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Class In Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility

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An understanding of the importance given to class and social structures during the Georgian era is essential when analysing the socio-historical context in the works of esteemed female author, Jane Austen. Her inherent distinction of class is said to be the main source of much of the comedy and irony that is present throughout her works. Society in England during Austen’s era was highly centred around the social lives of the landed gentry and this is thematised in many of her novels. The role of the author is to give existence to a certain social or political position within the narrative of any given text. Austen as an author focused solely on depicting the social lives of the upper middle class in Britain at the time. It is often simple for …show more content…

The novel is centred around the dichotomy between sense and sensibility and Austen conveys this distinction with the use of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Elinor, the eldest of the two sisters represents sense as she possesses more responsible qualities such as restraint and reason. Marianne however contrasts completely as she represents sensibility within the narrative as her decisions are always fueled by her emotions. Critic George E. Haggerty discusses the contrast between the two female characters, “Marianne becomes the sullen guardian of her own emotions, while Elinor accepts the implications of "polite" society and soldiers on,” (221). Austen highlights the differences between Marianne and Elinor’s personalities when the sisters demonstrate their conflicted views on society at the beginning of the novel. Elinor believes that if one holds social ranking within society this does not guarantee that they possess plausible morals, “I am afraid, replied Elinor, that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety," (13). Marianne heavily disagrees as she believes that one cannot achieve a respected position within society if they do not possess a good moral compass, "on the contrary, nothing can be a stronger proof of it, Elinor; for if there had been any real impropriety in what I did, I …show more content…

The character of Marianne in the novel represents Austen’s modernistic way of thinking. Marianne refuses to marry for the sake of attaining a position within high society, she has selected the ways in which she presents herself, and with choice must come responsibility. Austen’s novel breaks away from the traditions at the time through the discourses she represents in it. Critic David Kaufmann notes, “Sense and Sensibility bodies forth the discomfort that arises from the break with authority and the past,” (400). Austen constructs the role of a modern author by defying the norms of her time within the narrative of the novel, “Sense and Sensibility confronts us with the as-yet unsolved project of our modernity,” (Kauffmann, 404). For Austen both sense and sensibility are akin to one another and it is only when a balance between the two is obtained, one can achieve happiness. Sense and Sensibility as well as questioning the figures of authority, is Austen’s attempt at reshaping the ideas surrounding class structure at the position of women in the upper middle class society at the

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In the novel “Pride and Prejudice,” by Jane Austen emphasizes the idea of “thoughtful laugher,” through the relationship of Elizabeth and Darcy. “Thoughtful laughter” is notable in Austen 's use of the misunderstandings between characters. It is something that immediately provokes laughter and or amusement for the reader but also gives an understanding of a larger concept when analyzed further. “Thoughtful Laughter” is seen between Elizabeth and Darcy in which the two further apart from themselves until the two realize their mistakes were based on their pride and prejudice. Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” visualizes and captures the conflicted and tormented relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy in where it all begins at the Netherfield ball.

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Does “Pride and Prejudice” written by Jane Austen, reinforce or erode sexist stereotypes of women? The story was written in the nineteenth century, an era when men and women had a structured stereotypical role. There is no erode sexist, however, reinforce sexist is present. Women had a very specific role in society and their status was based mainly on the family’s fortune.

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In author Jane Austen 's 1813 romance novel Pride and Prejudice, social class stereotypes play a very key part when affecting the rolls of the Bennet sisters. Very clear distinctions between people who are grouped into classes are shown throughout the novel by characters of different classes stereotyping against others. This causes problems for many of the main characters who often fails to meet the social standards of others and stereotypes others themselves When it comes to social stereotypes Elizabeth Bennet, the second oldest Bennet sister, is no stranger. Throughout the novel her mother is often reminding her how to properly dress and correcting her on her manners.

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The 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee and originally written by Jane Austen, has timeless elements in its composition. Starring Emma Thompson, also the screenwriter, and Kate Winslet as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, the movie tells of two heroines and their struggle between balancing idealism and reality. As young, female adolescents of the 1800s, they are responsible for finding husbands that can support them financially; and following their father’s death and loss of money, this becomes even more emphasized. But, they come to struggle when having to choose between what their hearts crave, and what their minds know is best. Elinor’s ideal partner is the initially dull Edward Ferrars, who is discovered to be secretly engaged

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In the same time, these literary works have differences, for the most part because the latter underlines the evolution in Jane’s writing style and ideas determined by satirical images of the high-class, and appoints a novel, typical for the mature stage of her career, while Pride and Prejudice is a model of her beginning as a writer. The first novel shapes the middle-class society (the Bennet family, their relatives, and neighbors), in an accurate way, especially because the author belonged to it; she spend her entire life in this social circle, and her continually encounters with its members provided her, those well painted details. Thus, Austen is perfectly aware of the desires and aspirations of the women and men in this class. Those people were craving to overcome their social status, they were in constant search of means which could endow them, and so they were capable of many things to achieve their purposes. Therefore, the main characters of this novel, the Bennet family, who were having five unmarried daughters, were struggling to assure their future, by marrying them in the upper-class: A single man of large fortune; four of five thousand a year.

