Sense and Sensibility by: Jane Austen
Intoduction:
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
Summary:
When Mr. died Henry Dashwood, leaving all his money on the son of his first wife John Dashwood, his second wife and his three daughters left behind
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Austen is very concerned about the social environment of his characters, and his settings clearly reflect this concern. Barton is the countryside, and our main characters live in the shadow of landed gentry (the Middletons at Barton Park). It is notable that Elinor and Marianne are always out of people moving back between London and Devonshire themselves are not well, and they depend on rich connections to stay in social loop Of moderate-to-high societies. The particular Austen moment in history is an interesting one. His novels are fascinated by the unique and unusual interaction between people of different social levels - a new development in England at that time. His books are firmly planted in the bourgeoisie, a class that is up-and-up while he writes. None of his characters in Sense and Sensibility are firmly planted in the upper echelons of high society; Even the richiest are not included in noble social circles. Instead, the spaces where Dashwoods are in the middle of the class (and believe us, there are a million different levels of "middle class" running on it). His books are firmly planted in the bourgeoisie, a class that is up-and-up while he writes. None of his characters in Sense and Sensibility are firmly planted in the upper echelons of high society; Even the richiest are not included in noble social circles. Instead, the spaces where Dashwoods are in the middle of the class (and believe us, there are a million different levels of "middle class" running on it). His books are firmly planted in the bourgeoisie, a class that is up-and-up while he writes. None of his characters in Sense and Sensibility are firmly planted in the upper echelons of high society; Even the richiest are not included in noble social circles. Instead, the spaces where Dashwoods are in the middle of the class (and believe us, there are a million different levels of "middle class" running
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.
In late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England there was a sort of moral ‘code’ of behavior and standards that are to be maintained by the middle and upper classes of society. Austen realistically mirrors this ‘code’ through the characters and plots of her novels while showing that social flexibility was narrow and class boundaries were strict. The topics of class stringency and social mobility are important areas in Jane Austen’s literature. We begin to see that Austen is not a revolutionary as she supports and preserves the morals and customs of societies hierarchy. However she often encourages and backs the emergence of new wealth permitting greater social mobility. In Austen’s world the naval and ‘tradesmen’ professions
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.
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
The life of Jane Austen is a very interesting story and many would say that Jane Austen wasn’t like the rest. She was an English novelist who was not only successful but also very quiet about her writings and publishments; most of her novels were not open to the public during her lifetime. She was born on December 16th of the year 1775, and she was the seventh child to a well known clergyman and wife. Jane was not educated like most would be; she was homeschooled by her father. Her father had huge libraries in their home and this is what created the school-like feeling of the Austen estate. Jane was a normal, and a quiet young lady but also had the opportunities to live life in the greater world, by the access
“Lady Catherine will not think the worst of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved” (Austen 127). Distinction of social classes has been slowly fading away in today’s modern society, but contributed to create a society dominated by a ironclad hierarchy prior to the twentieth century. Jane Austen published Pride and Prejudice in 1813, which revolves around the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Both Elizabeth and Darcy have to overcome various issues of the Regency era, and learn to accept each other towards the end of novel. Jane Austen showcases the nineteenth century turmoil between the upper class and the working class through the strict social hierarchy and conflicts between the characters in Pride and Prejudice and ultimately proposes a solution towards the end of the novel.
Austen’s views within Emma are a reflection of the prevailing views in the Regency Era, as the upper classes often abused their wealth and influence to ensure that their descendants would be wealthy like them. The rigidity associated with the class structure within the Regency era is initially reflected when Emma is characterised as, “handsome, clever and rich with a comfortable home and a happy disposition”. The fact the sentence specifically mentions her assets definitely emphasises how her inherited wealth is the major (if not only) factor accounting for her high status. This classist structure is later reflected with the gentry’s interactions of those below their social class. Emma’s arrogant tone when she teaches Harriet “the yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I can feel I can have nothing to do” is indicative of the inflexible nature of the class system during that era. It was acceptable to feel superior due to being of a higher class. Her view symbolises that of the upper classes’ patronising attitude to the lower classes, and thus emphasises the omnipresent nature of the class system within the United Kingdom. Hence, Austen’s heavy emphasis on the class system within Emma is a stark reminder of how our behaviours have not developed over the
Sense and Sensibility written by Jane Austen is a novel that does not only deal with two sister’s love matters, but how two dissimilar personalities respond to society and love. The theme of “society vs. sense” is existed throughout the novel because it is concerned with the ruling of one’s feelings, or the incapability to do so. Declaring love for someone, nurturing one’s self and not caring what people think is important in expressing this kind of “social duty.”(Pam Morris, 43) This kind of theme is always present, with some dramatization, within Emma Thompson’s 1995 film adaption. Literary critic Deborah Kaplan argues that Thompson’s film adaption demonstrates “harlequinization”, where the narrative structure of the “mass-market structure”, where a lot of people really like them, it focuses on a hero and a heroin’s courtship at the expense of the other characters and experiences. Kaplan is stating that the film is negative because some characters are underrepresented. She’s right, but at the same time it is to be expected because it is a film adaption. I argue that Kaplan is right, the film adaption does demonstrate this “harlequinization” to the point where it ignores all the important scenes within the novel such as how the Dashwood sisters are represented, Marianne’s rescuers Willoughby and Colonel Brandon in contrast to the novel.
Austen, Jane, Claudia L. Johnson, Susan J. Wolfson. Pride and Prejudice, A Longman Cultural Edition. New York: Longman, 2003.
What is the central role of social etiquette and propriety in this novel? What ironies and hypocrisies can you identify? What is Austen’s purpose in drawing attention to them?
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin was a moralistic novel depicting the two main forms of attitudes at that time; the neo -classics and the romantics. The period in which it was written, nineteenth century England, was laden with social etiquette and customs imposed on people of that time; and thus the characters of Jane Austin's novels. The novels' two main protagonists; Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, exemplify the Neo classical era and the romantic era, respectfully. Jane Austin instils Neo-classic and romantic ideals in Elinor and Marianne as to present a view of each attitude and to further enhance the discrepancies of social nineteenths century England.
Defined as the idle talk or rumor that typically refers to another’s personal or private affairs, gossip plays a major role in formulating our opinion of others. Appearing seemingly harmless, gossip is often seen as a double-edged sword. On the positive side of things, discussion of social norms and values can build trust, intimacy, and community among peers, especially through the use of constructive feedback. For those that do not want their private affairs made public, gossip can harm a person’s self-confidence, form tension among friend groups, and cause damage to one’s social reputation, regardless if the information provided is true or not.
The novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen explores many aspects of everyday and long term life. There are many characters that show different emotions and ideas, and cause the book to become real in the mind, because of the similarities found between the character’s lives and others. These people such as Marianne, Elinor, Willoughby, and Lucy all present different personalities and contribute differently to the composure of the book, and the way the storyline was made. One major aspect of the book is love with its benefits and downfalls, and is arguably the heart of the book, as this is almost constantly a present topic.
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
Love comes in many shapes and forms, whether it’s an inanimate object or a person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Jane Austen’s novel, “Sense and Sensibility”, revolves around two sisters who try to find true love, while requiring a balance of reason and emotion. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are viewed as two completely different people. Elinor is known to represent “sense” while Marianne represents “sensibility.” In the novel, Jane Austen emphasizes two common women’s characteristics, and shows us how Elinor and Marianne both find love and happiness only by overcoming their struggles and learning from one another’s actions and mistakes.