1. How does the novel (at
least in the opening chapters) dramatize the late eighteenth-century debate of
reason over emotion, or sense vs. sensibility?
What view does Austen (or the narrator) seem to take on the
subject? Cite a specific passage in
support of your reading.
2. Where do we see Austen,
the satirist, at work in these early chapters?
Though her work is classified more with the Romantics and Victorians,
Austen was a child of the Enlightenment—and had read Tom Jones, The Way of the World, and many similar works. What characters offer us a satirical insight
into English manners, customs, and conventional opinions?
3. Unlike many conventional
romances or novels, Austen’s men are rarely romanticized—and indeed, seem to
hover very close to the ground. In
describing Edward Ferrars, she writes, “[he] was not recommended to their good
opinion by any particular graces of person or address. He was not handsome, and his manners required
intimacy to make them pleasing” (14).
Why do you think her men lack this dashing, romantic character—even the
potential love interests?
4. Though Sense and Sensibility is not a gothic
novel, it follows many of Walpole’s ideas about sensibility and the blending of
reality and romance. What scenes or
events might owe something to Walpole’s example, particularly regarding feeling
and sympathy? Are Elinor and Marianne
descendants of Mathilda and Isabella?
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