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The thesis statements that appear in the narrative are: the importance of wealth and social status, the marriage of convenience, the pride – depicted by Elizabeth Bennet- and the prejudice -embodied by Mr. Darcy-. She intertwines the critic on the social values of the time with a love story, perhaps in order to make her work more attractive to the public. To my mind, Jane Austen was not only a great author but also a woman ahead of her time. While everyone else was just content with what they had, she was able to see beyond and be critic with her time; a time of change, especially in Britain, an era of constant evolution and transformations determined by

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Jane Austen auspiciously illustrates societies concept of marriage in her novel. England’s early nineteenth century was measured off of class, wealth, and etiquette. The social status of a woman

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Societal expectations In the Regency era, the society had high demands and expectations for the way people should act. Jane Austen viewed the expectations that were placed upon her as restricting, however one would not be able to break these restrictions without creating a disturbance. This is shown throughout Pride and Prejudice and the path that each individual character takes. Austen makes her opinion of the influence of the societal expectations clear through her characterization in Pride and Prejudice.

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In the Victorian era, women were forced to marry, as they needed the security of a man. However, Austen uses logos to question the real inequality in the Victorian era’s ideology, that a woman is incomplete without a man. This allows the reader to analyse the state of society from a different perspective. Austen also starts her sentence with an assertive tone further supported with her firm word choices, through using the words, ‘…truth universally acknowledged’. These words are important in her building ethos allowing her to deliver her controversial message.

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The gender roles of Jane Austen’s time, and the mirroring of them in Persuasion, are good examples of how hard it can be to resist inequality amongst sexes. Gender inequality is a social issue that recurs throughout the novel. Most of the characters that face gender inequality comply with their oppression. Moreover, the characters that are oppressed by gender inequality have come to expect such injustice. Jane Austen’s Persuasion demonstrates true-to-life examples of how both women and men accept their “role” in society, accept and expect it.

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Jane Austen lived in a period at the turn from the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century, which was a period of mixed thoughts, which conflicted all the times. Among all the conflicts, the most important one was the disparity in social status between men and women. Not only men’s status was in the center of the society but also common people thought it was right that men were much more important than women were. In those days girls were neither allowed nor expected to study much because they did not have to work for a living. They were supposed to stay at home and look beautiful in order to get suitable husbands.

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In Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility she discusses feminism through the challenges women may face in marriage. Austen’s portrayal of her characters Elinor and Marianne demonstrate the struggles and pressures women face. These challenges can be seen through primogeniture, Elinor and Marianne’s approach to love and marriage, and a man’s ability to ruin or help women. The familial succession of assets typically went to the first-born son or the next male heir. In the case of John Dashwood, he inherited Norland estate after the death of his father leaving his half-sisters and stepmother “to quit the neighborhood Norland” and move to a small cottage in Devonshire.

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The women in Sense and Sensibility were more interested in obtaining a husband due to financial difficulties than that of a good education. Gender stereotypes are seen throughout this novel, as educational success was only deemed important for the more superior men. Social orders reflect the differences in social class and gender. We see Austen use the economic position of women to show the powerlessness they had which underlies the pressure of marriage and the vulnerability

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It is evident from reading Austen’s novel; Pride and Prejudice, that she possess a certain sense of empathy towards the female population and the roles they played in society. From the way in which the narrator speaks of the different female characters and how the female characters interact and develop throughout the plot, the women in this novel convey Austen’s distaste for the position women had in society during that period of time. In this essay I will discuss how the female characters view women and their roles in society and how they discuss topics such as; marriage, the ways in which a “proper” lady should behave, the roles of women in the family and finally how Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine in this story, portrays Austen’s subtle notion of rebellion towards these social constructs to which these women are tied to.

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During Jane Austen’s work on “Pride and Prejudice,” Romanticism started to reach its complex, and had strong influence on people’s life, but Austen chose to reject the tenets of that movement. Romanticism emphasized on the power of feeling, but Austen supported rationalism instead. She substantiated traditional principles and the established rules; her novels also display an ambiguity about emotion and an appreciation for intelligence and natural beauty that aligns them with Romanticism. Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is one of her most well-known works and even though the text is hard to understand, I would recommend it for high students because to me, it is the most characteristic and the most eminently quintessential work of Jane Austen.

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