Irony in Sense and Sensibility

Austen uses irony as a means of moral and social satire. Her sentences, while usually simple and direct, contain within them the basic contradictions which reveal profound insights into character and theme. This is most obvious in her blunt character sketches. John Dashwood "was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather coldhearted, and rather selfish, is to be ill-disposed." Note that in the first half of the sentence, she seems to be viewing his character amiably. Suddenly she changes direction, and the general impression we receive about John is far more bitingly negative than a mere statement of disapproval. Thus she contains in her statement all the elements of disapproval without directly stating that he was ill-disposed.

Her irony ranges from the gentle to the severe. When she speaks about Marianne, she says, "She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent." Austen weights the first half with pleasing commentary and gently undercuts it in the second. Compare this with her biting description of Mrs. Ferrars: "She was not a woman of many words; for, unlike people in general, she proportioned them to the number of her ideas." Austen begins innocently enough, but the conclusion of that sentence bitterly reveals to us the impression she wishes us to have. Reflection is necessary, for we must see the sentence as a whole. She seems to be contradicting herself, but this is not so. We had just taken it for granted that she would finish the sentence the way we expected it to be finished. Our expectations built in the first part of the sentence are disappointed. But the change in tone, though seemingly sudden, is a natural conclusion to the author's own train of thought. She knew that Mrs. Ferrars had nothing to say, but in the order, meticulously constructed, in which she reveals this information, lies her genius. The necessary reflection, subsequent surprise, and devastating insight create an effect which is much more persuasive than direct statement could be.

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Background of Sense and Sensibility

Although Jane Austen had lived in towns like Bath and Southampton and had visited London, she never gives her novels an urban setting. In Sense and Sensibility, the action moves from one great country house to another, the main action taking place in Norland Park, Barton Park, and Cleveland. The Dashwood sisters spend a season in London; they attend balls and dances, and visit a fashionable jeweler's shop. But the author gives few characteristic details about the city itself.

Landscapes are only briefly described, though there are references to grounds adorned with mock Grecian temples, and Edward and Elinor plan a "sweep," an approach to their house which will make the most of their limited grounds. 

All the characters lead a life of leisure. The men do little but hunt and shoot. The women entertain their friends, sing or play an instrument, play cards, and work at painting screens, making filigree baskets, and doing carpet work. Much time is spent in gossip, chatter, and the reading of poetry and romances.

Austen writes about a limited universe, her own universe, which is comprised of upper-middle-class Tory gentry. Economic security is essential in order to maintain this leisurely existence. According to the English laws of primogeniture, the first-born son inherits the family estate, which includes all but what money is bequeathed directly to the rest of the family. This is usually enough to resolve his difficulties, if the estate is a good one. But if the son isn't old enough to inherit his birthright when the father dies, the estate is usually left to the mother and, in the case of Mrs. Ferrars, with "no strings attached." When she leaves the estate to Robert, she abolishes the natural order of things by ignoring the laws of primogeniture. She is thus, in many ways, an unnatural mother. The second and subsequent sons, having no estate, must make their way in the world with only what is bequeathed them in money. If they are fortunate, they marry a wealthy woman with an estate. But, more frequently, their choices are limited to the clergy or the army. If the clergy, they again must apply to luck, which often amounts to influence, to find someone to give or sell them a "living," which would provide them with a house on an estate and the money gained from the collection of tithes, or church taxes. If the estate is a wealthy one, the "living" can assure them a comfortable existence. This is not the case in Delaford, where Edward must rely on his mother's beneficence to supplement his income. A man need not be terribly spiritual in order to take a post in the clergy. The position involves guiding the social and moral life of the community as much as, if not more than, its spiritual one.

Were a man to decide on the army, he would again need to use his influence, this time to find a good command, which he then must buy. In eighteenth-century England, men didn't rise from the ranks; all the officers were men of good family who had paid heavily for their ranks. We see a detailed depiction of the military society of the times in Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Women have similar economic problems, but not as many resources. If they are rich, as is Miss Grey, they can literally buy a husband — their dowry offering often being quite substantial. If, like the Misses Dashwood, they have little dowry, their problems are great. Women like Elinor and Marianne have been brought up in a certain manner. They are educated and cultured but essentially useless. They have little money to offer a man, cannot work, and yet demand a man of their own level. They must find a man who doesn't need a dowry, like Colonel Brandon, or get used to living on less, like Elinor, or like Austen herself, remain single and hope for the goodness of their more wealthy friends to include them to some degree in the social life of the community.

The Misses Steele are of a lower social order, a fact which is brought out by their poor grammar and lack of real elegance. However, in this materialistic society, filled with the newly rich middle class, social mobility is much more feasible than it had been in seventeenth-century England.

