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BOOKS:

Bradley, A. C. et al. Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.

Child, Harold, et al.  “Jane Austen” in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Vol. 12. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21.

Mudrick, Marvin. Jane Austen: Irony as Defense and Discovery. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952.

Rawson, Claude. “Introduction” to Persuasion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Smith, Goldwin, Thackeray, Anne, et. al. “Criticisms and Interpretations” on Pride and Prejudice. The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. Vol. 3.  New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917.

Tanner, Tony. “Introduction” to Pride and Prejudice. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1972.

Wiltshire, John, Brownstein, Rachel M., et. al. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

URL’s :

Description and Narrative Tecniques in Austen and Radcliffe. The Victorian Web, July 2000. 9 May, 2013.

http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/austen/descr1.html

English Resource Center. Sogang University, n. d. 8 May, 2013.

http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm

Huezo, Carolina. “Jane Austen, Feminist Icon?”. FEM Newsmagazine. UCLA. 6 Feb. 2013. 20 May 2013.

http://www.femmagazine.com/2013/02/06/jane-austen-feminist-icon/

Kelly, Jon. “Janeites: The curious American cult of Jane Asuten.” BBC News Magazine. BBC News. 28 Jan. 2013. 20 May 2013.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21036818

McKenzie, Bertha. In Defence of Edward Ferrars. The Jane Austen Society of Australia, 21 June 2001. 7 May, 2013.

http://www.jasa.net.au/efdefence.htm

Raphael, Lev. “Loving Jane Austen”. Huff Post Books. Huffington Post, 31 Aug. 2011. 20 May 2013.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lev-raphael/loving-jane-austen_b_943027.html

 Sense and Senbility. The Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom, n. d. 8 May, 2013.

http://www.janeaustensoci.freeuk.com/pages/novels_ss.htm

Watt, Ian. “Jane Austen and the Tradition of  Comic Agression”. Persuasions #3, 16 Dec. 1981 : 14-15, 24 – 28. The Jane Austen Society of North America. 9 May, 2013.

http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number3/watt.htm

Wolf, Abby. “ Jane Austen”. 19^th Century Women Writers.  Masterpiece Theatre, n.d. 13 May, 2013.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wives/writers/austen.html

Through the study carried out in this paper we have seen how the use of irony Jane Austen made in her works evolved through the years.

She wrote first Sense and Sensibility, which reflects youthfull passion and a humouristic portrayal of Austen’s class at that time, with unfogettable characters such as Marianne Dashwood or Mrs. Jennings.

When it comes to Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen reaches her peak regarding literary composition and use of language, with memorable dialogues full of witty irony and impregnate by Austen’s distinct approach.

In Persuasion we see a more calmed use of irony, more subtle, more indirect, but still effective, giving to this sweet love story the author’s humouristic touch.

“In the earlier novels, her wit diverts her readers with its liveliness; her later work shows a tenderer, graver outlook and a deepening of her study of character” (Child, 15). Therefore, we see that in her works, as time goes by, her irony turns to be less showy and more refined. This is a proof of her maturation as a writer, which has lead her to be one of the most important writers of all time.

I have also analyzed her success until our days, which has been fueled by her irony. We have seen that there are lots of Jane Austen fans that still read enthusiastically her works, and obtain an inspiration for them to continue the author’s stories or write their own.

This is such a special phenomenon that not all writers have had the luck to produce. The Austen “fever”, even though it did not appear until many decades after her death, has bloomed among readers of every part of the world.

Writers of every epoch have applauded her skills, and it is an honour that, from my point of view, she totally deserves.

Jane Austen is one of the most important novelists in English Literature and, from my point of view, her use of irony has an important role in this success. Irony in Jane Austen has been and is still being studied by lots of critics and scholars. It is an absolutely important feature in her work. But not everybody argues the same about the author’s irony.

For instance, there are many critics and authors from different epochs, such as Lev Raphael, that have claimed that her irony turns her novels into satirical works: “Though marriage was central in Austen’s books, she didn’t strike me as romantic; she was a social critic and a critic of cruelty in every form. Even now when I return to … Pride and Prejudice, I’m struck by her sharp satire”, something with which critics such as A. C. Bradley disagree: “Some readers … think her cynical. … She is never cynical, and not often merely satirical. A cynic or a mere satirist may be intellectualy pleased by human absurdities and illusions, but he does not feel them to be good. But to Jane Austen, so far as they are not seriously harmful, they are altogether pleasant, because they are both ridiculous and right” (19).

Jane Austen herself expresses her anti-cynical position through the words of her heroine Elizabeth Bennet: “ ‘I hope I never ridicule what is wise and good. Follies and nonesense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can..’ ” (102).

Other critics have also raised their voice in favour of Austen’s irony, such as Goldwin Smith: “ Jane Austen’s view of the world is genial, kindly, and … free from anything like cynicism”.

Jane Austen’s irony is an attractive way of viewing life, not only in her time, but in any period. Society has always been influenced by the importance of appearance, and falsehood has always been an element present in life. Therefore, being capable of laughing at it, at our imperfections, is such a gift. It is not about criticizing others, it is about ackowledging our flaws. This important lesson that the author brings us through her use of irony has influenced many readers and, of course, writers.

