Answer TWO of the following:
1. Sense and Sensibility was originally an
epistolary novel entitled Elinor and Marianne, which Austen revised
thoroughly to suit a more 19th century taste in the early eighteen
teens. However, these chapters contain several letters which were probably part
of the original text. What is the
purpose of including letters between the characters, and how does it affect
what we read, and how we see, this part of the story?
2. In some ways, Sense and Sensibility is Austen’s
most Gothic novel, as it contains secrets, scandals, and seduction unknown in
her other works. How do these Gothic
elements (which may have been much stronger in the original version) cohere
with the rest of the novel? Do they
seem out of place? Or are they Austen’s
attempt to hint at the darker world behind the facade of Enlightenment manners
(remember Goya’s maxim: the sleep of reason produces monsters!).
3. In William Deresiewicz’s book, A Jane Austen
Education, he writes, “For Austen, before you can fall in love with someone
else, you have to come to know yourself.
In other words, you have to grow up.
Love isn’t going to magically transform you, make you into a better or
even a different person...it can only work with what you already are” (220).
How does this apply to Marianne specifically?
In what ways does she not know herself, or expect to be transformed by love? How does this account for her tremendous
disappointment in London?
4. How does society respond to the Marianne/Willoughby
affair? Does the extended family (Lady
Middleton, Miss Jennings, the Palmers) become more full of ‘feeling’ here, or
do they remain a largely comic or satirical backdrop? Is Marianne or Willoughby more censured for their behavior? What does this say about the ‘way of the
world’ in Austen’s day?
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