Sense And Sensibility : Jane Austen

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

Jane Austen's groundbreaking novel Sense and Sensibility is a relationship-driven account of female protagonists. Sense and Sensibility shares much in common with other novels by and about women. Themes like autonomy versus independence and the role of women in a patriarchal society are explored in Sense and Sensibility. Using two sisters to symbolize the different directions the female spirit can be pulled, Austen shows the variable ways women respond to political, social, and economic oppression. The women of Sense and Sensibility are both trapped by, and breaking free from, the conventions of marriage and motherhood. Marriage and motherhood are portrayed ironically as the natural course of women's lives, but also as the chain that prevents their self-fulfillment. The social norm of patrilineal inheritance leaves Elinore and Marianne Dashwood, and their mother, penniless and dependent on distant male family members. Marriage and motherhood are restrictive roles for women, and yet Austen never provides a satisfactory alternative for Marianne. Marianne seems willing to break free from patriarchal social norms, but she ends up being a slave to heterosexual romance. The message in Sense and Sensibility ends up being rather bleak: women remain socially, economically, and politically oppressed because they cannot envision or enact suitable independent alternatives.

Willoughby and Marianne sparks an interesting relationship. Marianne is enthralled with the charming, handsome, and intelligent man who carried her down the hill in the rain. “His manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the theme of general of admiration.” (Ch. 9 pg. 40) Marianne already the constant romantic, finds him to be everything she could hope for. “His person and air were equal to what her fancy had ever drawn for the hero of her favorite story.” (Ch. 9 pg. 41) It is at this point in the novel when the reader begins to realize the meaning behind the title Sense and Sensibility. The two protagonists, Elinor and Marianne, represent sense and sensibility. Elinor’s personality and relationship with Edward is certainly sensible, while Marianne is more emotional and passionate, as reflected by her budding relationship with Mr. Willoughby. Every once and a while there is a clash between “sense and sensibility” through the two sisters. As the novel progresses perhaps Austen will reveal whether reason can influence emotion, vice versa, or if they both influence each other throughout the sister’s

Her father [Mr. Bennet], captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her. (Austen 339).

She is somewhat overwhelmed that she distorts her sense and rationality. Marianne and her mother, are not acting rationally, they both have similar characteristics, both are willing to overlook any flaws of Willoughby. Elinor saw nothing to censure Willoughby, but wasn’t delighted with his behaviour ’saying too much what he thought on every occasion, without attention to persons or circumstances.’ Jane Austen has depicted Elinor as a woman who is well aware of certain aspects, a woman who uses her sense and logic to make certain decisions.

Jane Austen shows us Marianne's over the top, melodramatic, romantic nature when she describes the departing from Norland. Although Elinor is saddened at having to leave, she quietly keeps it to herself. Marianne however, bursts into `poetry' and exaggerates all that she says,

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries You Tube web series is a version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that has expanded the book by Austen so well that the characters are very different from the book. Picture Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice did not take place in 19th century England, and instead took place in 21st century California. Would our smart, honest character Elizabeth Bennet be a graduate student with a hobby for video blogging? Wouldn’t Darcy’s snobbery and reserved character make him the typical bowtie-wearing hipster?

In Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen, class differentiation, distinction, and hierarchy are prominent and well-developed themes. Austen majorly expresses that wealthier individuals may have prominence on the surface, but this prominence is ultimately a façade. True class is determined by the content of a person’s character. Austen uses multiple characters in the novel to express her thoughts on this matter. One of these examples is expressed through the comparison of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Mrs. Bennet. They serve as the obliviously loathed and laughed at females in the novel. These characters complement one another in their foolishness, regardless of the fact they originate from opposing classes. As such, Austen

Austen’s satire on the role of women leads to an introspection of this stereotypical, yet subconscious behavior that displays a dishonest and duplicitous performance in the novel. Her disapproval of these female character’s immoral actions implied her admiration on propriety, but also vaguely critiques this kind of idea that encourages incorrect morals. As well as Austen’s exposure on gender roles, XXXX’s oral reinforces her concepts by stating “……” In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs. John Dashwood is satirized as a greedy and apathetic villain, thus her scheming actions characterized herself into an antagonist in the novel. At the moment when Mrs. John Dashwood is planning the part of heritage belongs to Dashwood sisters, she unfolds her voracity by constantly diminishing the amount without obeying the last word

