Pride and Prejudice Essay
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is a historically revered novel. It tells a tale of five daughters and their father in a quest to find marriage, fortune, and happiness. In an excerpt from the book, Austen writes of a situation where a dimwitted Mr. Collins, a bachelor and apparent suitor, tries to court Elizabeth, the second eldest daughter of the protagonistic family. Throughout the scene, Austen expertly showcases the irony of Collins’ words, his hubris, and the catharsis of Elizabeth. Although irony, hubris, and catharsis are often some of the main elements in tragedies, Austen uses humor and sarcasm to completely change the usual context of those tragic words.
To understand Austen’s sarcasm, it’s important to get to know the characters in the scene. First, there’s Mr. Collins. Collins is an idiot, to put it bluntly. In his view, he’s very important and deserving. His association with a certain rich patroness is an all too common conversation topic and only adds to Collins’ sense of superiority. This is a broad example of Collins’ hubris, as he enormously overestimates his capabilities in all facets of his world. It would be one thing for Collins to be this kind of man, and not play an integral role in the story, but he does! How could such a fool be so important? The answer lies in another tragic element: catharsis.
In order to get the reader to feel something, even a twinge of emotion, Austen had to incorporate things like hubris and catharsis. Through Collins’ initial hubris, Austen immediately had a platform for her protagonist to humorously dismantle and disregard each ridiculous word that came out of Collins’ mouth. This leads us to Elizabeth, the protagonist. Elizabeth is the polar opposite of Collins. She’s intelligent, funny, and most importantly, sensible. As the scene opens, Collins is already in full swing, droning on about the countless reasons why himself and Elizabeth should be married. Mind you, the