简奥斯汀小说中的反讽艺术

Irony in Jane Austens Novels by * December, 2009 * Abstract Irony is an important feature of Jane Austens Novels, and is also the cornerstone of creation. It is used in the expressing of theme, characterization and plot development vividly and incisively. And it has its own distinct characteristics. This thesis aims to discuss the classification of irony, the use of irony in Jane Austens novels and function of irony from three aspects, namely the expressing of theme, characterization and plot development. Irony in Jane Austens novels is more than a stylistic device. Jane Austen criticizes the money-oriented attitude to life and marriage by use of irony. Key words : Jane Austen, Irony, Verbal Irony, Situational Irony, Structural Irony, Model Irony 论简论简奥斯汀小说中的反讽艺术奥斯汀小说中的反讽艺术 摘要摘要 反讽是简奥斯汀小说的重要特色，也是她创作的基石。在表现主题、塑 造人物和情节发展中反讽都运用得淋漓尽致，并有其鲜明的个性特色。本文阐 述了反讽的类别，及其在简奥斯汀小说的表现，以及它们在表现主题，塑造 人物，组织情节和语言上的作用。 关键词关键词：简奥斯汀；反讽；言语反讽；情景反讽；结构反讽；模式反讽 Contents 1 INTRODUCTION.1 2 DEFINITIONS OF IRONY.1 2.1 THE CONCEPT OF IRONY.1 2.2 THE CLASSIFICATION OF IRONY.1 2.2.1 Verbal Irony .1 2.2.2 Situational Irony.2 2.2.3 Structural Irony.3 2.2.4 Model Irony.4 3 THE FUNCTION OF IRONY.4 3.1 TO PERFORMANCE THE THEME.5 3.2 TO SHAPE CHARACTERS.6 3.2.2 The irony of flat figures.6 3.2.2 The irony of round figures.7 3.3 TO ORGANISE THE PLOT AND LANGUAGE.8 4 CONCLUSION.9 BIBLIOGRAPHY .10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.11 1 Introduction The end of 18 and beginning of 19 centry is the era of growth and development of women writers. Jane Austen is so long-lasting that she occupies an important position in English literary history, She inherited the Irony tradition of European literature. Her novels describe everyday life with her unique style. She makes irony, as a device used in novels, more concisely and maturer. She creats six novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield park, and Emma. Her masterpiece-“pride and prejudice” has been listed in the most famous novels of worlds top ten. All of these had become models of pure English. Researching Austens novel can improve our English and deepen our understanding of the Westernworld. In this world of accelerated globalization, we are very beneficial for researching Jane Austen . The irony is the most commonly used method of Jane Austen. By studying Jane Austens novel, we can understand the social patterns and peoples values of marriage. Jane Austen, as one of the United Kingdoms most famous writers in modern times, the humanistic Western society, customs and the spirit reflected in her novels is worth studying. 2 Definitions of irony 2.1 The concept of irony Irony is one of the most common Micro-rhetorical skills. Its the skill which allegory people or things from the opposite side, or by using ironic words. But the real mean is hidden in the lines. And the reader also can understand. Since we can narrative plot, shape characters, show the authors emotional attitude by using irony, people draw attention to this technique. Though the words seems small, the topic is profound, powerful and meaningful . 2.2 The classification of irony As a literary technique, irony can be divided into Verbal Irony, Situational Irony, Structural Irony, Model Irony by YangJun. We can see that irony is one of the main means of artistic in Jane Austens novels and is also a principal way to comprehend the world. 2.2.1 Verbal Irony Verbal Irony contains a metaphor meaning. The speakers remarks on the surface are usually contrary to real meaning. The authors true intentions are inclued, we can get it easy. This ironic statement can express an attitude or evaluation of the speaker. However it implicit the different even oppsite attitude or evaluation. Verbal Irony is reflected in the surface of language, used in fictions narrative, description, and dialogue. By using irony, the auther can stimulate the readers imagination. Its implicit rhetoric. For example, in the novel Emma, the Verbal Irony is abound, when we read the novel at the first time, we can find that the irony is widely used. “Emma Woodhouse, handsome.clever,and rich,with a comortable home and a happy disposition ,seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence ;and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little ti distress or vex her .” At the beginning of the novel, Jane Austen uses the adjectives which are of broad and unclear meanings, such as “clever”, “handsome” and so on. These broad and unclear word also are used in Jane Austens other novels, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice. These words not only can describe the roles character truly, but hint that clever people may be victims of their own cleverness. Jane Austen uses those words to discribe Emma, and this means that it is a story of “Clever people may be victims of their own cleverness”. Besides , the writer uses “seem”, this hint the fact is not like this case. And her life is too good to be unbelive. As expected, next paragraph is that shes fly in the ointment -her wayward. Estimates of their own highly . In the pride and prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man inpossession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. In the famous opening sentence, the author gives a hint of irony. In her description of the society, parents are always taking money as the standard when looking for their daughters husband. Therefore, this work is the model for both Structure Irony and verbal Irony. 