Both Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’ Diary are examples of British literature and are riddled with irony (the Brits favorite kind of humour). For us not so clever North Americans it can be somewhat confusing to understand the humour in these British novels without fully understanding the irony behind them.
Irony in Pride and Prejudice
What many people don’t know about Jane Austen novels is that they are actually funny! When most people (myself included) think of classic literature we think of long boring stories that have a serious message to share, but what is great about Austen’s books is that she uses irony in such a brilliant way that if you can catch it, it is quite entertaining. Probably the most famous use of irony used in Pride and Prejudice is within the very first sentence of the book where it states, “It is truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Pride and Prejudice, Austen, chapter 1 paragraph 1). This is an excellent example of verbal irony since the rest of the book proves the exact opposite of this statement, which a woman’s sole purpose in life is to trap a husband in single position of a good fortune.
Irony in Bridget Jones’s Diary
If people do not understand the irony in this book then they will not find Bridget’s life funny at all, they will probably find it quite sad and depressing. The dramatic irony seen throughout the book is that although Bridget claims she is an independent career woman the readers can tell she is actually co-dependant and somewhat helpless without a guy in her life. At the beginning of each entry Bridget writes her weight, calorie intake, alcohol units and cigarettes smoked. Throughout the book the readers make the connection between Bridget’s progress and her love life, yet Bridget fails to connect the two. Now before you get your feminist knickers in a knot Helen Fielding was in no way writing this book to offend women but instead wrote it as a satire of the modern day woman. Readers can laugh along Bridget’s journey since (although we don’t like to admit it) we have all been in Bridget’s shoes.