultimately abandons him for his wealthier and more ambitious brother, Robert.
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Chapter 34
Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Ferrars:
In an example of verbal irony, Austen describes Mrs. Ferrars—Edward’s mother—as if she is complimenting her when really she is criticizing her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect. Her complexion was sallow; and her features small, without beauty, and naturally without expression; but a lucky contraction of the brow had rescued her countenance from the disgrace of insipidity, by giving it the strong characters of pride and ill nature. She was not a woman of many words: for, unlike people in general, she proportioned them to the number of her ideas.
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Chapter 43
Explanation and Analysis—Mr. Palmer:
Amongst the characters that Austen uses to satirize aspects of British society in the early 19th century is Mr. Palmer. With Mr. Palmer, Austen is mocking older wealthy patriarchs who want comfort and ease yet choose to marry energetic younger women who frustrate them. For much of the novel, Mr. Palmer is overtly rude to his wife, including actively ignoring her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Only look, sister, how delightful every thing is! How I should like such a house for myself! Should not you, Mr. Palmer?”
Mr. Palmer made her no answer, and did not even raise his eyes from the newspaper.
“Mr. Palmer does not hear me,” said she, laughing, “he never does sometimes. It is so ridiculous!”
Related Themes:
