Part 1 of Essay
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife".(pg.1) The first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the most famous opening of all English comedies concerning social manners. It encapsulates the ambitions of the empty headed Mrs. ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... other figures; the haughty Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the fatuous Mr. Collins; the younger Bennet daughter, Lydia; and her lover, Wickham, with whom she scandalously elopes. It is often pointed out that Austen's novels emphasize characterization and romanticism, but in Pride and Prejudice the emphasis is on the irony, values and realism of the characters as they develop throughout the story. Jane Austen's irony is devastating in its exposure of foolishness and hypocrisy. Self-delusion or the attempt to fool other ....