Polar Opposites Essay

Marianne thought she met her prince charming, Willoughby, when she fell and he saved her. He saved her after she fell. Willoughby had a “manly beauty” with a “good” name behind him (Austen 44-45). To Sir John, Willoughby was “as good a kind of fellow as ever lived” because he was “pleasant” and a “good humored fellow” (Austen 45). Once Marianne finds that out, she is sure that Willoughby was the type of man she “liked” because of “his eagerness” and she was assured that he was “well worth catching” (Austen 46). From that day, Marianne and Willoughby had a well established relationship, and some questioned if they had gotten engaged, due to how much time they were spending together. Then, Willoughby suddenly has to leave Barton for business in town. Mrs. Jennings, a few months later, invites Marianne and Elinor to town with her. But, in the meantime, Marianne did not hear anything from Willoughby, and she became worried. At a party, Marianne sees WIlloughby and questions why he has not responded to her letters she had previously sent. Willoughby had

Like Marianne, Mrs. Dashwood is romantic and whimsical, more prone to act on feelings than reason. Also similar to her youngest daughter, she often misjudges both the characters and situations of individuals. When Elinor tells Marianne of the difficulties Mrs. Ferrars presents in marrying Edward, "Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth" (18). Furthermore, Mrs. Dashwood's reaction to Willoughby is just as naïve as Marianne's. "In Mrs. Dashwood's opinion, he was as faultless as in Marianne's" (43). It is only Elinor, acting with the maternal caution her mother does not possess, who has reservations about Marianne's suitor.

Jane Austen's 1811 novel "Sense and Sensibility" puts across an account involving two English sisters who come across a series of hardships in their endeavor to find their personal identities in a relatively hostile environment. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are forced to leave their home, the estate at Norland Park, consequent to their father's death. The two experience economic problems and come to see the world with different eyes as they move in a small house and as they interact with people who are primarily motivated by finances. Even though the two sisters have diverging personalities, they go through similar experiences and they come to have similar perceptions of society.

Generous, willing, and proficient—are all qualities of Elinor Dashwood. Creators regularly utilize attributes of characters to depict them as basic bits of the plot. In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Elinor is appeared as a vital character through her sympathy towards others and her eagerness to help her family through troublesome circumstances.

In literature, winter and cold are commonly associated with death, however, when it comes to cold in this excerpt, the more prominent motif of cold represents the lack of affection. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton makes excellent use of the similar motifs of cold and ice to characterize Zeena. Throughout the excerpt from chapter two, these motifs heavily contribute to Zeena’s cold self, her treatment towards Ethan, and their dimming relationship relationship,

The author Inger Sigrun Brodey, a reputable JASNA’s North American Scholar who is a frequent speaker at Jane Austen Society meetings, writes in the article "Making sense of sensibility." from Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal that Marianne Dashwood symbolizes sensibility and her sister Elinor represents common sense. Marianne shares many similarities with Lydia Bennet, the youngest daughter in Pride and Prejudice. Both believe their world is naturally good without corruption such as greed and lust to mar it. Both have foibles that strangers generally are naturally good. However, in actuality there are very good actors that manipulate the vulnerable. Humans have a way of being imminently selfish and Austen is depicting it with the characters such as the dastardly Mr. Wickham of Pride and Prejudice and thoughtless Mr. Willoughby of Sense and Sensibility. Both men affect their counterparts in a negative way and take advantage of the situation. This creates a bias of distrustful feelings, that sympathy may be able to heal, but society might think is self-absorption. Nonetheless, pity is created for the poor creatures. In fact, it is sensibility or empathy that is necessary to have a deeper connection like love or hate, and it is fear of rejection that may be the culprit of a hesitancy to love. This relates to the larger picture of the transition between the Enlightenment and Romanticism, sense contrasts sensibility because sense has logic and sensibility is fueled by emotional reactions

Austen describes Willoughby through three different perspectives. The first perspective is the narrater’s perspective, next Marianne’s perspective and lastly Elinor’s perspective. These different perspectives reflect the different tones Austen uses. Austen seems to support Elinor’s view of Willoughby, which suggests that caution in relationships is the overall message of the book.

    "Like all true literary classics, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is still capable of engaging us, both emotionally and intellectually" (Twayne back flap) through its characters and themes. This essay illustrates how Jane Austen uses the characterization of the major characters and irony to portray the theme of societal frailties and vices because of a flawed humanity. Austen writes about the appearance vs. the reality of the characters, the disinclination to believe other characters, the desire to judge others, and the tendency to take people on first impressions.

or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense

Sense and Sensibility was first published in 1811, by Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility represents the neoclassical, dualistic moral world where values and exclusion values will ultimately be successful in a painful, romantic feeling. Not only that, he was making serious cynicisms of society's eighteenth centuries in which the aristocrats were praised and indirectly influencing young people's minds, not the love of love but to betray it just for Wealth. In the novel, Lucy and Willoughby symbolize this kind of people of society

Throughout sense and sensibility, Elinor is shown to be fair and just in her personal judgements. Elinor is also distinguished for her ability to self govern her feelings. The neo classics disprove of one indulging in feelings and believe one should instead conceal them, suffering silently. An example of this can be seen when Edward breaks Elinor's heart, thus Austin places Elinor and Marianne in parallel situations. Marianne, the romantic, focuses solely on her own feelings and disregards the feelings of others. However, Elinor follows Neo Classic ethics by remaining a pillar of support for those who depend on her. She does not withdraw away and contemplate her life but instead carries on with the duties she undertook since the beginning of the novel. She continually self sacrifices her desire to the needs and benefit of those around her, showing a magnanimous concern to others while silencing her own feelings; dealing with issues with an unbiased outlook:

Also, another person that shows a perspective or type of love in Sense and Sensibility is Elinor. As Elinor is older and more mature than Marianne, and is patient with finding her true love, she delays her marriage for many years by getting to know the people around her and examining the motives of

She feels inclined to do this, as “she [has a] knowledge which her mother had yet to learn, and which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught”(Austen, 6). When her father died, both her mother and Marianne went into a state of hysteria and spells of dramatic depression, and Elinor had to be the voice of reason in the household. Even though she too was affected by his passing, she took the responsibility of caring for her mourning family by entertaining guests and handling the legal fundamentals with her brother. By staying calm and collected, Elinor proves that her rationality guides her through a life of responsible actions and care for those that she loves. Elinor also steps up as the responsible family member by covering up for their mistakes, particularly her sister’s. Marianne is oblivious to the offenses and conflict that she is creating through her carelessness, as well as the fact that Elinor is covering them up. While the sisters are living in London, Marianne’s strange love-struck behavior does not go unnoticed by their company, and Elinor incessantly interjected excuses for her sister’s imprudent behavior, claiming her to be ill, anxious or tired. She voluntarily takes the responsibility of keeping her family in line, assuring that their lack of rationality will not cause any troubles for them in the future.

Austen’s novels have always been lauded for their social commentary and critique. The most common issue they depict is the dependency of women in society upon men, specifically their reliance on marriage as a source of income. The characters of Marianne and Elinor in Sense and Sensibility are two such characters, who due to their estate and income being inherited by their stepbrother, are left to their own devices of securing a favorable marriage. The two sisters, so different in character, mirror the contrast of the depictions of interiors and nature in the novel. The free-spirited

But Elinor being the strong one, hides her feelings well and acts like she’s not upset with the situation. It is later on in the novel that Elinor discovers from another woman, Lucy Steele,