Literary Analysis Of Sense And Sensibility

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Instructor Name

Art 101

19 November 2018

Literary Analysis of Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility is a novel published in 1811, written by Jane Austen. The novel follows the three Dashwood sisters who have to move with their widowed mother from the Norland Park estate where they grew up ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cmDdDutO","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Home | Alabama Virtual Library})","plainCitation":"(Home | Alabama Virtual Library)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":300,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/485P2PEC"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/485P2PEC"],"itemData":{"id":300,"type":"webpage","title":"Home | Alabama Virtual Library","URL":"https://www.avl.lib.al.us/","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Home | Alabama Virtual Library). In Chapter 8 Marianne reveals to her sister Elinor her views on the fate of women whose financial situation was determined by eighteenth-century society by marrying out of money instead of love, “It would be a compact of convenience, and the world would be satisfied. In my eyes, it would be no marriage at all, but that would be nothing. To me it would seem only a commercial exchange, in which each wished to be benefited at the expense of the other ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"p8bP1F8h","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Austen)","plainCitation":"(Austen)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":302,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"itemData":{"id":302,"type":"book","title":"Sense and Sensibility","publisher":"B. Tauchnitz","number-of-pages":"358","source":"Google Books","note":"Google-Books-ID: RJcVAAAAYAAJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Austen","given":"Jane"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1864"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Austen).” However, Marianne's utter rejection of such a common situation in Regency England implies a critical vision of this society made by Jane Austen. From the first chapter, the role of women and men is clearly defined as they do not inherit in the same way. The Dashwood women displaced from their hometown of Norland shows their status in society and the legal constraints with social conditions to which they fall victim.

Women were indeed educated to conform to the form, and this was possible by adhering to a particular decor imposed on them by instructions on correct behavior. This is perfectly illustrated in the novel in terms of language, as words such as “amiability”, "manners", “wisdom” and “duty” are constantly repeated. Money is one of the main themes of the narrative through which history can develop, and it is the main theme of the second chapter, whether or not the Dashwood sisters should receive compensation at all, or they do not need it. Since money is the source of all actions, it can be said that the novel is firmly anchored in 18-century traditions, as such, Elinor and Marianne's rivals are both fortune women. The readers become witnesses to a microcosm of flawed female characters whose unscrupulous caricature mocks society. The character of Fanny Dashwood, the greedy woman, is bluntly portrayed in Chapter 1 as “a strong caricature of her husband ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"QfHq59zf","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Austen)","plainCitation":"(Austen)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":302,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"itemData":{"id":302,"type":"book","title":"Sense and Sensibility","publisher":"B. Tauchnitz","number-of-pages":"358","source":"Google Books","note":"Google-Books-ID: RJcVAAAAYAAJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Austen","given":"Jane"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1864"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Austen)” and the epitome of ruthless stinginess. Elinor's transformation is seen as having to lead the Dashwood household after her father's death. As such, she gets a new position in life, even though she regrets the lack of employment of women. In Sense and Sensuality, men repeatedly recognize or prove their powerlessness. Indeed, Mrs. Ferrars is the cause of Edward's "fethered inclination ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"l4zWj4Ki","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Austen)","plainCitation":"(Austen)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":302,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WcSf8WB9/items/GDNJDIX8"],"itemData":{"id":302,"type":"book","title":"Sense and Sensibility","publisher":"B. Tauchnitz","number-of-pages":"358","source":"Google Books","note":"Google-Books-ID: RJcVAAAAYAAJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Austen","given":"Jane"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1864"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Austen)" and powerlessness. Lucy has forced him to a loveless engagement alike and Fanny manages to force her husband to follow her views. The empowerment of these women to financial freedom is of great importance since it points to the failure of masculinity in the novel. While the prosperity of these evil female characters may seem irritating, they embody Austen's discomfort in woman submission.

Austen adds her feminist comments to the words of Marianne, as she could not hold the feminist movement because of her social position in public. Jane Austen shows the artificiality of too much sensitivity when Marianne distances herself from society and her family. It leaves a strong message to its readers: Sensitivity should be understood as a sensory variant that evokes a vision of life, in which both emotion and reflection are mutually supportive, and a social value system should also support women more. The framed structure of the novel, which begins and ends with two patriarchal institutions: the transfer of property and marriage, both of which ensure the continuity of society, while at the same time severely restricting the fate of women.

Reference

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. B. Tauchnitz, 1864.

Home | Alabama Virtual Library. https://www.avl.lib.al.us/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.