What purpose do the ridiculous characters in the novel serve?

Elizabeth is our heroine and Darcy definitely our hero; both have flaws and imperfections, and they are also an adequate blend of reason and emotioncombined. However, with the exception of a few other characters, they are the only admirable ones. The rest of the characters, including Mrs. Bennet,Kitty, Lydia, Mary, Lady Catherine, and Mr. Collins are undeniably ridiculous. Being self-centered, self-involved, ignorant, and closed-minded,these characters are there to constantly annoy or produce mocking laughter. However, Austen gives them certain traits that we can recognize in a lotof people. With that in mind, is there a reason why she includes such a large number of ridiculous characters in her novel?

Guidelines: Please make sure you read the following carefully to receive a passing grade.
* Essay should be 4-6 pages in MLA format.
* Essay should be well-formatted and correctly cited. This includes a Works Cited page, in-text citations, and correct formatting of all visuals youincorporate.
* You are required to use 5 sources:

1. the first source should be our book, Pride and Prejudice. You should have atleast 2-3 quotations from the novel. 2.The second source should be a critical essay from the book,the Norton Critical Edition of Prideand Prejudice (4th edition). This edition has a criticism section on pages 308-399. Choose one article from this section to use in your essay.
3.The third source should be one scholarly article from Jasna.org. This is a website dedicatedspecifically to Jane Austen and her work. It has tons of excellent scholarly articles covering numerous topics from Austen’s novels.
4. The fourth sourceshould be one you choose yourself, whether it is a media article (from a magazine, newspaper, website, or credible blog), a scholarly article (ascholarly source from a journal), or a book chapter (from a non-fiction book). You have the freedom to choose this one but whatever source youchoose, please make sure it is credible.
5. Finally, the fifth source should be a strong visual that you format correctly and analyze insightfully.

I have found a quote for the 2nd source that you should use regarding the paper.

"Wether the convictions expressed are trivial or profound, stupid or subtle, subject to retraction, reversal, or revision, or resolute to the end; whether these expressions are full throated or full of mischief, labored or easy, sincere, or merely for show, or, again rest on some vanishing point in between, the appearance of certainty that subtends these expressions is a basic part of the sentences that compose society in Austen" (Nunokawa 330).

Use one of these articles for the 3rd source
http://www.jasna.org/essaycontest/2013/undergradua…
http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol21no2/…

For the 4th source please use this article
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/26/prid…

The 5th source