2.2.2 Situational Irony Situational Irony, extends to the novel the scene and circumstances of a relatively independent from the language level. In the Situational Irony, the writer and readers understand the present or the future development of the situation, yet the people in the novels are unaware, so they do what incompatible with the actual situation and things go contrary to their wishes. In other words, Situational Irony, is the plots development or characters idea in the novel runs counter to other side. Or even contrary to the expectation of the readers. And the atmosphere is disharmonious with characters inner flow. Both of them formed a great contrast. In Jane Austens novels, most of the heroine have the same weaknesses:divorced from reality, the reality of imagination is too romantic and legendary , imagine people, according to their own aesthetic standard”, and this is all Jane Austen heroines “sin”. In the novel Emma, Emma is not a exception. And perhaps her imagination is the most active. With Jenny Fairfax and Frank Churchill have returned to Highbury, her imagination has been activated. At this time, readers can think her as the object of situational irony and have fun. In accordance with the heaviest principle in GermanyKemukers definition of Situational Irony that The target of irony are unknown or ignored.” The other things except the present thing to put it simply, the reason why we feel that a situation is an ironic sense, because someone think it is a very ignorant. Emma is such an irony object. When she is flirting with Frank; when she and Frank laugh at Jane Fairfax, make joking and ridicule, she has never thought of she is actually the object and victim of irony in this situation .Even the reader is also kept in the dark. For suspense of this part of the story, the authors try to keep readers arent aware of Frank and Jennys marriage and who give Jenny the piano. When the readers read at the second time, they can find the tension of a dramatic irony after the mystery is exposed, learn Emma prepare an abyss of erro for herself, even those who first reading will be able to identify the secrets of Churchill, who also particularly feel the effect of irony. When Emma and Frank is together, her naive and ignorant are even more impressive. Because Frank is “the only person who can outguess Emma” in the story and also conceited, a small smart. like her. But he beat her, in her own game, because he is not self-deception like her. Heroine was manipulated for the first time in the story by an even better person in the. In Pride and Prejudice, at first, Elizabeth, was with a strong prejudice of Darcy, so when Darcy proposed to her with arrogant rhetoric for the first time , Elizabeth rejected him firmly. When read at this point, readers are still doubt the possibility of their combining, but they overcome their own arrogance and prejudice to become a pair of well-being, which is a typical Situational Irony. 2.2.3 Structural Irony Structural Irony is to introduce a double meaning, to contain the structural features of the whole work. Which starting from the overall structure of the novel. Common technique of Structural Irony is to creat a naive protagonist or an unnormal narrator. Their naive always lead them to make a variety of simple or strange interpretation of many things . Readers understand the authors satirical intent and thus be able to get a different evaluation ,while the parties concerned do not know. In Emma , Emma first imagined frustratedly because she misjudged the intentions of Mr. Elton and she had specially strong control of Harriet. In this section, the authors use the Structure Irony mainly. According to the definition of ManHeAbrams(MH Abrams), Structure Irony is to create “a pure (female) protagonist, or a simple narrator, (her) his simple-minded cant overcome or a stupid cause (she) he is stubborn.” While the reader is able to realize the truth and can share the authors point of view behind the simple figure and follow the authors request to correct the error of this figure. Structural Irony depends on that readers can share the authors satirical intention. In fact, the authors practicing of this irony is giving a compliment of readers intelligence. The key of Structural Irony is to create a simple and dull hero or heroine. Readers and writers would share the truth at the same time. Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comortable home and a happy disposition, was spoiled by a loving and indulgent father and a docile and obedient female family teachers. Despite her cheerful disposition, she is stubborn, and always indulged by imagination. Her most fundamental characteristic is that only trust her own judgments”, She handled matters completely according to the imagination and speculation, so “she often explained things with wrong inference. ” As a result of his father and the family teachers overindulgence, Emma cultivated a habit of control others. Therefore, after Miss Taylor (the female Family teachers) got married, she need to control and patronize people. And that is why she choose Harriet Smith as her companion. Harriet is the kind of peole Emma likes patronizing, because she is tempered and not calculating, moreover she