Passage Two
　　Directions: Read the following passage and write a 200-300 word comment on the text from the perspective of “dramatic irony”. (15 points)

　　Pride and Prejudice is a complex study of human deception and self-deception. Throughout the book, characters are deceived by appearances, fool themselves and others, pretend to be what they are not. Their expectations are mistaken; their actions grounded in false premises. The author reveals the motives and consequences of these failures in perception by having their false understanding culminate in actions whose effects are the opposite of what is intended. This sharp contrast between knowledge and truth, between what the characters understand and what the reader understands, between intention or expectation and fulfillment is called dramatic irony.
　　Dramatic irony may have an objective or a subjective foundation, or both. Appearances may lie, may suggest the opposite of what actually is. Thus, Wickham ’ s “appearance was greatly in his favor” (XV) and Darcy ’ s proud bearing seems to imply a thoroughly bad character. But appearances are misleading: “One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it” (XL). Jane ’ s modesty belies her ardent love for Bingley (VI, XXXVI). Georgiana’s shy demeanor conceals a surprising capacity for passionate impulse (XLIII). Charlotte ’ s attentions to Collins seem to be only common courtesy (XVIII, XX, XXI) for which Elizabeth is grateful, but she is actually stalking a husband (XXII). Because of what she has said of him in the past, Elizabeth is thought to despise Darcy (LVII, LXIX), when actually she is in love with him. In each of these situations things are not as they would seem. Reality wears a mask that solicits mistaken judgments.
　　But although there are objective occasions for superficial (and erroneous) opinion, a more cautious scrutiny of the facts would sometimes avoid this discrepancy between estimation and actuality. For example, Mr. Bennet is ignorant of Elizabeth ’ s true feelings about Darcy. What he takes for the truth (that he will amuse Elizabeth with the absurdity of Collins ’ s suggestion that she is engaged to a man she dislikes) is directly contrary to the truth (LVII). The source of her father ’ s ironic error, however, lies in the circumstances rather than in himself. On the other hand, Elizabeth is wrong about Wickham and Darcy because she has disposed herself to be deceived. Her offended prude (V) has blinded her judgment (VI). Things are the opposite of what she supposes (not only does she misread their characters, but Darcy admires rather than dislikes her ). The irony here is compounded because Elizabeth prides herself on her intelligence and perception. When ignorance thus pretends to knowledge, it is evidence of a moral failure. When Mr. Collins understands Elizabeth ’ s refusal of his proposal as an encouragement of his pursuit--a covert acceptance (XIX)—his blindness to the plain reality is a comment on his egotism, his snobbish exaggeration of his social importance. In these last two cases, the irony is more emphatic because deception is self-deception.
　　In order to dramatize comically the sham and pretense of many of the persons in her book, the author juxtaposes their interpretations of themselves and their actual behavior. Lady Catherine ’ s pride in her social status is repeatedly shown by her petty mind and “ill breeding” to be without foundation. Caroline Bingley implies that she is socially superior to the Bennet family, but her crude pursuit of Darcy exposes the flimsiness of her pretension to refinement. Mr. Collins continually announces his importance, and simultaneously betrays his moral, social, and intellectual unimportance. The pretensions of these characters are the inverse of what their behavior shows them really to be. Because characters take appearances for reality, deceive themselves or are deceived, they act on wrong premises, look forward in error. Things turn out contrary to their anticipations. Their actions produce effects opposite to those intended. Thus, Darcy seeks to prevent a connection with the Bennet family (he has misjudged the power of the girl ’ s attractions), and he ends up marrying a Bennet himself. Lady Catherine acts to prevent a marriage and she becomes the cause of it (LX). Mr. Bennet permits his daughter to go to Brighton in order to keep peace in a family that he regards with ironical detachment. But this results in his greater involvement and in a disruption of the family peace. Caroline acts to arouse Darcy against Elizabeth, but succeeds only in reminding him of the intimacy they share (XLV). Misled by appearances to believe that Darcy dislikes her, prevented by her prejudice against him from seeing the truth, Elizabeth tries verbally to rebuke him; but in doing so she actually makes herself more attractive to him (VI,IX,X,XI,XVIII,XXXI,LX.) .By allowing events directly to contradict the judgments, expectations, and intentions of her characters, the author clarifies their limitations. The reader (aware of theatrical situation) is made to see reality mock and punish pride, vanity, and failures in awareness. Dramatic irony thus becomes a way of dealing out a kind of natural retribution and revealing the surprise and complexity of experience.