Jane austen sense and sensibility

Sense and sensibility

According to a recent critic , » the action of Jane Austen's novels takes place primarily within the characters «  How far does this statement apply to Sense and Sensibility, the 1811 novel by Jane Austen and the 1996 film by Ang Lee ?

Jane Austen asked her nephew, a writer « What should I do with your strong ,vigorous sketches , full of variety and glow ? How could I possibly join them on to the little bits ( two inches wide ) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush as produces little effect after much labour. » Jane Austen limited the scope of her novels to the world she knew and Sense and sensibility can be perceived as a narrow microcosm devoid of momentous historical facts ,actions and strong characters.It is true that Sense and sensiblity is an introspective novel as far as the two main characters are concerned . Yet the other characters are revealed through their actions but mainly through dialogues and the novel sometimes uses the devices of a play . However the main movement in the story seems to be a psychological movement , the journey of the two heroines which leads the reader to question his own views on life .

Elinor is the one character used as a focalizer, many things are seen through her eyes and she is also the one who is the most prone to introspection , introspection used to carry the plot forward : Volume 2, chapter 1 : after Lucy's revelation Elinor uses an interior monologue in which she is in a process of investigation concerning Edward's love for her p,103 «  his affection was all her own.She could not be deceived in that « . The reader then wonders how the situation will unfold . Similarly in volume 2, chapter 7 p,133 Elinor makes an inner assesment of the situation «  That some kind of engagement had subsisted between Willoughby and Marianne she could not doubt .. » .And this intropsective reflection paves the way for Willougby's visit in volume 3 chapter 8 because it contemplates the possibility of contradictory motivations prompting Willoughby to act the way he does . She even encourages her sister to analyse and investigate her feelings : « Elinor encouraged her as much as possible to talk of what she felt «  So indeed the action takes place mainly within the characters.All the more so as several instances of free indirect speech can be found in the novel and thus the character's voice is the silent inward one of thought. This impression is reinforced by several elements like a minimum of physical actions in the plot apart from walks in the country ; rare dramatic scenes except Lucy's revelation, Marianne ' s meeting with Willougby and Marianne's illness . The frequent use of the passive voice also gives the impression that the characters do not always play an active role in their lives volume 1, chapter 5 : «  She was provided with an house «  , «  Everything was settled in their future abode «  and «  the journey was performed « 

However , not all characters are seen through introspection and many of them are protrayed through their occupations like Sir John whose reference to describe most things is hunting , as when he describes Willoughby for example : «  He has got the nicest little black bitch of pointer I ever saw «  and his wife Lady Middleton is defined by her qualities as a mother and a hostess .Dialogues also play an important role to show what is happening in the story and to reveal the personality of some characters .Indeed several characters are allowed to develop before the reader's eyes , they are portrayed through direct speech : thus Fanny's avarice is revealed early in the novel volume 1, chapter 2 : » Had he been in is right senses, he could not have thought of such a thing as begging you to give away half your fortune from your own child «  Charlotte's foolishness is perceived in her comments volume1, chapter 20 «  How I shall laugh ! It wil be so ridiculous to see all his letters directed to him with an M.P » Ans it also applies to Robert's vanity and Mrs Jennings's good humour . On the other hand Edward is a character who is mostly seen from other people's point of views unlike in the film where he is discovered through his behaviour, the same goes for Mr Palmer whose treatment differs in the novel and in the film : whereas Mr Palmer is seen differently at the end of the novel because Elinor's perception of him has changed during Marianne's illness, in the film it is his actions which make the viewers change their point of view. Similarly, even though Jane Austen was called an « uncinematic » author because her novels contain very few descriptions , many micro-events are mentionned , Lucy's movements during her revelation for example volume 1, chapter 22 : » eyeing Elinor attentively as she spoke » or : » She looked down as she said this ,amiably bashful ,with only one side glance to her companion ... » and these have been turned into close-ups silences or mimicry in the film . Theatricality is also one of the principles at work in depicting society in Sense and sensiblity, and Mrs Dashwood goes as far as asking Elinor «  Has he been acting a part in his behaviour to your sister all this time ? «  and the novel is similar to a play with its stage, backstage and audience . Feelings are reserved for the backstage and the characters have to play a role on stage in order to respect the social conventions . And when they play roles it is not restricted to their inner selves .

But in spite of these different outer elements , the main development in the novel seems to be the change in the characters 'views on life . As regards Edward 's development , at the beginning of the novel he takes no action towards the pursuit of happiness , he is too reluctant to defy his family and to break his engagement to Lucy Steele . He blames his idleness for getting engaged to Lucy too early . But his improvement consists in the increase of his confidence , once released from his tie with Lucy he takes action toward the pursuit of happiness and goes to propose to Elinor. As for Elinor, she mighht appear like a static character who expresses reserves throughout the novel and uses her good sense all the time but at the end of the novel she has passionate moments , she finds it more and more difficult to hide her feelings and to « be composed «  , volume 3, chapter 12 after Edward's revelation « she almost ran out of the room and as soon as the door was closed,burst into tears of joy,which at first she thought would never cease . » And once Edward has proposed , she still finds it hard to control her sensibilityvolume 3, chapter 13 : » she was everything by turns but tranquil. » and «  she was oppressed ,she was overcome

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