Abstract

Jane Austen is a famous English novelist whose works of romantic fiction earns her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. This thesis aims to present the common feature of characters---snobbery in her three novels—Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park by analysing their characterization and verbal irony. 

Key words: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, snobbery, verbal irony

摘要

简•奥斯汀是一位著名的英国小说家，她的浪漫主义小说使她成为英国文学史上最受读者广泛阅读的作家。
本文旨在通过介绍她的三本小说——《傲慢与偏见》，《理智与情感》，《曼斯菲尔德庄园》的情节和背景，通过分析作品中人物的性格和奥斯汀的言语反讽来展现作品中人物的共同特征——势利。

关键词：《傲慢与偏见》 ；《理智与情感》 ；《曼斯菲尔德庄园》 ；势利；言语反讽

1. Introduction:
Jane Austen (1775 –1817) is an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction earns her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her ironical tone has strenghened her historical importance among scholars and critics. G. H. Lewes described Jane Austen as “ Prose Shakespeare” (Lewes 145) and thought of her as “the greatest artist” (Lewes 155). Similarly, Virginia Woolf once commented on Jane Austen about “her greatness as an artist” (Woolf 240). Mark Twain also had remarks on her : “When I take up one of Jane Austen’s books, such as Pride and Prejudice, I feel like a barkeeper entering the kingdom of heaven.” (Twain 232) In addition, Thomas Babington Macaulay once praised Jane Austen for her character-portrayal and the association of her name with Shakespeare. What’s more, Charlotte Brontë also thought highly of Jane Austen, judging from her letters to her friends as she thought Jane Austen as “one of the greatest artists, of the greatest painters of human character, and one of the writers with the nicest sense of means to an end that ever lived” (Brontë 140).