Her heroines, of course, are the main exponent of her literary power. “Somebody seems indeed to have complained that her heroines were not good enough, and she replies that pictures of perfection make her sick and wicked” (Bradley, 17). Austen did not look for perfection, she looked for reality, and that is why many readers identify themselves with the heroines’ feelings and humour. Of course, this is a great achievement, and it has contributed to her success as a writer. “Miss Austen’s heroines have a stamp of their own. They have a certain gentle self-respect and humour and hardness of heart in which modern heroines are a little wanting” (Thackeray).

The personality of heroines such as Elizabeth Bennet is so appealing that it cannot be beaten by characters of current novels. Her witty irony brings pleasure to readers of all time, and makes Jane Austen’s name unforgettable.

The enthusiasm that her works have raised can be seen more than half a century ago, in the words of Anne Thackeray Ritchie: “Dear books! Bright, sparkling with wit and animation, in which the homely heroines charm, the dull hours fly, and the very bores are enchanting…”; or in the hundreds of webpages ruled by Jane Austen fans, who call themselves Janeites (term that appeared in the USA). In this web site you can find a list of books inspired by Austen’s novels: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/janeities.  Maybe one of the most important web pages among Janeities or just curious people about Jane Austen is The Republic of Pemberley , in which you have the opotunity of meeting thousands of Austen’s fans, as well as reading her books online, and many other activities regarding the author.

Lev Raphael exposes Jane Austen’s current success in his words: “Jane Austen is so popular these days she’s probably been a write-in candidate in more than one election. Who knows, she might even have won some of them. I’d vote for her … Her books may exist in a gigantic echo chamber these days, but their still, small voice is as powerful as ever”. “ It’s a curious phenomenon when one considers that Austen won little fame in her own lifetime, dying aged 41 in 1817 with only six novels to her name”, argues John Kelly, “ … Austen’s sharp prose, ironic wit and vivid characterisation are all key to her appeal”.

It is absolutely striking the ease of Austen’s novels to divert people from our current era, as her society is so different from ours. Carolina Huezo says: “Though she wrote from her own experiences shaped by her time period and position in society, her narratives still contain messages that have clearly resonated with audiences across time and cultures”.

Conversations between characters that involve irony are the most attractive in the novels. Jane Austen knows how to make us laugh. There is not too much seriousness or romanticism, and it makes her works perfect for a light and full of pleasure reading. “… from the beginning she was able to seize and enjoy an astonishing freedom to move from one to another level of her fictions, shifting easily from the romantic point of view to a place where romance can only be viewed ironically”( Brownstein, 56-57).

From my point of view, the fact that women in Austen novels are the ones who mainly manage irony is a point that contributes to the attractiveness of the works. Jane Austen gives women a clever and witty voice in novels such as Pride and Prejudice, through Elizabeth’s character, and it is totally appealing. Her novels “ … center around women who are portrayed as interesting, independently-thinking, with unique virtues and faults that drive and shape the story forward. I think that Austen was rather progressive for her time, being an advocate for women’s education and also being critical of the society she lived in, and both attitudes that are apparent within her novels” (Huezo).

Elizabeth’s use of irony contributes to differenciate herself from the rest of her family and society and it is an aim that most youngsters seek for in their lives. Elizabeth’s character has inspired so many people. In Youtube exists a series starring an Elizabeth Bennet from our time, studying in college, etc., but with experiences inspired by Pride and Prejudice. It is called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  In this adaptation irony has an important role, as most of the sentences extracted directly from the book involve ironic dialogues.

“ With the sharpest and most delicate of wit, as deft in expression as it was subtle in perception, she diverted herself and her readers with the fine shades of folly in a circle of which the rudest member might be called refined. Her fun, moreover, was always fair, always good-tempered and always maintained in relation to her standard of good sense and good manners” (Child, 14). Jane Austen is always elegant when using irony. Her refined style has been praised, as it gives her prose a delicate and at the same time funny look.

One of the characters that has raised more passion among Jane Austen readers is Mr. Darcy. Of course most of people regard him as a lover, an attractive gentleman, but as I see it, the most appealing feature of the novel are the ironic exchanges between him and Elizabeth Bennet. That kind of linguistic duel between them makes their appearences in the novel amusing moments. For instance, we have this conversation between them about the role of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in their eventual union:

“ ‘ … Lady Catherine’s unjustifiable endeavours to separate us, were the means of removing all my doubts …’

‘Lady Catherine has been of infinite use, which ought to make her happy, for she loves to be of use … ’ ” (389)

Pride and Prejudice is the novel that has produced Jane Austen most success, and I am sure that if there were no irony in that work, it would lose a lot of its attractiveness. It would be like any other romantic novel, and Jane Austen did not want that (some of her novels can even be considered parodies of this genre). Austen made a special heroine for a special story. Irony is the feature that gives Pride and Prejudice its unique attractiveness, its true power. No one can resist Elizabeth, Mr. Bennet or Mr. Darcy’s remarks.

To sum up, Jane Austen’s use of irony in her novels is without any doubt, an important influence in the literary world. Her ironic approach has been praised and criticized, and it still raises enthusiasm among readers of a wide range of ages. “Her deft irony and subtle but firm morality refined the genre of the novel, which was really still in its early childhood at the turn of the 19th century”  (Wolf). Her influence, as I have said, did not stop in her epoch: it continues nowadays, with the release of hundreds of works that have as an inspiration the true maestry of Jane Austen’s works.

Persuasion was written in the last period ofAusten’s lifetime. At that time, her humour becomes more tempered, her irony more subtle, and we see this in the work.

There is no vulgar Mrs. Jennings or clever Elizabeth Benet in here. In fact, the protagonist, Anne Elliot, at the beginning, is ignored by her own family. This fact in itself is ironic: the person that will catch central attention in the narration lives in the shadows when the story starts: “ Anne’s key interpretive role in the narrative is in sharp contrast to what is at first her peripheral place in her social circle.” ( Wiltshire, 78)

This happens because her ego is not as big as her father and sister Elizabeth’s. Sir Walter Elliot’s vanity is the most striking. He considers himself such an attractive gentlemen, and he is not afaid of showing it. “In her youth Jane Austen might have pushed into caricature the character of Sir Walter Elliot, with his family pride and personal vanity, … but in Persuasion he is no less credible than original.” (Bradley, 33)

The same happens with Elizabeth Elliot. Her strong character and her superiority are bothering, of course, but they are not as shocking as the portray of any character in Sense and Sensibility.

However, their attitude still looks funny. Their hypocritic comentaries are amusing. For instance, these words said by Elizabeth:

“ … ‘I have nothing to send but my love. Oh! you may as well take back that tiresome book she would lend me, and pretend I have read it through … Lady Russell quite bores one with her new publications. You need not to tell her so, but I thought her dress hideous the other night. I used to think she had some taste in dress, but I was ashamed of her at the concert. Something so formal and arrangé in her air! and she sits so upright! My best love, of course.’ ” (203)

Sir Walter’s obsession with appearence contributes to the humour in the novel:

“ ‘ … The worst of Bath was, the number of its plain women. He did not mean to say that there where no pretty women, but the number of the plain was out of all proportion. He had frequently observed, as he walked, that one handsome face would be followed by thirty, or five and thirty frights; …’ … ‘He had never walked any where arm in arm with Colonel Wallis, … without observing that every woman’s eye was upon him; every woman’s eye was sure to be upon Colonel Wallis.’ Modest Sir Walter!” (134)

That “Modest Sir Walter!” at the end is a  key to get a laughter from the readers. Jane Austen makes a perfect use of irony, as usual.

Her other sister, Mary Musgrove, also promotes the funny side of Persuasion. As at home she does not receive enough attention (like Anne), being a wife gives her another chance, even though it does not happen. Her husband, Mr. Charles Musgrove, always tries to avoid her company whenever she starts to act hysterically, something that she does several times. She does not pay too attention to her children, as she is occupied trying to become more and more important in her social circle.

Mr. Musgrove’s good temper makes him a likeable character, and it increases the ease to empathize with him when he has to deal with his wife’s difficult character.

His sisters, Louisa and Henrietta, are also touched by Austen’s irony, specially Louisa. Her non-dissimulated filtration with Captain Wentworth adds more attraction to the tension between him and Anne.

Louisa is a bold girl, and Wentworth praises this attitude. But ironically that feature becomes a trap when, acting with bravery, she falls in Lyme, getting serious injuries. Anne’s thoughts resume the ironic aspect of this situation:

“Anne wondered whether it ever ocurred to him now, to question the justness of his own previous opinion as to the universal felicity and advantage of firmness of character; and whether it might not strike him, that, like all other qualities of the mind, it should have its proportions and limits. She thought it could scarcely escape him to feel, that a persuadable temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happiness, as a very resolute character.” (113)

These thoughts are connected to the above mentioned tension between them, which I am going to analyze later in the paper.

A moment in the novel which is hilarious is when the Musgrove family refers to Richard Musgrove, their son gone, a man really loved by his family, but portrayed by Jane Austen as something quite different: “He had, in fact, though his sisters were now doing all they could for him, by calling him ‘poor Richard’, been nothing better than a thick-headed, unfeeling, unprofitable Dick Musgrove, who had never done any thing to entitle himself” (52).

Continuing with other characters, we cannot forget Mr. William Walter Elliot, the Elliots’ cousin, which is only interested in inheriting Sir Walter Elliot’s position. He starts to appear interested in Anne, and he shows it profusely. But it is quite ironical and shocking, as he had been a long while without contacting the family. Mrs. Smith explains:

“ ‘Mr. Eliot, … at that period of his life, had one object in view-to make his fortune, and by a rather quicker process than the law. He was determined to make it by marriage …; and I know it was his belief, … that your father and sister, in their civilities and invitations, were designing a match between the heir and the young lady; and it was impossible that such a match should have answered his ideas of wealth and independance.’ ” (189)

After having such a bad image of the Elliot family (“ ‘ I wish I had any name but Elliot’ ” (192).), why did Mr. Elliot change his position towards them? Mrs. Smith gives us the answer: “Having long had as much money as he could spend, nothing to wish for on the side of avarice or indulgence, he has been gradually learning to pin his happiness upon the consequence he is heir to. … He cannot bear the idea of not being Sir William.” (194-195)

But there is an obstacle in the way of Mr. Elliot’s way to the baronetcy: Mrs. Clay. Continuing with Mrs. Smith words:

“ ‘ My account states, that you sister’s friend, the lady now staying with you, … came to Bath with Miss Elliot and Sir Walter …; that she is a clever, insinuating, handsome woman, poor and plausible, and altogether such in situation and manner, as to give a general idea among Sir Walter’s acquaintance, of her meaning to be Lady Elliot, and as a general a surprise that Miss Elliot should be apparently blind to the danger.’ ” (194)

Therefore, we see Mr. Elliot confronting a woman with a calculating mind as him. He proves to be a selfish man, and the only person that notices this in the Elliot family  is Anne.

