Coexistence of Perspectives - Sense and Sensibility

The merit of comparing and contrasting elements lies in the ultimate revelation of a deeper understanding of each element. This is true in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The very dichotomy of “sense” versus “sensibility” as it was understood in the 1800s is what permeates the story of the Dashwood sisters. While Austen may demonstrate a tendency toward the “sensible” in much of her novel, it is clear that she is sympathetic to both perspectives in the end.

Austen, in many ways, supports the need for order and practicality, process and etiquette, and standards of behavior that are commensurate with good or common sense rather than the unpredictable and often rash faces of sensibility. Elinor Dashwood is the embodiment of “sense.” For example, at the beginning of the novel, it is Elinor who has to think about where the Dashwood women are to live once their sister-in-law, Fanny, decides that they need to leave their father’s estate. In fact, when Mrs. Dashwood goes shopping for a house, she is reminded of the “prudence of her eldest daughter, whose steadier judgment rejected several houses as too large for their income” (I.III). Though Elinor becomes enamored with Edward, Fanny’s brother, she does not allow herself to become totally infatuated with the potential love affair. Rather, she is cautious and practical about the relationship, noting that “she could not consider her partiality for Edward in so prosperous a state as Marianne had believed it” (I.IV). Elinor puts the needs of her mother and sisters ahead of her own potential romance. Even when Elinor is shaken by the news of Edward’s engagement to Lucy Steele, she deals with it calmly and alone, reasoning with herself how Edward arrived in such a relationship with Lucy and concluding that it was not really loved, questioning “was his engagement to Lucy an engagement of the heart?” and concluding that is was not (II.I). Again, it is her common sense that takes over rather than wild, unbridled emotion. And while Marianne completely falls apart at the party where she spies Willoughby with another woman, Elinor maintains some semblance of control in her demeanor during the situation, urging Marianne “pray, pray be composed and do not betray what you feel to everybody present” even though she is as much shocked by the event as Marianne (II.VI). She calmly requests that Lady Middleton take them home as quickly and quietly as possible so as not to bring notice to Marianne’s tirade. Clearly, Austen points out the virtues of good sense and a cool head as a necessity in life.

Conversely, Austen also celebrates the passion and revelations into the human psyche and heart through sensibility. In the novel, Marianne is the quintessence of sensibility, allowing her every thought and action to be held captive by her emotions. Marianne is flabbergasted by the lack of passion in the relationship between Elinor and Edward. Though she knows how her sister feels about Edward, she criticizes her for not expressing her love for him in a more outward manner. When Elinor tells her sister that she “esteems” Edward, Marianne cries out, “Esteem him! Like him! Cold-hearted Elinor! Oh! worse than cold-hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those words again and I will leave the room this moment”(I.IV). In addition, Marianne dislikes Edward’s lack of passion, finding him boring and without depth. Marianne displays impulsiveness and passion even in her music as she plays the piano. In many ways, Marianne is a free spirit, going against the expectations of the period for how a young lady should act as evidenced by her gallivanting run in the woods with her sister, Margaret, and her obvious forwardness toward Willoughby. Her sensibility ultimately results in a serious illness after she decides to take long, pensive walks in the rain near Willoughby’s home. Marianne’s tendency to be overly melodramatic about everything in her life is often frustrating, but it is also what makes her character so exhilarating and full of life.

The novel finally resolves its argument over the two perspectives by allowing each sister to learn from the other and understand the benefits and the consequences of sense and sensibility. On one hand, sensibility overruled sense because Elinor learned that her heart and her inner feelings are just as valid as her reasonable, logical mindset. Elinor finally understands the feeling of allowing emotions to overwhelm her when Edward returns to tell her that Lucy is marrying Robert. Because of this information, Elinor was “everything by turns but tranquil” (III.XIII). Elinor felt “overcome by her own felicity; – and happily disposed of as is the human mind to be easily familiarized with any change for the better, it required several hours to give sedateness to her spirits for any degree of tranquility to her heart” (III.VIII). However, since overruled sensibility in Austen’s novel because Marianne came to understand that logic can be present with emotion at the same time. After Marianne’s severe illness, she states, “my illness has made me think – it has given me leisure and calmness for serious recollection. Long before I was enough recovered to talk, I was perfectly able to reflect. I considered the past; I saw in my own behavior since the beginning of our acquaintance with him [Willoughby] last autumn, nothing but a series of imprudence towards myself, and want of kindness to others” (III.X). Marianne resolves that her “feelings shall be governed and my temper improved” (III.X). Clearly, both sisters found that sense and sensibility can be present at once.

Consequently, Jane Austen’s novel is appropriately named, Sense and Sensibility, and not Sense or Sensibility to emphasize that both traits are best displayed within one’s character in combination. Austen conveys in the work that life cannot be governed solely by emotion, nor can it be guided strictly by unfeeling logic; rather it is a balance of the two. Both of the Dashwood sisters learned from the other, and overall came to an understanding that life is not just about sense or sensibility and that both can coexist at once.