What Genres Can Pride and Prejudice Be Classified In?

Pride and Prejudice was written in the early eighteenth century and can be classified
as a romantic novel, a historical fiction or a coming of age (bildungsroman).
The characteristics of the book that allow it to be classified as a romantic fiction are the
elements of love and marriage, which are recurring themes throughout the novel. The
romantic journeys that many of the characters embark on provide much of the plot and the
opportunity to explore the issues surrounding marriage, societal change, gender expectations
and the idea of prejudice within society.
It also shows a part of history, and opens a door for us to see what life for young
women in England was like in the early eighteenth century, giving a glimpse at society and
life for both the rich and poor families of the time. This means that the novel, in some ways,
could also be pigeon-holed as a historical fiction.
Although Pride and Prejudice is not usually classified as a comedic novel, it is a book
written with wit and humour, which is often shown through Mrs. Bennet's determination to
have all her five daughters married, her worry about Jane and Elizabeth becoming old maids,
and Mr. Bennet's teasing to which she is mostly oblivious to. Austen's sense of humour is
also shown through Lydia and Kitty's desperate flirting and sneaky tricks that they think will
get them married earlier, and their childish, immature views on life and love, and what is
important. Austen uses various literary devices to show the hypocrisy of prejudice, and uses
irony to convey her ideas about society at the time.
Through the eyes of Elizabeth, we see her perception of the world around her shift
over time, and can see how her ideas and views on life slowly progress, develop and change.
This is the basic idea of a bildungsroman (coming of age) novel, that the protagonist embarks
on a journey of internal change, to become more mature and open-minded.
 Literary Fiction:
Fiction is the classification for any story or similar work derived from imagination—
in other words, not based strictly on history or fact.
This is the major work, right up there with all the big ones as a foundational piece of
art of western literature. Actually, a lot of people argue that Austen is the first modern
novelist meaning, she’s the first to stop writing about crazy adventures and unlikely derring-
do, and instead focus on the inner lives of regular people going about their every day lives.
That makes Pride and Prejudice literary fiction.
 Coming of Age:
 Pride and Prejudice may not look like your typical coming-of-Age novel. This idea of
this novel: love really only works when the people getting together are grown ups. It’s not
about looks, and it’s not about wealth although for sure those things help also because what
really connects two people is a level of empathy and understanding for other people’s points
of view.
It plays out for Darcy and Elizabeth. At first, he thinks “She is tolerable, but not
handsome enough to tempt me” i.e., he’s not about to ask for her digits. Meanwhile, she
thinks he’s so rude that she refuses to acknowledge he might he might have some other
positive character traits. They both some major growing up to do. Darcy has to get over
himself. Which he just starts to do when he sees how far Elizabeth is willing to go for her
sick sister.
And Elizabeth needs to learn to give the benefit of the doubt, which she starts doing
when she reads Darcy's letter, first from her own point of view, and then, crucially, from his.
Turns out he's not really a total jerk so much as an awkward but well-meaning clod. And
we all love an awkward but well-meaning clod.
 Comedy:
In all of Austen’s novels, the reason that hero and heroin don’t get together right from
the beginning is that they don’t necessarily belong together, they both have some serious
growing up to do.
In Pride and Prejudice, for example, Darcy has to give up some of his presumptions
about himself and other people, and Elizabeth has to learn to give people the benefit of the
doubt. Meanwhile, we are not even convinced they belong together or would not have been
reading the book for the first time.
In modern romantic comedies, on the other hand, the hero heroin are already
obviously perfect people who are perfect for each other. It’s the outside world that is keeping
them apart through all sorts of wacky contrivance, and they do finally get together, it’s not
because they learned to be better, more suitable people, but just because they jumped through
whatever hoops were standing in their way.
 Satire:
Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which
vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of
shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into
improvement.[1] Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often
constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in
society.
Jane Austen uses other women characters throughout Pride and Prejudice to satirize
this social expectation of marrying as duty and for wealth. She begins the book with a
sarcastic sentence, writing: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in
possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. 'Jane Austen uses other women
characters throughout Pride and Prejudice to satirize this social expectation of marrying as
duty and for wealth. She begins the book with a sarcastic sentence, writing: 'It is a truth
universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want
of a wife.'
Austen certainly satirizes Mr. Collins through everything she has him do and say. As
we are limited to space, below are a couple of ideas to help get you started.
One example of Austen satirizing Mr. Collins can be seen in his proposal to
Elizabeth. His proposal clearly portrays his arrogance, conceit, and especially his obsession
with Lady Catherine de Bourgh. First, Austen uses dramatic irony to satirize Mr. Collins. He
foolishly mistakes Elizabeth's very obvious attempts at leaving the room and getting out of
listening to his proposal as a sign of her "modesty" and says that her "little unwillingness"
makes her more "amiable in [his] eyes" (Ch. 19). This is an excellent example of dramatic
irony because the reader knows, unlike Mr. Collins, that Elizabeth really has absolutely no
desires to hear Mr. Collins out and that Mr. Collins is grossly misjudging the situation due to
his vanity. This same dramatic irony continues when she finally has a moment to speak and
reject Mr. Collins. The reader knows that she is being perfectly sincere; however, Mr. Collins
again interprets this rejection as a sign of modesty and proclaims he knows full well that
modest young women often reject the man's proposal that they mean to accept and sometimes
reject the proposal "a second and even a third time" (Ch. 19). Therefore, his vanity has again
led him to misinterpret Elizabeth's sincerity. His vanity and obsession with Lady Catherine
even show up in the words of his actual proposal. Just as a romantic woman like Elizabeth
would want, as if it was a business meeting, he begins by laying out his reasons for wanting
to be married, which are that it's his duty as a clergyman in "easy circumstances," meaning
financially well-of;, that it would increase his own pleasure and happiness; and most
importantly--Lady Catherine has told him to do so. His reflection on his own personal wealth
and personal gain in his proposal show us just how vain and conceited he truly is. In
addition, he had already assumed beyond a doubt that Elizabeth's answer would be yes,
which again underscores his vanity and conceit.
 A second example of Austen satirizing Mr. Collins can be seen in the consolation
letter he writes to Mr. Bennet upon hearing that Lydia has run away with Wickham. Mr.
Collins' letter is an excellent example of verbal irony because he says he has written to
"condole with [Mr. Bennet] on the grievous affliction [he is] now suffering under"; however,
the rest of the letter is an attack on Lydia's character and even the character of her parents
who raised her to be licentious through a "faulty degree of indulgence" (Ch. 48). Not only
that, in arrogance, he condemns the rest of the daughters by arguing that Lydia's behavior will
impact their prospects of marrying well, "for who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly
says, will connect themselves with such a family" (Ch. 48). All in all, this was not as much of
a letter of condolence as it was a letter of judgment and reproof. In addition, his insults to the
whole family and his reference to Lady Catherine's condescension shows us that he judges
himself to be morally superior to the Bennet family, which clearly depicts again his vanity,
arrogance, and conceit, as well as his obsession with Lady Catherine.