In the case of William Elliot, we see a clear example of situational irony used by Austen.“Situational irony is often used to expose hypocrisy and injustice” (sogang university). Mr. Elliot adapts himself to the different corcumstances according to his ambition. The whole approach of his story exposes the preference of Jane Austen to use a less direct irony in this work than in Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice, as it is mainly present in the evolution of circumstances, not in dialogues.

Another ironic situation is that starring Lady Russell. She does twice the same mistake: misjudging a man. In the first case, she misjudged Captain Wentworth, persuading her friend Anne to stay away from him, when in fact they were meant to be together. In the second case, she regards Mr. Elliot as an agreeable man, when in fact he is a cold- hearted hypocrite.

Regarding the issue of surprising marriages, Jane Austen does not fail to her habit of adding them to her stories. In this case, we find Captain Benwick and Louisa Musgrove’s marriage. Captain Benwick had been adressing his attention to Anne, but after the accident occured to Louisa, he stayed with her, and this long time together brought up the engagement.

Their personalities are quite different, and it adds more oddness to their relationship. “Captain Benwick and Louisa Musgrove! The high – spirited, joyous, talking Louisa Musgrove, and the dejected, thinking, feeling, reading Captain Benwick, seemed each of them every thing that would not suit the other.” (158)

Anne felt confused after these news, but after a reflection, she got the point of the situation: “She was persuaded that any tolerably pleasing young woman who had listened and seemed to feel for him, would have received the same compliment. He had ana affectionate heart. He must love somebody.” (158)

After having analyzed these characters, I am going to focus in the protagonist: Anne Elliot. Irony regarding this character comes from its literary birth itself: “Persuasion’s heroine Anne Elliot is valued for a warmth of feeling and an attitude to love on which Austen would have cast a colder eye in her earlier work.” (Rawson, 8)

Anne is the kind of person that Austen shoud have portrayed ironically, but instead of that, she presents her with kindness.

Anne undergoes a complicated situation throughout the novel. She is constantly trying to avoid her feelings for Captain Wentworth because he is still mad at her. The problem is that he is just partly right, as she did something normally coherent: take the advise of a friend. Lady Russell made a mistake in her judgement of him, yes, but she could have been right. Therefore, she deserved to be forgiven by Wentworth, after such a long time. “… Since Anne’s emotional needs are legitimate, the effect of her struggles is to produce a kind of ironic pathos ….” (Wiltshire, 77)

She does a deffence of her actions in her thoughts mentioned before, in which she argued that sometimes being persuaded is not a bad thing.

As  I have said before, there is an evolution in the attention she receives through the story. She ends up being the focu of attention, as Mr. Elliot is interested in her, and Captain Wentworth  recommences his acquaintance with her.

She is such a sweet and silent character, different from the outgoing Marianne Dashwood or the resolute Elizabeth Bennet. She is a reflection of the calmness that invades Jane Austen’s life as she grows older. “Whether Anne Eliot was “too good” for her or not, she achieved the difficult feat of making her interesting from start to finish” (Child, 12).

In conclusion, humour in this novel is less accentuated than in other works, and specially “ … it lacks the sharp wit and the high spirits of Pride and Prejudice” (Child, 13). It is still a proof of Jane Austen’s skills in the use of irony. “ In Sir Walter Eliot and Miss Eliot, Mrs. Clay and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Musgrove, Jane Austen is making milder fun than usual of less prominent “humours” than usual.” (Child, 12)

This novel has a balanced mixture of sweetness and humour, and it makes it such a good work.  “ The tone of the novel … woven in with its gravity and tenderness is the most delicate and mellow of all Jane Austen’s humour.” (Child, 12)

Pride and Prejudice is considered one of the best novels written by Jane Austen. Irony has an important role in this work, and it contributes to the grandeur of the novel. Pride and Prejudice reflects the fullness of Austen’s ironic style. Here we find an accurate portray of Austen’s class, less exaggerated than in Sense and Sensibility.

The most remarkable feature of Pride and Prejudice is that most of the irony comes from what characters say, rather than what happens to them. “Such descriptions tell us precious little about the true individual natures of the characters. Instead, Austen allows them to grow in a more organic fashion, letting them gradually evolve through the intricate process of conversation and interaction” (The Victorian Web).

Their dialogues describe them, but they are also a tool for the author to show her position. It is like if Jane Austen was speaking to us directly (more directly than in Sense and Sensibility) with her clever irony. And the character that is the kind of messenger of the author in this novel is, doubtless, Elizabeth Bennet.