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Style in Sense and Sensibility

Though Austen's style was highly individual, it is based on her close study of the eighteenth-century writers, whose simplicity, accuracy, and precision she admired and imitated. Austen picked up the technique, popularized by Fielding, of the omniscient narrator. But her particular style is more objective. While she definitely has an ironic point of view, she allows her characters freedom within this, for her implications are subtle, and in many cases reserved. A good example of this is shown in the development of the character of Mrs. Jennings. When we first meet her, we are told what to think of her: "Mrs. Jennings was a widow, with an ample jointure. She had only two daughters, both of whom she had lived to see respectably married, and she had now therefore nothing to do but to marry all the rest of the world." But for the rest of the novel the author leaves us alone, and we discover by viewing Mrs. Jennings' actions that despite her obvious faults, she is really quite an amiable character. This lack of intrusion adds a sense of reality to the characters, for they are allowed to develop before our eyes. Character is vividly conveyed through direct speech. Charlotte Palmer's foolishness, Robert Ferrars' complacence and vanity, Mrs. Jennings' blunt good humor and common sense, and Anne Steele's vulgarity and lack of education are revealed in the way they express themselves.  

Despite the constant satire, there is a sense of psychological immediacy which increases the verisimilitude. Austen uses the consciousness of Elinor as the means through which to narrate her story. As Elinor is rarely treated ironically, her feelings and observations have a seriousness which transcends the ironic. Colonel Brandon, too, is hardly treated comically, and even Marianne, although often seen ironically, is finally taken seriously.

Contrast is used with line effect. Elinor's sense is contrasted with her sister's sensibility. Edward's loyalty to Lucy contrasts with Willoughby's betrayal of Marianne. Mrs. Jennings' good humor is in strong contrast to Mrs. Ferrars' sourness.

Every page of the novel reflects Austen's own quiet temperament, her good sense, and her humor. Though she can be satirical or ironic on either a small or a grand scale, she is never malicious, and her humor never exceeds the bounds of good taste and credibility.

It has been said that in Austen's novels "nothing ever happens." That is because she recognized her own limitations and kept within them. "What should I do with your strong, vigorous sketches, full of variety and glow?" she asked her nephew, a writer. "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 labor?"

In her own style, she is superb. The events of her story may not be startling, but she makes ordinary happenings as interesting, and sometimes as dramatic, as the most exciting adventure story or romance. Much of the perfection of her style comes from the infinite care and patience with which she polishes her work.

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Critical Reception - Sense & Sensibility

Much critical commentary on Sense and Sensibility deals with the terms referred to in the title—"sense" versus "sensibility." Some critics have concluded that Austen advocated a woman's possessing "sense," not "sensibility," while others have argued that Austen advocated possessing neither one nor the other, but a balance between the two. It is not surprising that a good deal of criticism on the novel revolved around comparisons of one type or another which harken back to the one Austen presents to readers in the title. Critics compare Elinor and Marianne, Willoughby and Edward Ferrars, and lesser characters such as Fanny Dashwood and Lucy Steele. One critic aligns the Dashwood sisters and Willoughby against the rest of the novel's characters. Commenting on other comparisons or "pairings," other critics note that Austen negotiates between actual and hypothetical language; private desire and public voice; epistolary and objective narration.
In addition, several critics have commented on the novel's position within feminist and gender studies. One critic finds the novel the most antifeminist of all Austen's books in its consideration of female authority and power, while another posits that feminist criticism is vital to evaluating Sense and Sensibility for the way in which it offers new ways of valuing the female experience. Yet another critic argues that Austen has created, through the character of Elinor, a female intellectual, signaling Austen's attempt to reshape ideas about gender through her novel.

Source: Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism, ©1999 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.

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Critical Essays Critical Reception of Sense and Sensibility

The nineteenth century contained a hotbed of critical views about the writer. Consistently inconsistent, critics, ranging from the fiery romantics to the subtle Victorians, could not agree.

Jane Austen's warmest admirers have always been men. Archbishop Whately and Macaulay both compared her with Shakespeare. Coleridge, Whewell, Tennyson, Sidney Smith, Andrew Bradley all spoke out in her favor.

Sir Walter Scott, the great romantic, had this to say: "That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiments is denied me." Affirmative acclaims could also be heard from Robert Southey, poet laureate and friend of the great romantics: "Her novels are more true to nature, and have, for my sympathies, passages of finer feeling than any others of this age." And of the Victorians, George Henry Lewes, George Eliot's devoted friend, said: "In spite of the sense of incongruity which besets us in the word prose Shakespeare, we confess the greatness of Miss Austen; her marvelous dramatic power seems, more than any thing in Scott, akin to the greatest quality in Shakespeare."

But adverse criticism rang as loudly as did the favorable. Because they did not rely on high-colored pictures of life, complicated plots, or supernatural terrors, the novels of Jane Austen seemed tame and commonplace to many readers of her time. Madame de Staël pronounced Austen's novels "vulgaires" (commonplace), and Charlotte Bronte said: "The passions are perfectly unknown to her. . . . Even to the feelings she vouchsafes no more than an occasional graceful but distant recognition — too frequent converse with them would ruffle the smooth elegance of her progress. Her business is not half so much with the human heart as with the human eyes, mouth, hands and feet. What sees keenly, speaks aptly, moves flexibly, it suits her to study: but what throbs fast and full, though hidden, what the blood rushes through, what is the unseen seat of life and sentient target of death — this Miss Austen ignores." Thomas Carlyle dismissed Austen's novels as mere "dish washings," and Wordsworth "used to say that though he admitted that the novels were an admirable copy of life, he could not be interested in productions of that kind; unless the truth of nature were presented to him clarified, as it were, by the light of the imagination, it had scarce any attraction in his eyes" (quoted by Sara Coleridge).

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