SENSE AND SENSIBILITY – J.
AUSTEN
The dichotomy between "sense" and "sensibility" is one of the lenses through which this
novel is most commonly analyzed. The distinction is most clearly symbolized by the
psychological contrast between the novel's two chief characters, Elinor and Marianne
Dashwood. According to this understanding, Elinor, the older sister, represents qualities of
"sense": reason, restraint, social responsibility, and a clear-headed concern for the welfare
of others. In contrast, Marianne, her younger sister, represents qualities of "sensibility":
emotion, spontaneity, impulsiveness, and rapturous devotion. Whereas Elinor conceals
her regard for Edward Ferrars, Marianne openly and unashamedly proclaims her passion
for John Willoughby. Their different attitudes toward the men they love, and how to
express that love, reflect their opposite temperaments.
Austen wrote this novel around the turn of the eighteenth century, on the cusp between
two cultural movements: Classicism and Romanticism. Elinor represents the
characteristics associated with eighteenth-century neo-classicism, including rationality,
insight, judgment, moderation, and balance. She never loses sight of propriety, economic
practicalities, and perspective, as when she reminds Marianne that their mother would not
be able to afford a pet horse or that it is indecorous for her to go alone with Willoughby to
Allenham. It was during the Classical period and its accompanying cultural Enlightenment
that the novel first developed as a literary genre: thus, with the character of Elinor, Austen
gestures toward her predecessors and acknowledges the influence of their legacy on her
generation. In contrast, Marianne represents the qualities associated with the emerging
"cult of sensibility," embracing romance, imagination, idealism, excess, and a dedication to
the beauty of nature: Marianne weeps dramatically when her family must depart from
"dear, dear Norland" and willingly offers a lock of her hair to her lover. Austen's
characterization of Marianne reminds us that she was the contemporary of Wordsworth,
Coleridge, and Walter Scott, the luminaries of the English Romantic literary scene.
Austen's depiction of Elinor and Marianne thus reflects the changing literary landscape
that served as a backdrop for her life as a writer.
However, this novel cannot simply be understood as a straightforward study in contrast.
Elinor, though representing sense, does not lack passion, and Marianne, though
representing sensibility, is not always foolish and headstrong. Austen's antitheses do not
represent epigrammatic conclusions but a starting- point for dialogue. Although Austen is
famous for satirizing the "cult of sensibility," in this novel she seems to argue not for the
dismissal of sensibility but for the creation of a balance between reason and passion. Both
Elinor and Marianne achieve happiness at the end of the novel, but they do so only by
learning from one another: together they discover how to feel and express their sentiments
fully while also retaining their dignity and self-control. The novel's success is not a result of
the triumph of sense over sensibility or of their division; rather, we remember Sense and
Sensibility as a conjunction of terms that serve together as the compound subject of
Austen's novel.