She is seen as one of the most loved heroines in the literary world. Her irresistible personality makes her attractive, no matter in which epoch the reader lives. “… Her combination of energy and intelligence, her gay resilience in a society tending always towards dull conformity, would make her a worthy heroine in a Stendhal novel, which cannot be said for many English heroines.” (Tanner, 8)

Her clever use of irony when it comes to judge the world around her makes her so interesting, as she offers a funny view of that formal life in which she is found. “Elizabeth sets herself up as an ironic spectator”, claims Mudrick (94). “Social rules, like aesthetic prescriptions, tend to fix people in groups. Elizabeth is happy to leave the group, laughing, rambling, rejoicing.” (Tanner, 40).

She is the most intelligent of her sisters, and that is why she is the favourite of his father: “They have none of them much to recommend them … but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters” (52). Maybe her irony comes from the example of his father, but we will analyze his ironic commentaries later.

Being so different from her family feels not always that good, as she notices the unfortunate vulgar attitude that her kin show sometimes. “To Elizabeth it appeared, that had her family made an agreement to expose themselves as much as they could during the evening, it would have been impossible for them to play their parts with more spirit, or finer success.” (143)

Her best deployment of irony occurs while talking to or about Mr. Darcy. She defends herself through irony, as internally she has a battle between what she feels and what she thinks about him.

Elizabeth sees Mr. Darcy as an excessively proud man, with an elitist view of women, and anyone arround him. When he describes how has to be a woman to impress him, and claims that he knows just six that are like that, Elizabeth concludes: “ ‘ I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.” (85)

She suffered his prepotent judgement in the ball where they first met. “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” (59) Their attitudes toward life are different in that way, as she does not like to be that harsh regarding people’s behaviour:

   “ ‘ I hope I never ridicule what is wise and good. Follies and nonesense, whims and        inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.. – But this, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.’

   ‘Perhaps that is not possible for any one. But it has been the study of my life to avoid    those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule.’

   ‘Such as vanity and pride.’

   ‘Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride – where there is a real superiority of mind,   pride will be always under good regulation.’

   Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile.

   ‘Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume,’ said Miss Bingley; – ‘and pray what is the result?’

   ‘I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise’ ” (102).

In this dialogue, Elizabeth’s position is a portray of Austen’s. We see clearly the author’s point of view through her words, and the basis of her use of irony.

Elizabeth’s warm manners contrast with Darcy’s coldness, too. She is more sociable and expressive:

” ‘I had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party.’

‘True; and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball room ….’ ” (208).

All these different features between them contribute to the ironic aspect of their eventual union. As Mr. Bennet expresses, “ ‘ … Mr. Darcy, who never looks at any woman but to see blemish, and who probably never looked at you in his life! It is admirable!’ ” (372).

But that does not mean that they do not have points in common, they actually do. And here we have to remark, of course, irony. Darcy also uses it, and Elizabeth ironic remarks make her attractive to him:

   “ ‘You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? But I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubborness that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.’

    ‘… I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know, that you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which in fact are not your own’ ” (208).

   As I have mentioned before, knowing Elizabeth Bennet is the way to know Jane Austen, and that is what makes her such an special character, one of the best in her whole literary career. Almost every literary critic agrees with that fact. A. C. Bradley says that “she has … the humour of Jane Austen herself” (29); Mudrick claims: “Elizabeth shares her author’s characteristic response of comic irony, dfining incongruities without drawing them into a moral context” (95), etc.

The two of them are intelligent and funny, and maybe that is the clue of their success. “Both choose diversion; and both, moreover, look for their diversion in the people about them” (Mudrick, 94). Elizabeth Bennet allows young people to identify themselves with her, as she thinks differently from those who surround her, and that feeling tends to be common in youth. Of course, women are the most influenced by her, as it is not only the fact that as a person she does not share the same attitude as people of her class, but being a woman accentuates this contrast. At her time women had a lower consideration than men, and her quickness and ironic sentences differenciate her.

However, her ending, her marriage to Darcy, a rich and successful gentlemen, makes her equal to other women, as they pursue that aim. “Readers have disagreed, and argued that Elizabeth is either a proto-feminist or a fairy-tale heroine. Jane Austen’s irony allows her to be both at once” (Brownstein, 54).

Anyway, Elizabeth Bennet is a special character, an important source to discover Jane Austen’s personality. There is no doubt that her attitude stands above the rest of the author’s heroines. “Elizabeth … has that spirit which is lacking in Elinor … and Anne” ( Bradley, 29).

Now that I have analyzed the character of Elizabeth Benet, it is the turn of other characters that also expose Austen’s clever use of irony.

I shall start by talking about Mr. Darcy. His irony is not as humurous as Elizabeth’s, but it is a reflection of his cold position. We see this, for instance, in his replay to Miss Caroline Bingley:

   “ ‘ How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of the year! Letters of bussiness too! How odious I should think them!’

   ‘It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot insted of to yours.’ ” (92)

He does not like social relations very much, as his image of a person worth of acquainting with is of such a high level. We are witnesses of this position in this conversation between Mr. Darcy and Sir William:

   “ ‘What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! –There is nothing like dancing after all. – I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies.’