In the article “Pride and Prejudice - Inversion and Criticism of the Romantic Novel” written by Koh Tsin Yen, Yen thoroughly explains a deeper meaning of Pride and Prejudice from both hers and Austen’s perspective of the novel. In Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, which takes place in the 19th century, Austen portrays marriage and social class as two themes with an extreme importance. While tying together two similar points of views, Yen also incorporates Austen 's themes from her novel as well. Throughout the novel several elements are incorporated into the marriages that take place. One of the biggest elements incorporated into the thought of these marriages is social class. By providing examples of several marriages to prove that this novel isn’t your average romance, Yen makes her thesis clear. Several marriages throughout the novel are happening for not the obvious reasoning of love, but rather for the reasoning of other elements instead: social class, wealth, and reason.

The Enlightenment was a radical intellectual, philosophical and cultural movement that spread throughout Western Europe during the 18th century. Defined by its reliance on reason and individualism, this era replaced the traditional view of the authoritative power of institutions with an emphasis on the importance of freedom to think for oneself. This shift in focus to individual thought brought with it the freedom to question society, morals, religions, and customs. Written during the height of this movement, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice captures much of the complexity of this new Age of Reason. The main character, Elizabeth, is nothing if not individualistic. From the very beginning of the novel, she demonstrates a demand for self-expression, evidenced in her conversations at the dinner at Rosings, in which Elizabeth was “ready to speak whenever there was an opening” and responded to Lady Catherine’s inquiries about her sisters with confidence and composure, suspecting herself to “be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with Lady Catherine with so much dignified impertinence” (Austen 125). Elizabeth’s interactions at Rosings illustrate her refusal to accept and be ruled by the social conventions and expectations of her time. As such, Elizabeth relies on her own reasoning to rationalize the world around her, and in turn creates a series of personal paradigms by which she leads her life. However, in an effort to stubbornly defend these ideals, Elizabeth falls

She was in love in a matter of minutes, “Everything he said was clever.” (Austen 46). this shows how quickly she opened her heart into loving a man, putting feelings before logic. “Marianne is so drowned by her passions that she does not even stop to think that Willoughby and her may not and will not be engaged” (Manukyan). The sisters develop heartbreaks by their two love interests and it sheds light on how their emotions change the plot of the story.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen that emphasizes several different themes. One theme that especially stood out was the idea of how love is more important than wealth and status. In the nineteenth century people married for wealth, status, and comfort. Women did not care if they were happy or married the man of their dreams as long as they had someone to support them. They did not marry for love and it was very rare to find a married couple who was really in love. Jane Austen truly believes that love can overcome the social norm and prevail. Her use of social commentary and detailed characterization allows the reader to really get to know and understand the thoughts and feelings of all the characters. Austen reveals her

However, in the society that they were in Willoughby did not think he could marry Marianne because of her social status. Willoughby had left her for a woman with more money. This devastates Marianne and she falls into a deep depression. Nothing anyone says will help her. Her habits and lifestyle change dramatically as she has no more motivation in her life. This extreme sadness affects her emotionally and physically. "She felt the loss of Willoughby's character yet more heavily than she had felt the loss of his heart." (Austen) She later learns that Willoughby left her because of money reasons. This gives her some piece of mind but she is still upset that he hadn’t told her about his problems with money that led him to leave her.

My dissertation will explore the theme of marriage in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I will discuss marrying for love versus marrying for social status as well as the importance and consequence of both within each text. The plot of Sense and Sensibility revolves around characters concerns with engagements, possible matches, and marriages. Marriage determines who will inherit family fortunes and properties, and is of particular importance to women, whose futures depend almost entirely on the prospects of the men they marry. Marriage isn’t about love in the world of Sense and Sensibility. In fact, it’s often more about wealth, uniting families, and gaining social standing. Defying the social norms, Elinor and Marianne