Sense and Sensibility

Hello! My name is Clara and in this blog post I will be reviewing Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

Sense and Sensibility is a novel about two young sisters, Elinor and Marianne, who have opposite views of how to portray themselves, and throughout the novel, learn to adopt some of each other’s beliefs and manners. Published in 1811, Sense and Sensibility was one of the famous author Jane Austen’s earliest works. Like all of her books, it was wonderfully written, with so many intricacies in the story that it could be reread and interpreted in many different ways.

Set in rural England during the time period in which it was written, the book follows Miss Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters with conflicting personalities. After their father dies, the property and money of the family goes to their half brother, the sisters are forced to move to a cottage in Devonshire with their younger sister and their mother. This increases the need for Elinor and Marianne to marry, as their father can longer support them. Elinor, the eldest sister, is described as prudent, frugal, and calculating. She strives always to compose herself and her emotions, and to conform to social constructs and routines. Elinor attempts to keep emotion out of situations in order to make the best decisions for herself and her family, and often sacrifices her own happiness to protect others’ secrets and honor. Though she clearly holds great affection to a man named Edward Ferras throughout the novel, she at first does not openly admit her love even to her sister, and when Lucy Steele tells her that she had been secretly engaged to Edward for 4 years, Elinor tells nobody of this, despite her heartbreak.

Marianne, on the other hand, endeavours to show her emotions, and let her feelings trump what is proper or socially acceptable. She is artistic, but this quality makes her scorn others who do not share her talent or appreciation of the arts. She is passionate with her feelings, but while that means she feels and expresses love deeply, she also experiences misery and heartbreak with the same intensity. She casts off what society expects of her, and has no time for social frivolities. Marianne’s disposition is shown when she falls in love with a man named John Willoughby after only seven hours spent with him, and disregards anybody else’s company for a while besides Willoughby’s. When Willoughby leaves her to marry for wealth, she falls so deep into a depression that she nearly dies. She makes no attempt to hide her misery, and again, cares for nobody else’s company besides her sister.

From the personalities of the two main characters of this novel, it becomes clearer why the novel is called Sense and Sensibility. Elinor embodies sense throughout the story, while Marianne embodies sensibility. The novel balances, compares, and contrasts the two sister’s temperaments, and shows how their outlooks affect them in the hardships they are put through. However, by the end of the novel, the sisters begin to mix their mindsets together. When Edward Ferras proposes to Elinor, she uncontrollably bursts into tears of happiness, which is the most outward emotion she shows in the entire book. While for Marianne, she steps back and realizes that even if Willoughby married her it still wouldn’t be a happy relationship, and she reflects on how many people she has done wrong by her erratic and careless behavior.