   ‘Certainly, Sir; – and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societes of the world. – Every savage can dance.’

   Sir William only smiled. ‘Your friend performs delightfully,’ he continued after a pause, on seing Bingley join the group; ‘and I doubt not that you are an adept in the science yourself, Mr. Darcy.’

   ‘You saw me dance at Meryton, I believe, sir.’

   ‘Yes, indeed, and received no inconsiderable pleasure from the sight. Do you often dance at St. James’s?’

   ‘Never, sir.’

   ‘Do you not think it would be a proper compliment to the place?’

   ‘It is a compliment which I never pay to any place if I can avoid it’ (72).

His severe judgement of people makes him feel so surprised of finding a person like Elizabeth, so capable of acknowledging vulgarity and finding its humurous part, rather than feeling offended by it. She is superior to other women because she is not vulgar at all: she is so clever, despite her conditions of life. “Darcy is captivated against his will by the second of five daughters of a country gentleman whose estate is entailed on the male line. … Conventional himself, he admires her for defying convention.” (51)

It is safe to say, then, that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s romance is based in irony itself. Two people that nobody would have thought that would end up together, fall in love with each other and get married. As we see in Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion, Jane Austen likes to play with this ironic endings regarding couples.

We should turn our attention now to, possibly, the man to whom we have to thank Elizabeth’s ironic “education”: her father, Mr. Bennet.

First of all, I have to point out the main difference between their ironic point of view: Elizabeth uses it to divert herself, Mr. Bennet uses it to externalize his discontent with his reality. He is an intelligent man that has married a woman of not too much culture; two of her daughters, Lydia (“Lydia is a self-assured, higly sexed, wholly amoral and unintellectual girl” (Mudrick, 100).) and Kitty, are two silly youngsters only interested in men, just as Mrs. Bennet; and finally, he feels trapped in a world made up of apparence, where looking nice and polite is the only thing that matters, despite the falsehood that reigns in society. “Mr. Bennet has become competely cynical about the social roles he is called on to play … He has taken refuge in mockery just as he takes refuge in his library” (Tanner, 27-28).

His ironic remarks assure most of the laughter in the novel. For instance, his conversations with his wife turn to be a funny argument:

“ ‘Mr. Bennet … You have no compassion on my poor nerves.’

‘You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least’ ” (52).

The character of Mr. Collins also rises witty ironic comentaries from him. For example, after listening to Mr. Collins’ flattering discourse, he claims: “ ‘You judge very properly,’ said Mr. Bennet, ‘ … May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are the result of previous study?’ ” (112).

Even before meeting him, Mr. Bennet finds his pedantry reflected in a letter amusing:

“ ‘… There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his letter, which promises well. I am impatient to see him’ ” (108).

Thus we see Mr. Bennet acid irony, which is the product of tiredness regarding such a boring life. “Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, ….” (53).

Jane Austen also assures amusement in secondary characters and their attitude. “In Pride and Prejudice the sources of mirth lie chiefly in the minor characters” (Bradley, 19).

We have for example Mrs. Bennet and her dramatic reactions, Mr. Collins’ way of considering himself such an important acquaintance, Mr. Bingley’s clumsy way of talking to Jane, etc.

Probably the ironic situation that provokes most pleasure to the reader in Pride and Prejudice is the “defeat” of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. She considers her influence unbeatable, she believes that she has an inexistent power to force Elizabeth not to get married to Mr. Darcy. “Lady Catherine is chiefly amusing because of the incongruity between the importance she assumes to herself and the actual influence she exercises upon the story … in the story at least, she never does what she thinks she is doing or wishes to do” (Mudrick, 103).

In conclusion, Pride and Prejudice is one of the most remarkable novels written by Jane Austen. The mastery of her use of irony in this work is doubtless, and it is a crucial achievement in Austen’s literary career.

The author wrote this novel before the other two, at a young age. In its pages we see how Austen felt about her class, how did she see those who surround her, the relationships, the attitude, the good and the bad. She opens us a window to her time, with irony as the identifier of her position.

In this work we see characters with perfectly differentiated personalities, which reflect every component of the author’s society. She applies her ironic point of view to both men and women equally, with the only exception of Elinor Dashwood, an issue with which I will deal later.

Thus is the general image we get from this novel: a complete inventory of the behaviours (either good or bad) that Austen witnessed at her time.

Her irony falls over the characters which she considers that have a questionable attitude regarding her own conventions. I have to remark the important fact that the story is not a satire. Jane Austen does not criticize these people in order to get pleasure for their failures, she just acknowledges people’s flaws and finds them humorous. But we will retake this subject in the section of the influence of her irony in her literary success.

But are all characters treated the same way by Jane Austen’s irony? Definetely not. Her choices regarding the use of irony in the novel help us to differenciate which characters are better or worse considered by the author. It is not the same the portray she brings us about Mrs. Jennings than Mrs. Lucy Steele’s profile. Goldwin Smith remarks this different treatment of the characters:

“ Refined almost to fastidiousness, she is hard upon vulgarity; not, however, on good-natured vulgarity, such as that of Mrs. Jennings in “Sense and Sensibility,” but on vulgarity like that of Miss Steele, in the same novel, combined at once with effrontery and with meanness of soul….”

