ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION – SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
"There are such beings in the world… as the creature you and I should think perfection; …where the manners are equal to the heart and understanding…” As said by Jane Austen in an 1814 letter to her niece, this balance of “heart and understanding,” or of ‘sensibility’ and ‘sense’, is the crux of a good temperament, and also of her book Sense and Sensibility (1811), in which she illustrates many opposing forces, including sense and sensibility and empowerment and disempowerment.
Another discourse within this book is the importance to a woman of having a man to depend on – whether through familial relations or marriage – which shows Austen’s feministic ideals.
Both of these are reliant on the cultural context of the era, which, for the richer, ‘high’ society that Austen lived in, revolved around wealth, marriage, connections and a great many social rules. Wealth was a indicator of power and social standing and was often part of the reasoning behind a marriage, as shown in Sense and Sensibility by the impoverished and sensibility-imbued John Willoughby’s loveless marriage to Miss Grey, whose dowry contained fifty-thousand pounds. Additionally, marriages, and most types of social interactions, were used to make connections in an attempt to raise one’s standing in society, and all of the above were governed by the social rules that were in themselves part of the problem regarding the discrepancies of power in society.
Sense and Sensibility itself is a witty criticism of society, often utilising an ironically satirical style which allows Austen to put forward her moral values and ideals without having to state them directly. Hence the reader is positioned to agree with the alluded messa...
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...d to dislike the other ‘Ferrars’ – Mrs Ferrars, Robert Ferrars and Mr John and Mrs Fanny Dashwood nee. Ferrars – who represent a temperament made predominantly of sense, without a whit of sensibility.
Thus the imbalance of power and disempowerment in Austen’s society is revealed through Sense and Sensibility, mainly through the reader being positioned by the style of the language which often uses ironic satire as a technique, through the characters’ actions and behaviours, ideals and morals, opinions and secrets and via the description of the interactions between characters. Through the rise of the sense and sensibility balanced characters into the limelight, Austen shows her belief of having balance in life, which can also be related to having a balance of power within society.
Works Cited
Austen, J. 1811. Sense and Sensibility. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
In Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the necessity of marrying well is one of the central themes. In Austen’s era a woman’s survival depended on her potential to acquire an affluent partner. This meant a choice of marrying for love and quite possibly starve, or marry a securing wealthy person, there was a risk of marrying someone who you might despise.
Characters in Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock are necessary tools in establishing satire within the stories. Austen uses a range of different character types in order to highlight the absurdity of society. For example, Elizabeth Bennet differs greatly from her other sisters and young ladies of Hertfordshire because h...
...line of thinking makes perfect sense when we consider Jane Austen's tendency, particularly in Sense and Sensibility, to use her writing as a vehicle for not only entertainment but also instruction. We may view the varying representations of mothers then, not only as examples for Elinor to learn from, but for us as readers as well.
Johnson, Claudia Durst, ed. Issues of Class in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
In the movie Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen illuminated the repeated theme of emotions versus control through the actions of her two characters, Marianne, who was very sensuous and Elinor, who was very sensible. Their actions showed how Marianne was in touch with her senses and fully experienced her emotions and how Elinor seemed to possess good practical judgment and thought more about her actions and consequences thoroughly. These differences in their characters were exemplified throughout the story as they experienced love, disappointment, and resolution.
Works Cited Austen, Jane. A. Pride and Prejudice. Norton Critical 3rd edition, ed. Donald Gray. New York and London: Norton, 2001.
The first of Jane Austen’s published novels, Sense and Sensibility, portrays the life and loves of two very different sisters: Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The contrast between the sister’s characters results in their attraction to vastly different men, sparking family and societal dramas that are played out around their contrasting romances. The younger sister, Marianne Dashwood, emerges as one of the novel’s major characters through her treatment and characterization of people, embodying of emotion, relationship with her mother and sisters, openness, and enthusiasm.
The literature output in Jane Austen’s creation is full of realism and irony. Janet Todd once asserted that "Austen creates an illusion of realism in her texts, partly through readably identification with the characters and partly through rounded characters, which have a history and a memory.” (Todd, The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen, 28.) Her works are deeply influenced between by late eighteenth-century Britain rationalism phenomenon and early nineteenth-century of romanticism.
Raised during the 1800’s when the social status in England was vital, Jane Austen, a romantic novelist, and her book Sense and Sensibility describe life of an upper class woman.
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
In her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen brought to life the struggles and instability of the English hierarchy in the early 19th century. Through the heartaches and happiness shared by Elinor Dashwood, who represented sense and her sister Marianne, who stood for sensibility, Austen tells a story of sisters who plummet from the upper class to the lower crust of society and the characters that surround them. Austen juxtaposes the upper and lower classes in English society to give the reader a full understanding of the motivation to be a part of the upper class and the sacrifices one will give up to achieve such status. Austen exposes the corruptness of society, the significance of class and the fundamental building blocks both are to the decision-making surrounding her protagonists, Marianne and Elinor.
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...
Within the novel, Jane Austen’s exploits of irony are shown linked throughout Emma’s notions of love and the real within her own society. Emma’s lack of education on the concepts of love is quite evident within her apathy towards Frank Churchill as her opinions are deeply rooted within her own affections, as she states, “Emma continued to entertain no doubt of her being in love. Her ideas only varied as to the how much. At first, she thought it was a good deal; and afterwards, but little. She had great pleasure in hearing Frank Churchill talked of; and for his sake, greater pleasure than ever in seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weston; she was very often thinking of him. But, on the other hand, she could not admit herself to be unhappy, nor, after the first morning, to be less disposed for employment than usual; she was still busy and cheerful; and, pleasing as he was, she could yet imagine him to have faults,” (Austen 264). Emma’s sketch of Harriet is another illustration of irony surrounded by Emma’s arrogance as it does not portray an accurate depiction of Harriet as Emma has altered ...
Work Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. Norton Critical Editions. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2002.
Jane Austen’s works are characterized by their classic portrayals of love among the gentry of England. Most of Austen’s novels use the lens of romance in order to provide social commentary through both realism and irony. Austen’s first published bookThe central conflicts in both of Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Persuasion are founded on the structure of class systems and the ensuing societal differences between the gentry and the proletariat. Although Emma and Persuasion were written only a year apart, Austen’s treatment of social class systems differs greatly between the two novels, thus allowing us to trace the development of her beliefs regarding the gentry and their role in society through the analysis of Austen’s differing treatment of class systems in the Emma and Persuasion. The society depicted in Emma is based on a far more rigid social structure than that of the naval society of Persuasion, which Austen embodies through her strikingly different female protagonists, Emma Woodhouse and Anne Eliot, and their respective conflicts. In her final novel, Persuasion, Austen explores the emerging idea of a meritocracy through her portrayal of the male protagonist, Captain Wentworth. The evolution from a traditional aristocracy-based society in Emma to that of a contemporary meritocracy-based society in Persuasion embodies Austen’s own development and illustrates her subversion of almost all the social attitudes and institutions that were central to her initial novels.