Sense and Sensibility

Elinor and Marianne represent, respectively, the sense and sensibility of the title. Their biggest contrast lies in their respective temperaments, which really couldn't be any more different....

As the title suggests, the primary theme of Sense and Sensibility is the use of sense vs. sensibility. In protest against the romantic literature of her day that praised extreme emotionalism and...

In literature there are two main types of conflict: internal (sometimes called psychological) and external. In Sense and Sensibility, we see both types of conflict at play.External conflicts exist...

Actually, truth be told, Jane Austen is not a good author to use for trying to find typical literary devices such as metaphor (simile is a type of metaphor), personification, etc. The reason for...

At the beginning of the novel, Marianne is described as eager in everything … her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. … She was everything but prudent (chapter 1). These characteristics...

Sense and Sensibility is set in gentry (what we might roughly call upper middle class/lower aristocratic) locales in early nineteenth century England, settings Jane Austen would have been...

The terms “sense” and “sensibility” are used to describe the personalities of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, the two sisters who serve as protagonists in the novel. “Sense” refers to common sense....

As the title indicates, two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, represent sense and sensibility, or as we might say today, logic and emotionalism. Elinor is too likely to hide her emotions and...

As it is stated in the title, Sense and Sensibility illustrates the clash that occurs when emotions rule our common sense. Austen presents, in a variety of story lines, that romance and social...

The relationship between the Dashwood sisters is that of the title: Sense and Sensibility. While each sister begins clearly representing one quality rather than the other, by the novel’s end, Jane...

In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen uses what's called a third-person omniscient point of view. This is where the narrator sees all and knows all. Such a point of view gives us privileged access...

The title itself could be construed as symbolic. Elinor is the sensible Dashwood sister in the story, whereas Marianne is given to sensibility, or emotions. In the long run, however, once Marianne...

In Sense and Sensibility, the women in the Dashwood family—Elinor, Marianne, Margaret, and their mother—are more at home in the countryside of Devonshire than in London. One setting in the book is...

Among others, Jane Austen alludes to William Gilpin, author of essays on the picturesque, when Marianne says: Every body pretends to feel and tries to describe with the taste and elegance of him...

The determining factor in Robert Ferrar's ability to marry Lucy Steele without his mother's intervention is not suitability. The determining factor is wealth. Mrs. Ferrars took an action that...

The climax is the most emotional moment of the plot and also the moment when the resolution comes into view. As the title suggests, since the plot is about two parallel and intertwining stories of...

In order to understand Sense and Sensibility (indeed, any of Austen's works), it is critical to understand Georgian society and culture (1714-1830, includes Georgian Regency 1811-1820), especially...

One major theme in Sense and Sensibility is the contrast between the rational mind and emotions. Jane Austen wrote this novel as a protest against the passionate ideas found in popular works of the...

Lucy was naturally clever; her remarks were often just and amusing; and as a companion for half an hour Elinor frequently found her agreeable; but her powers had received no aid from education: she...

Jane Austen does not typically use a lot of literary devices in her writing, but instead usually prefers a much more direct approach that allows her story line and characters to be the heart of the...

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are quite different from one another, with respect to their emotions and how they show their feelings. Both characters feel intense loss over their father's death, but...

Marianne first learns to show emotional restraint. She comes to realize that she doesn't need to always wear her heart on her sleeve. She learns to restrain herself from jumping to conclusions. At...

The title of the book itself could be construed as representing the main conflict. Elinor is the Dashwood sister with "sense" in the story, whereas Marianne is, for the most part, a slave to her...

John Willoughby and Colonel Brandon are the two main competitors for Marianne's hand in marriage. They are both foils of one another, each acting as the polar opposite of the other and therefore...

Willoughby owns a small estate that doesn't bring him much income while Colonel Brandon's estate makes him a wealthy man. However, it is character issues more than wealth that divide these two...

Allusion is definitely one literary element Austen frequently uses in Sense and Sensibility. One allusion can be found in Chapter 5 in which Marianne is saying adieu to Norland. Her long, dramatic...

The usual take on Elinor and Marianne is that Elinor is the reserved, rational one, and Marianne is the emotional, Romantic one. There is plenty of evidence in the book to support this...

On the surface, both sisters are in dire straits with the death of their father, as their inheritance goes to their older brother, with minimal support due to the interference of Fanny, their...

The novel starts out being set in Sussex County in England but then the Dashwood women must relocate. We learn of the initial setting of the novel in the very first couple of sentences in the...

There are three narrative structural elements that we find in Jane Austen's Chapter 11 and 12 of Sense and Sensibility. The first is one we find all throughout the book and that is Austen's chosen...

As the title suggests, Austen's main point in Sense and Sensibility is to philosophize or moralize about two different perspectives or personality types. Hence, since Austen uses two sisters to...

When Elinor says I am afraid...that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety she is basically stating that Marianne is breaking the rules of social propriety that...

Austen routinely uses both direct characterization and indirect characterization to draw the picture of her characters. She began using this dual approach to characterization in Pride and Prejudice...

There are of course many examples of this governing theme in this novel, most of them situated around the way that Elinor and Marianne react differently to the problems in love they encounter....

Sense and Sensibility begins with a rather staid discussion of how fortunes were disposed of in the time of Austen. The two Dashwood sisters suffer considerable disappointment in their fortunes;...

A very excellent question! What this whole scene really comes down to is the theme of value. Edward valued loyalty above material gain and even above the good opinion of his relations. He even...

The best way to begin the writing process for any essay is to ask questions about the topic. In this case, your topic is Sense and Sensibility, a wonderful book about the contrast and connection...

In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, there are three Dashwood sisters: Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. Elinor is the oldest of the three sisters in her family. Whereas Marianne (the middle...

Satire is a "literary mode based on criticism of people and society through ridicule. The satirist aims to reduce the practices attacked by laughing scornfully at them--and being witty enough to...

Three literary devices that contribute to the success of the novel are antithesis, point-of-view, and irony. Antithesis is the putting of opposites together. As the title of the novel indicates,...

One scene in Sense and Sensibility that demonstrates Marianne's sensibility (violent, unrestrained emotion) is when she bids farewell to the trees, leaves, flowers, wind, etc., etc. at Norland Park...

While it is correct to say that both Elinor and Edward are calm and decorous in their expressions of esteem and fondness and that their level of emotional display stands in contrast to the...

Jane Austen actually very seldom uses metaphor. Her preferred writing style is much more direct, saying exactly what she wants to say without making allusions or comparisons. I certainly cannot...

The quotation: 　"I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety." expresses a sense that there were strong social standards during the period in which...

Secrecy is a motif in Sense and Sensibility which we find in two instances that stand out the most: first, when Edward Ferrars hides his engagement to Lucy Steele. Second, when Willoughby hides the...

Austen does not usually use direct characterization, but usually prefers subtle indirect characterization. However, we see some very clear examples of direct characterization, as well as indirect,...

Austen shows that it is faithfulness and upright character that are most important in a man. Willoughby may be dashing, charming, and handsome, but his character is weak. He falls in love with...

On chapter 9 you see the typical Jane story line where the character which embodies the essential conflict of the story: Marianne meets Willoughby and the wheels of the plot are set in motion....

You are right in identifying that this novel, like Pride and Prejudice, relates the two central protagonists to the states indicates in the title. The "sense" refers to Elinor, who is shown to...

The lines you quote actually come from the 1995 film version directed by Ang Lee with script written by Emma Thompson. Though there are a lot of similarities between the film and the actual novel,...