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“Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen

“Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, is a romantic novel which follows the story of the Dashwood family. The story focuses on the lives of the two oldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. This essay will look at the contrasting personalities of these two sisters, and show how each one takes on the roles of “sense” and “sensibility”

Henry Dashwood, the girls’ father dies at the start of the book. He leaves his money to his son from his first marriage so Elinor, Marianne, their sister Margaret and their mother are left with no home and very little money. They are soon invited to stay with their relatives, the Middletons’ at Barton Park. Elinor is sad to leave their house in Norland because she has grown close to Edward Ferrars, the brother in law of her half brother John. Marianne, however, is not enamoured by her sister’s choice of partner and she doesn’t mix her words when expressing her opinion. “ At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome.” This reveals Elinor’s romantic side, and she is simply worried the Edward isn’t the right person for Marianne.

Whilst staying at Barton Park, Elinor and Marianne meet various acquaintances., including Colonel Brandon and John Willoughby. John rescues Marianne after she twists her ankle whilst running down a hill in Barton in the rain. Following this, Willoughby openly “courts” Marianne and the pair develop a growing likeness for each other. Understandably, Marianne is surprised when Willoghby suddenly announces he has to go to London on business, and she is left miserable.

Meanwhile, Anne and Lucy Steele, relatives of Lady Middleton’s mother, arrive to stay at the Middletons’. Lucy starts talking to Elinor, and she informs her that she has been secretly engaged to Mr Ferrars for a year. Elinor assumes that Lucy is talking about Edward’s younger brother Robert, but she is heartbroken when she finds out Lucy was actually talking about her beloved Edward.

Elinor and Marianne travel to London with Lady Middleton’s mother, Mrs Jennings. Colonel Brandon tells Elinor that everybody in London is talking about Marianne and Willoughby being engaged. Marianne has not told her family of the engagement and so the news comes as a surprise to Elinor. Marianne is anxious to see John Willoughby, but is left deeply hurt when she sees him at a party and he ignores her, and sends her a letter telling her he never had feelings for her.

Anne Steele, lets slip about the engagement between her sister and Edward Ferrars. Edward’s mother is not happy at all with the news and she decides to leave all her money to his brother Robert instead.

On their way home fromLondon, the Dashwood sisters visit family friends at Cleveland, where Marianne catches a cold from walking in the rain, and falls serioiusly ill. John Willoughby arrives to visit Marianne, seeking forgiveness. She forgives him, realising he wasn’t the one for her anyway.

Marianne is on her road to recovery when Mrs Dashwood and Colonel Brandon arrive, and they all return home to Barton Park. They are unsurprised when they are told Lucy Steele is engaged to Mr Ferrars, but they are gobsmacked when they hear it is the newly inherited Robert with whom she is attached.

This therefore leaves Edward free to propose to Elinor, and soon after Colonel Brandon and Marianne become engaged too.

The reader sees that Elinor, the older sister, represents qualities of “sense” as she displays reason, responsibility and a caring for the well-being of other people. In contrast, Marianne represents “Sensibility” as she displays emotion and impulsiveness. Also, where Elinor keeps her feelings for Edward Ferars relatively close to her chest, Marianne willingly flaunts her love for John Willoughby. These different attitudes towards the way they show their affection to the men they love, highlight the contrast in the sisters’ temperaments. However, despite this contrast, Elinor is not always sensible, and she can display passionate qualities, the same way that Marianne isn’t always foolish. This shows that the novel isn’t all about a simple contrast.

Austen uses a third person narrative which is effective in this context. The way the novel is written is very elegant, and this reflects the characters in the story. As well qs being split in to chapters, the novel is split into three volumes. Beginning, middle and end. This was effective in outlining the main events in the story.

Overall, the novel had a happy ending, and it also showed that while two people can be so different, they can learn from each other too.