is “ignorant”. In addition, she is negligible. At least Emmas vanity can be satisfied, because she can enjoy a sense of superiority by transforming Harriet. As Howard.Sa.Barber said, when in the favors of others, she also raised her own status at the same time. 2.2.4 Model Irony Model Irony is reflected by comparing with other fictions, is to smash the old model of fictions genre, character, structure, plot ect. Model Irony creates a different novel model to satirize the old mode. In the history of women writers literature, Jane Austen made a pioneering effort to the lierature. Her novel Pride and Prejudice completed the oversteping of narratives mode of the literary by the construction of omnidirectional narrative pattern. In the 18 century to the early 19th century, English literature is full of vulgar, silly sentimental novel and the Gothic novel. and Austen brought new ideas forth for her novels. Her novels comes out the daily life of the British rural middle classes and the rural scenery without the impact of the capitalist industrial revolution. Her works, often mock peoples stupidity, selfishness, snobbery and blind self- confidence, contemptible weakness ridiculous through the comic scenes. Austens novels appeared in the early 19th century. She swept away the popular pseudo- romantic trend of that moment, inherited and developed the good tradition of British 18th-century realist and prepared for the climax of the 19th-century realist novel. Although reflection of the breadth and depth in her work is limited, her works reflects the whole social formation and the ways of the world from a small window such as“two inches ivory. And she played a good role of changing the vulgar culture of creation. She is the nexus in the history of the novel in British and is known as a writer on an equal footing with Shakespeare. 3 The function of irony The function of irony is 1.To performance the theme 2. To shape characters 3. In order to organize the plot and words. 3.1 To performance the theme In Pride and Prejudice, Austen criticized the single-minded pursuit of money and status of marriage in the society at that time by using irony. At the openning of the novel, the writer contrast the theme by using Verbal Irony. The first paragraph of the novel, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This sentence seems to be a description of the facts and may arise the readers think widely. However, she immediately said that “However the little feelings or views of such a man may be known when his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters”. The beginning insinuated Mrs. Bennett has been trying to marry her five pretty daughters to the rich. So it is not a rich bachelor have to marry a wife, but single daughter have to marry a man with industry. The whole process is full of situational irony, Darcy and Elizabeths marriage is the most successful marriage combination in the novel. At first they didnt like each other at all, but they attracted each other and later loved each other and marriaged at last. In the 19th century, hero and heroine are perfect in the traditional romance novels, they usually fall in love at first sight. Yet in Pride and Prejudice arrangement is opposite. A certain extent, this model is the irony to a traditional novels mode in the 19th century. Darcy appeared as a handsome, rich man, but was known as an arrogant, indifferent and unpolite guy. when he met Elizabeth in the ball for the first time, he insulted her, so it lead to the girls extreme antipathy. However, after meeting again and again, he was atrracted by Elizabeths astute and wit, and fell in love with her. After the long repression, Darcy finally proposed marriage to Elizabeth, even though Elizabeths status is low and her family is not so good. However, this marriage proposal was refused by the girl, This scenario arrangement, the outcome of rejected is the irony to good match concept of marriage in the upper classes of society. At first, Elizabeth thought Darcy with a strong prejudice, so when he proposed to her for the first time, Elizabeth firmly rejected him, and claimed that she was much unwilling to marry such a person like Darcy in the world. When we read at this point, all readers is still doubt the possibility of the combining of them. They overcome their own arrogance and prejudice to become a pair of well-being. This is a typical scenario irony. But in any case, such an arrangement is the same as the beginning of the novel, the theme is the money and the status is still the basic of the marriage. Although Elizabeth refused Darcy beause of her own prejudice and emotion, but in the end she was married to the single people of wealth and status. In the Pride and Prejudice, the four marriages, four types of marriages, all have happy endings. When we laugh, we could also see the writer how to criticize the real face of of the bourgeois marriage. 3.2 To shape characters EWFoster divided the novels characters into flat figures and the round figures according to a single-system and multi-faceted of character. Jane Austen extensively used Verbal Irony and Situational Irony, When she shaped these two types of people. 3.2.1 The irony of flat figures The flat figures are the persons who are relatively simple, and sneered at by the narrator. They are minor character. In the Pride and Prejudice, the most