Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

“But have you not received my notes?" cried Marianne in the wildest anxiety. "Here is some mistake I am sure
-some dreadful mistake. What can be the meaning of it? Tell me, Willoughby; for heaven's sake tell me, what
is the matter?"
He made no reply, his complexion changed and all his embarrassment returned; but as if, on catching the eye
of the young lady with whom he had been previously talking, he felt the necessity of instant exertion, he
recovered himself again, and after saying, "Yes, I had the pleasure of receiving the information of your arrival
in town, which you were so good as to send me," turned hastily away with a slight bow and joined his friend.
(Sense and Sensibility, chapter 28, p. 36)

Which literary technique does Austen use in this excerpt?
hyperbole
foreshadowing
understatement
extended metaphor

Answer 1

Understatement

Step-by-step explanation:

Because of this line: "Yes, I had the pleasure of receiving the information of your arrival in town, which you were so good as to send me,"

An understatement is a figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.