4.5.1 Assertive Irony
According to Searle，“the point or purpose of the assertive class is to commit the speaker to something's being the case，to the truth of the expressed proposition.”（Searle，2001d，p.12）That is，the assertive speech acts indicate that the speaker intends to make the listener accept the proposition，believing the truth of his statement.While for irony，the speaker means to criticize by way of praise or vice versa.Therefore，the goal of assertive irony is that the speaker manages to make the listener accept the implications of the proposition，believing the truth of the implicit meanings.
The majority ofironic speech acts are assertive irony.It is also the case in this novel.
Example 23
“I flatter myself，”replied Elinor，“that even under the disadvantage of better rooms and a broader staircase，you will hereafter find your own house as faultless as you now do this.”
Here，before Elinor's utterance，Willoughby was praising Mrs.Dashwood's house as perfect as he ever saw in order to please Marianne and her mother.This hypocritical action was detected by Elinor who made an assertive irony to show her disgust.In here，Elinor violated the maxim of manner of Cooperative Principle—to be brief and concise.Besides，according to Searle，sincerity forms a necessary condition in making a request.That is the speaker hopes to get relevant information.So Elinor should offer a concise and warm response.Instead，when saying“under the disadvantage of better rooms...，you will hereafter find your own house as faultless as you now do this，”Elinor began to satirize Willoughby in order to expose his hypocrisy.
Example 24
“Do not you know my sister well enough to understand what she means？Do not you know that she calls every one reserved who does not talk as fast，and admire what she admires as rapturously as herself？”（Elinor）
It is impossible for the readers to ignore this ironic utterance by Elinor.Here，through praising，Elinor aimed to criticize her sister's standard ofjudgments which were based on prejudice and excess of sensibility.Besides，the two rhetorical questions and the word“every one”also made her announcement less convincing.All these led us to a right understanding of her assertive irony.
Example 25
“Offended me！How could you suppose so？Believe me，”and Elinor spoke it with the truest sincerity，“nothing could be farther from my intention，than to give you such an idea.Could you have a motive for the truest，which was not honorable and flattering to me？”
When saying，“Could you have a motive for the truest，which was not honorable and flattering to me？”Elinor began to satirize Lucy.The readers know quite well that Lucy was very envious of Edward's love toward Elinor，even though she and Edward had engaged.So Lucy's sour utterance before this was to make Elinor feel dishonorable.Instead of giving a concise and disagreeable response，Elinor even praised Lucy for her truest motivation.Thanks to her violating，what she said fully revealed Lucy's hypocrisy，short of education and narrow-mind.Obviously，Elinor was insincere in saying this，besides，from Austen's narration“Elinor spoke it with the truest sincerity”，and we can know clearly Austen's ironic intention.
Example 26
“But she raises none in those most concerned.Indeed，brother，your anxiety for our welfare and prosperity carries you too far.”（Elinor）
With the word“anxiety”，Elinor again used her assertive irony to satirize John Dashwood's selfishness and cold-blood.In this dialogue，John's personality in Elinor's eyes was laid bare to our readers.We can't help having a high opinion of Elinor's witticism and courage.