Sense and Sensibility in Elinor and Marianne

The title of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility expresses not only the individual character traits, but also the relation and interaction of sense and sensibility in the society as portrayed in the romantic literature of this time. It is doubtful, however, that Austen would have been able to fully describe this relation without creating the two characters who would exemplify sense and sensibility in their actions and their behavior, and comparing them to one another. These two characters are Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and by comparing them and the ways they interact with people around them, Austen presents her own attitudes about her contemporary society and its obsession with the ideals of romanticism.

One of the most noticeable differences between Elinor and Marianne is in the way they express their feelings. Both of them are capable of strong emotions, although some readers may think otherwise because Elinor masks her feelings well. While some can view Elinor's composure as a sign that she is emotionally more stable than her younger sister, a point of no less importance is how Elinor exemplifies her contemporary society's unhealthy obsession with secrets. It appears that every person who is acquainted with the sisters tends to trust some sensitive information to Elinor, most likely because they observe her quietness and judge that their secret will be safe with her. Very few of these secrets reach Marianne without first going through Elinor. The reason for this is described by Marianne herself when, at one point in the story, she says to her sister, "We have neither of us anything to tell; you, because you communicate, and I, because I conceal nothing" (Austen, 184). Because Marianne's emotions often force her to disregard the accepted social standards, she is considered too 'dangerous' by her acquaintances to disclose to her any secrets firsthand. Instead, they tell them to Elinor, who will always think twice before voicing any of the information she receives. Some of it, like Lucy Steele's engagement to Edward Ferrars, is not to be revealed to anybody. But even the private information that is soon to become public, in a form of gossip or otherwise, is given to Elinor first, so she can pass it on to Marianne in a less emotional form. It is a common occurrence in the novel that Elinor converses with someone in regards to some 'secret' she already knows, but she not only does not reveal this knowledge verbally, but also keeps her facial expression so as not to reveal any prior knowledge.

When it comes to the regard for social norms, the difference between the two sisters is obvious. Once Marianne meets Willoughby, the rest of the company her family keeps ceases to exist for her. Her emotional state calls for all her attention to be given to Willoughby, and the thought that others may consider her behavior improper or be offended by it does not enter her mind. Her personal interests receive priority in a similar manner while in London, when she effectively ignores her hostess and society, and is being rude to her well-meaning sister because she is upset that Willoughby fails to contact her. Afterwards, after she finds out about his betrayal, Marianne goes into a social shell, disregarding the way she looks or dresses in public, because she has no interest in society without Willoughby being in it and thinks that no one around her can understand her pain. In addition, Marianne ignores the social circles like this because she despises their concerns and their interests. This disdain is apparent in her short emotional outbursts on various occasions, as well as hatred for card games, which is one of the major social amusements in her contemporary society. Even Marianne's near-fatal illness can be attributed to her emotions forcing her to disregard the feelings of others and their concerns for her. After all, she denies the need to change out of wet clothes after walking in cold, rainy weather, and declines all medicine when she begins to feel poorly. These actions are Marianne's additional acts of defiance against socially accepted norms, in this case those concerning care for one's health.

Unlike her sister, Elinor always thinks how her actions or behavior would reflect on others around her. This 'sense' of social norms is what keeps Elinor from expressing her feelings openly, like Marianne does. In order to block her emotions so as to appear calm and collected in front of other people, Elinor searches in her own mind for ways to justify the actions of others, even is those actions hurt her. Elinor has the same social concerns, such as propriety and financial well being, as the rest of the people around her, and it is not very flattering to her character, because other members of her social circle are portrayed in an unfavorable light because of their obsession with those things. Marianne does not concern herself with money for a moment during her relationship with Willoughby. It is Elinor who explains, in socioeconomic terms, to Marianne why she would be unhappy while married to Willoughby, even if he shared her feelings and proposed to her.

Despite all this, however, Marianne does possess a fair amount of 'sense,' and Elinor is a considerably more sensitive person than she appears to be at first. Marianne's moment of sensible conduct comes on her sickbed. After recovering, she later mentions to Elinor that even though she had no reservations against dying in a state of emotional hurt, she could not bear what her death would cause to her mother and sisters. Elinor, on the other hand, shows how emotional she really is when she loses her composure at the news of the supposed marriage of Edward and Lucy. This is when she realizes that, trying to deceive others that she was indifferent to this match, in order to avoid social scandal, she was also trying to deceive herself, and now her emotions showed her that she failed. The fact that positive emotions have a similar ability to crack Elinor's social mask is shown later, when she again loses her composure when Edward comes to Barton to propose to her and in the process to explain that Lucy actually married his younger brother Robert.

Even though both sisters end up marrying to their satisfaction, Austen does not fail to once again show the importance of finances to their well being and how, in the end, society influences the person's actions. Despite marrying the man she loves, Elinor still persuades Edward to reconcile with his mother so she would help them out financially. Marianne, on the other hand, is persuaded by everyone close to her to marry a man who is already well off financially, but who does not match her in terms of emotional intensity. As Austen herself says, "She was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract, by her conduct, her most favourite maxims" (Austen, 366). Sacrificing her emotional pursuits, Marianne becomes what is expected of her - "a wife, the mistress of a family, and the patroness of a village" (Austen, 367). Once again, the interests of an individual are sacrificed to the obsessions of the society.

WORK CITED

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1969.