illustration of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood's faces

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen

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Discussion Topic

The setting of Sense and Sensibility

Summary:

The setting of Sense and Sensibility primarily takes place in early 19th-century England, focusing on various locations such as Norland Park, Barton Cottage, and London. These settings reflect the social and economic conditions of the time, influencing the characters' interactions and the plot's development, particularly concerning issues of class, inheritance, and marriage.

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What is the setting of Sense and Sensibility?

The setting of the novel Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, mainly takes place in the English country side. The plot is first set specifically in the county of Sussex, which is located in the South of England.

The Dashwood family's estate of Norland is in the countryside because it was customary of middle class families at that time to favor the simplicity of life in the country versus the flashy and expensive city life in London. However, important parts of the plot do occur in London. Both settings are equally valuable to the story, and just as important.

This being said, the settings of Sussex and London are important because Austen uses these places to illustrate the contrast between city life and country life, and their people. A good example of this is when Mrs. Jennings invites the Dashwood sisters to visit her house in London and, to...

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add to the newness of it all, to a London ball. The sisters' excitement allows the reader to sense the magnitude of the event in the lives of these otherwise simple girls.

The unfortunate treatment that they receive at the ball by the Willoughby set, however, is what opened the Dashwood sisters' eyes to the reality of class distinction. The Dashwoods had to realize the hard way that, as country girls, they would never be welcome in the London circle. This was a good way for Austen to remark the cruelties of high society against those who are not connected to them.

As far as the time period in which the plot takes place, we can see from the time frame in which Sense and Sensibility was published (around 1811-1815) that the novel is set during the Regency period, which took place between 1795-1837. This is the historical time frame of the ruling "Georges" of England. During this period England witnessed many changes in literature and other arts, which may have motivated Austen to indulge in her love of writing. This time period is also considered the "PRE-Victorian" era. This is important because people loosely classify Sense and Sensibility as a Victorian novel. If it were a Victorian novel it would be a very archaic one, since many of the issues present in Sense and Sensibility regarding women were resolved during the Victorian era.

Conclusively, Sense and Sensibility is set during the Georgian/Regency era, around the late 1700's and early 1800's in the Southern countryside of England, specifically in Sussex. The plot also extends to London, where a lot of the rising action takes place, and concludes again in the countryside of Devonshire after the Dashwood sisters got married. Of course, this time they may be accepted in London society- because they married rich men. :)

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When and where does Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility take place?

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 book:

The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park. (Ch. 1)

Norland Park would be the name of the grounds on which the Dashwood estate is situated on, and their actual manner house is called Norland. The county of Sussex is located just south of London.

When Mrs. Dashwood's husband dies, her step son John Dashwood inherits Norland and, thus, the four Dashwood women must find a new and inexpensive place to live. One of Mrs. Dashwood's other relations offers them Barton Cottage to rent, which is situated on Sir John Middleton's Barton Park estate in Devonshire county, otherwise called Devon county. Devonshire is located about three counties west of Sussex and south-west of London. Barton Park and Barton Cottage become the setting for the rest of the novel, except for a moment when the two elder sisters travel to London. We learn of their new prospective location in the fourth chapter in which we learn of the letter that contained "the offer of a small house, on very easy terms, belonging to a relation of [Mrs. Dashwood's], a gentleman of consequence and property in Devonshire" (Ch. 4).

We can also deduce the time period the novel is set in based on certain allusions in the text. An allusion is when one author refers to another author's work. While still at Norland, when it starts becoming clear that Edward and Elinor are fond of each other, Marianne makes a comment to question her sister's choice in Edward by criticizing his reading skills. Mrs. Dashwood retorts that he would have read much more smoothly had Marianne given him something simpler to read than the poet Cowper, as we see in her lines:  

He would certainly have done more justice to simple and elegant prose. I thought so at the time; but you WOULD give him Cowper. (Ch. 3)

The poet William Cowper lived from 1731 to 1800 and was therefore a contemporary of Austen's. In addition, Cowper was one of the Romantic poets and one of Austen's central points in the novel is to show just how dangerous it is to act upon the sensibility that the romantics taught rather than using one's sense. Hence, based on this allusion to Cowper, we know that just like her other novels Sense and Sensibility was set in Austen's own time period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We also know that the book was published in 1811.

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