Let’s analyze this method. Jane Austen regards some characters as people whose attitude can hurt others (sometimes purposely), and other characters as simply imperfect if we compare their behaviour to the conventions of her class, all of this presented through an ironic filter.

This is proved, for example, in Marianne Dashwood’s character. Her eagerness to find a man that has her same likes (“Marianne … had never much toleration for anything like impertinence, vulgarity, inferiority of parts, or difference of taste from herself ” (189) ), her disinterested behaviour in the terms of formality (she speaks her thoughts and opinions without barely paying attention to their adequacy), which has to be controlled by her sister Elinor, etc. All these passionate and exaggerated features compound an ironical portrayal of the unruly sensibility of youth. But it does not mean that the author is in complete disagreement with Marianne. In Marianne’s own use of irony we can discern Austen’s feeling about her society. The character is a bold representation of the author and her position.

“With the exception of their mother and the men they eventually marry, the characters surrounding the heroines are mean-spirited, impertinent or vulgar” (Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom). Jane Austen was aware of the effort of people around her to look like they had excellent manners. Image was important, but we cannot change human’s imperfection. In this novel she wants to show the funny contrast between what people were “supposed” to be and what they really were.  “ She was sensitive to the slightest deviation from the standard of good breeding and good sense; and any deviation (there can be no doubt of it) appealed to her sense of fun” (Child, 14).

Mrs. Jennings, one of the most charismatic characters in the novel, is an example of this. She “was a humoured, merry, fat, elderly woman, who talked a great deal, seemed really happy, and rather vulgar. She was full of jokes and laughter, and before dinner was over had said many witty things on the subject of lovers and husbands” (49). Notice how the description contrasts positive adjectives like “humoured” and “merry” to the words “rather vulgar”, which expose that difference between what is accepted as good manners and what belongs simply to someone’s natural personality.

Mrs. Jennings constant interest in matchmaking and gossip is seen as bothering, mostly by Marianne, but this judgement of the woman’s personality is wrong guided by social conventions. Hence we see that ironically Marianne thinks of her as an annoying woman when in fact she just wants the best for her acquaintance (as she demonstrates by taking care of her and her sister when they stay at the her house.): “One of the lessons that Marianne has to learn is that a nosy, vulgar character like Mrs. Jennings may actually possess genuine warmth of heart, and to be entitled to her respect and affection for that reason” (Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom).

Marianne Dashwood does realize her former wrong position. We witness this in the moment in which the Dashwood sisters have to leave Mrs. Jennings’ house, as Marianne takes “so particular and lengthened a leave of Mrs. Jennings, one so earnestly grateful, so full of respect and kind wishes as seemed due to her own heart from a secret acknowledgement of past innattention …” (506).

Her two daughters, Lady Middleton and Mrs. Palmer, are also presented from an ironical point of view. Their attitudes are shockingly different.

On the one hand, Jane Austen presents Lady Middleton as a formal and cold woman with not much willingness to express any kind of great joy, unless it concerns her children. Her behaviour makes her a good acquaintance to Mrs. Fanny Dashwood, a woman that Mrs. Jennings does not approve: “The same manners, however, which recommended Mrs. John Dashwood to the good opinion of Lady Middleton did not suit the fancy of Mrs. Jennings, and to her she appeared nothing more than a little proud-looking woman of uncordial adress …” (339).

On the other hand, Charlotte Palmer is as expressive as her mother, but she is not much interested in other people’s relations. Regarding her relationship with her husband, Charlotte understands (or at least she shows that) his distant and indifferent attitude as something funny. No one else does, obviously, and this is a humurous situation to the reader. “Most of the laughter in Sense and Sensibility is hollow: those who laugh most are most unaware that they themselves make sport for their neighbours”  (42), asserts Rachel M. Brownstein.

Another character which is regarded ironically by Jane Austen is Edward Ferrars. His engagement to Lucy Steele, against her mother and family’s approval is a scandal that provokes hilarious reactions such as the exaggeration of her sister Fanny. But what is truly ironic is that even though he surpasses all those familiar boundaries to try to achive his marriage with Lucy, he starts his relationship with her because it was an entertainment, a path to follow in a time in which he felt lost in life. Therefore, he risked his relation with his family because of a romance which was not as romantic as it should have been. Fortunately he finally marries the woman for whom he really felt love: Elinor.

We have seen characters whose attitude does not coincide with what in that time was understood as good-breeding, and whose behaviour Austen considers amusing.

However, as I have claimed before, there are some characters who, even though they look decent in public, they hide a mean attitude.

Jane Austen creates the comic couple formed by John and Fanny Dashwood to show us how a woman could control his husband’s feeble mind in issues such as money and the relation with his family. Fanny is greedy and insensitive towards his husband’s sisters, and John, infected by his wife’s influence, just addresses to Elinor, Marianne and their mother with urbanity.  Therefore, we see the fakeness that was hidden behind courtesy in Austen’s class.

