Irony is one of Austen's most distinctive and most studied writing devices. She juxtaposes the literal sense of a remark with the comedic, weakening the original's intent to generate sarcastic disjunctions. She employs satire, parody, and irony based on incongruity in her juvenile works. In Northanger Abbey, for example, she mocks the Gothic novel as a pernicious influence by having Catherine Morland become enthralled by it. In Emma, Austen ridicules the provincial society of England by having its main character move in aristocratic circles. In Pride and Prejudice, she skewers conventional mores by having the four Bennet sisters find themselves pitted against one another in a battle for the hand of Mr. Darcy. In Persuasion, Austen uses irony to comment on the nature of love. The story revolves around Anne Elliot, who is unable to marry the man she loves because he lacks a fortune. When Mr. Darnell offers her a marriage contract that would have made him her husband even though they were not legally married, she rejects it. Later, when Mr. Darnell goes to France to fight for his country in the war, she realizes that she is still in love with him. She decides to go home for good, but before she leaves, she tells Captain Wentworth that if he was free, she would like to marry him. At first, this statement seems absurd since she has just rejected him.