As I mentioned in my previous blog
posts, I am fascinated with Jane Austen’s use of “parody” and “satire” in Pride and Prejudice. Her constant use of minor characters, along
with her exaggerations of class “roles” perfectly fit into this construction of
“parodying” social and literature norms.
For my second paper, I am planning on connecting Woloch’s brief
descriptions of “parody” along with the claims in the “Class” article to the representation of these uses in Pride and Prejudice and how looking at this novel in a “satirical”
sense provides a much deeper understanding of what Austen is trying to
accomplish with these characters.
As I was reading the excerpts from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it was
very clear to me (and probably most readers) that the author was “parodying”
Austen’s literary structure and story-telling devices. Author Seth Grahame Smith exposes the satirical
nature of Austen’s famous text about romance and class structure and uses “humor”
and “parody” to help readers enjoy the original text even more. and While this may be an “extreme” form of satire,
especially involving zombies, the humor comes from the reader’s familiarity
with the norms expected from Austen’s work and the unexpected nature that two
such different literary genres would combine successfully. As I begin to write my paper, I need to flesh
out a better understanding of why Austen wants the audience to see the “satire”
in her work and how different (and satirical) versions of this text are connected to the
Austen’s own “self-satire”.
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