But they are not the only instance of this falsehood. Mr. Willoughby is a kind of Prince Charming that fools Marianne and even readers with his manners. He behaves like the perfect companion to her. They connect instantly. However, the acquaintance does not work as well as it was supposed. He makes Marianne suffer by, ironically, after making her think they were about to get engaged, starting to ignore her, as a way of getting rid of her attention. He wants to achieve this because her estate is not enough for his ambition: that is why he marries another woman. He does not have enough money because his aunt decided not to give him economic help, as he refused to marry a young girl which he had left although she was pregnant.

“Willoughby is the romantic hero of Marianne’s (or any fictional heroine’s) imagination, handsome, dashing and with apparent sensibility. At least he has, or pretends to have, those attributes that were taken to indicate sensibility: fire, eagerness, vivacity, enthusiasm, love of romantic music and poetry, Marianne’s ‘rapturous delight that alone could be called taste’, quickness of thought and so on. But he has no sense of honour or obligation to others for his selfish behaviour” (Jane Austen Society of Australia).

Mrs. Lucy Steele is the character whose attitude exemplifies the meanness of some ambitious people in Austen’s class.

She is a young woman that with her good manners makes people think she is kind and amiable, but under this cover, she hides an ambition which does not care about  means to get her aim.

Elinor starts by thinking she is a nice lady, but when Lucy starts to confess her her situation with Edward Ferrars, she throws Elinor into a complicated situation in which she has to confront her own feelings about Edward to be capable of restraining them so that she can respect his engagement to Mrs. Steele. Lucy knows about the close acquaintance Elinor and Edward have had, and that is why she uses this strategy to confirm her domain.

Jane Austen regards ironically Lucy’s conduct, portraying her as a controller and clever lady, acting like a master in the sad game of false appearences.

Another big proof of irony is how, as we have mentioned before, she does not marry Edward Ferrars eventually. She marries, what is more surprising, his brother, Robert, a haughty gentleman who had shown his disapproval regarding his brother’s engagement to that woman.

Thus we have seen how not every character is portrayed in the same way by the author. Irony is applied differently, depending on their attitude. In fact, the character of Elinor Dashwood is not touched by the author’s irony, and this is explained by the fact that she does not make those failures that Jane Austen points at as humurous situations. She is the representative of sense (at least in most of the novel), a virtue that Austen really admires.

To sum up, this early work exposes the author’s youthful rush, through clearly defined characters described with Austen’s clever and funny irony.

“Sense and Sensibility is … , as one would expect from an earlier work, much closer than Pride and Prejudice … to the classical tradition of comedy … The characters in Sense and Sensibility, for instance, tend to be more simply good or bad; the plot develops almost entirely through external events rather than inward changes in the protagonists”, according to Ian Watt. This quote remarks a feature that differenciates Sense and Sensibility from one of the other novels I am working with in this paper, Pride and Prejudice: the first is not as complex as the second, regarding the development of the characters. From my point of view, that is due to the fact that while writing Sense and Sensibility, she had not yet the experience that made her achieve her sublim use of irony in Pride and Prejudice.

That does not mean, however, that Sense and Sensibility is not a good work. It really is, it is a great achievement for a young writer to redact a novel like this, with such freshness and wit.

The main aim of this paper will be exploring the issue of irony in three of Jane Austen’s novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, focusing in several subjects:

First of all, how its use evolves through the works. Each of them was written in a different period of the author’s life (youth, adulthood, maturity). Therefore, her literary  and life experience was different, and I find interesting how it affects her ironical approach of the world that we see in her stories. To expose this change in her irony I point out those elements which demonstrate it.

In Sense and Sensibility I am going to focus basically in how its characters and their behaviour is regarded by Austen from an ironic approach. She does it in different ways, depending on the character, and I am going to study this fact.

Pride and Prejudice allows us to see the author’s natural humoristic view of life through one of her favourite heroines, Elizabeth Bennet, whose dialogues are a clear reflection of Austen’s more brilliant irony.  But she is not the only one that uses this linguistic tool. Other characters pour their thoughts through an ironic filter, and I will also explore their dialogues.

Persuasion contains a more subtle exhibition of Jane Austen’s irony, which she uses mostly in several situations throughout the novel.

After this analysis of the evolution of her use of irony in the above mentioned works, I am going to investigate the influence that her irony has had in her success as a writer, the opinions it has raised from readers and critics.

These works are still read nowadays, they are object of study, and irony has to do with it. That is why I have chosen to explore this feature of her writing style, as I find it the most attractive and interesting.

I have to remark that among the several works I have used as sources of this paper, the most useful to me has been A. C. Bradley’s essay about Jane Austen. He describes her work with a point of view very near to the one from the reader, rather than from a critic, and it helps to see the effect that irony causes, not only how it is used.

After all irony pursues a reaction from the receiver, and that is what Jane Austen seeks for by using it. Jane Austen allows us to regard life through her humoristic voice. She laughs through Elizabeth’s mouth, she rejoices at the twisted games of fate. “Jane Austen’s … instictive attitude, is, of course, that of the humorist” , claims A. C. Bradley (17).

Her use of irony is so strong that it can turn completely the view we have of her stories. Romance invades the pages but at some time it is something to laugh at. Her novels “… might even be called anti-romantic” (Bradley, 13). These surprising changes make Jane Austen’s works a truly attractive experience to dive in.