I am getting into a chick-flick

I was thinking about writing my paper on a topic dealing with Austen's satire and humor. I need to think about what she satirizes. Probably society during the early nineteenth century, vanity, and naivety. The characters I would focus on would be Mr. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and Elizabeth and Darcy. As I was reading this weekend, there was a line on Page 201 that literally made me laugh out loud. Miss Bingley repeatedly mocks Elizabeth "from a determination of making [Darcy] speak" (201). Ms. Bingley perceives "air altogether" as "intolerable," and says, "'She a beauty!--I should as soon call her mother a wit. But...I believe you thought her rather pretty at one time'" (200-201). Darcy replies, "But that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance" (201). I actually laughed. My man Darcy totally burned Ms. Bingley. The best part is how sarcastic Austen is towards Ms. Bingley: "Miss Bingley was left to all the satisfaction of having forced him to say what gave no one pain but herself" (201). I feel like the problem with the topic of "satire" is that I am not entirely sure what Austen satirizes, or even what exactly "satire" is. But the book is really funny.

Another concept that I am considering is the idea of love. Darcy's letter talks describes Bingley and Jane's feelings towards each other, and Elizabeth had never "so honestly felt that she could have loved him as now, when all love must be vain" (205). The magnitude of "change in a man of so much pride excited not only astonishment but gratitude--for to love, ardent love, it must be attributed" (197). I think this is a very important quotation because it deals with pride, change, and love. I think these are three critical themes in Pride and Prejudice. Darcy is proud, but he is not, at least anymore, prejudiced against lower-class people due to his love for Elizabeth. Love is the key, and it can change people, it is more important than the pride or prejudice that anyone may have. I am not sure if this is true, because Darcy was right about Wickham, and he was right in assessing Jane's lack of love for Bingley. Despite this, I think he was much more arrogant and prejudiced in the beginning of the story. I think his love for Elizabeth has allowed him to overcome those two previous character traits.