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Sense and Sensibility• Author

• Characters

• Background

• Introduction

• My thoughts

Author • Jane Austen was born in Steventon, England, in

1775, the seventh of eight children. She was dead in 1817.

• She was the first to give the novel its modern character through the treatment of everyday life. Owing to her ability to satire, and irony, she was one of the most studied and influential novelists of her time. Virginia Woolf called her “the most perfect artist among women”.

Author• Her best known books include Pride and

Prejudice, and Emma. Other works are Mansfield, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

• Her novels, focusing on courtship and marriage, were well-known for their satire on English society and the manners of the area.

• She paid much attention to the lives of women during the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, when women were in the low status.

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Characters

Elinor Dashwood• rational

• cautious

• considerate

Elinor Dashwood • She is the eldest of the Dashwood sisters.

• She, representing sense, is associated with eighteenth-century neo-classicism, including rationality, insight, judgment, and moderation.

• She often reminds her mother and sisters

of the proper ways of behaving and handling their money.

Elinor Dashwood• When she falls in love with Edward, she

treats it cautiously.

• When Marianne is hurt by Willoughby, she looks after Marianne considerately and accompanies her day and night, and does not tell other people her sadness.

Marianne Dashwood

• romantic

• emotional

• intelligent

Marianne Dashwood

• She is the second daughter. She is seventeen.

• She, representing sensibility, is associated with the emerging "cult of sensibility," embracing romance, imagination, idealism, excess, and a dedication to the beauty of nature

• she likes reading the romantic poem and is good at playing the piano.

Marianne Dashwood

• In a storm, after Willoughby rescues her, she falls in love with him. The lack of discretion leads to a great deal of gossip.

• When she loses Willoughby, she is very sad and can't control her emotion.

• At first, she thinks that people can never love twice and lovers should only be young. However, at last she changes her thought, and marries Brandon.

Edward Ferrars

• not attractive or dashing

• honest and loyal

Edward Ferrars• He is not a smooth talker. He is also not

very interested in art or literature. He does not like communicating with people in the upper class, while he likes being a priest.

• Though he no longer loves Lucy Steele, he does not break off the engagement.

• when his mother asks him to break it off, and marries a more wealthy girl, he doesn’t agree.

Colonel Brandon • weather -beaten

• rational

• considerate

Colonel Brandon• He is an old friend of Sir John Middleton.

He is thirty-five years old.

• He has experienced many unfortunate things, such as, the death of his first love.

• He knows Marianne doesn’t love him, he is not emotional, just controls himself well.

• when Marianne is seriously ill, he cares about her and does anything he can help her.

Willoughby • romantic

• loving money

• heartless

Willoughby• He is Marianne's first love. They meet

romantically. Then he falls in love with Marianne .

• He has bad virtue, wastes money, and does bad deeds. Such as, he abandons Brandon's adopted daughter.

• He is avaricious. In order to get a large fortune, he denies any relation with Marianne, hurting her deeply.

Characters • Lucy Steele: Cousin of Mrs. Jennings, she is

the younger Steele girl. • Mrs. Henry Dashwood :The second wife of Mr.

Henry Dashwood, and mother of Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret.

• Mrs. Jennings: a widow and the mother of Lady Middleton and Charlotte Palmer.

• Sir John Middleton: The owner of Barton Park, husband to Lady Middleton.

• Robert Ferrars: Edward's brother.

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Background • There are very definite gender limitations involved

in the society Austen describes. Women cannot own property, were expected to stay in the home, marry, and be polite and good companions.

• For women, marriage is necessary to secure their social positions.

• Austen wrote this novel around the turn of the eighteenth century, on the cusp between two cultural movements: Classicism and Romanticism.

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Introduction • The story revolves around Elinor and Marianne.

they experience both romance and heartbreak. However, at last, they both get love and happiness.

• After Mr. Dashwood dies, Dashwood women have to leave for their new home, a villa at Barton Park. Before leaving, Elinor and Edward have loved each other. But she shows it cautiously.

• At Barton Park, they are acquainted with Colonel Brandon, Willoughby.

Introduction• Brandon and Willoughby both love Marianne.

But Marianne loves Willoughby for handsome. But soon she is abandoned and falls into terrible emotion.

• After a few days, Lucy Steele arrives at Barton Park. She tells Elinor she has been engaged to Edward on purpose, which makes Elinor grievous. But she doesn’t show it.

• Then Elinor and Marianne go to London. In London, Marianne writes to Willoughby with no answer.

Introduction• Finally Marianne receives a letter from him. he

denies any feelings for her, and tells her he has been engaged to another woman. Marianne falls into more terrible emotion and is seriously ill. Brandon cares about Marianne very much.

• After knowing the news of Lucy and Edward's engagement, everyone is angry. Finally Lucy betrays Edward for poor.

• Edward proposes to Elinor, she agrees. Marianne is moved by Brandon and marries Brandon. They all lead happy lives.

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My Thoughts• 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.

• In this book, Marianne is intemperate, and Elinor always very cautious; they are both extreme.It is necessary to find a workable middle ground between the passion and reason.

• Learn moderation of emotions. Because Marianne’s passions brings her much grief.

My Thoughts• In interactions with other people, judgment is alw

ays at work. Don’t be deceived by appearance. For example, Willoughby seems romantic, open, and genuine, but he ends up with exposing himself as idle, and cruel, so dose Lucy.

• Austen also satirized hypocrisy. In the book characters embody it with varying degrees. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is an unavoidable part of human nature, and almost a part of polite society as well.