Sense and Sensibility
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.1.) What does Jane Austen mean by “sense” and by “sensibility,” and which cultural movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries do they represent? Which of the two older sisters—Elinor and Marianne—represents which quality? Does one quality win out over the other in the end? If so, which one, and how; if not, why?Answer:2.) Early in the novel, Marianne tells Elinor her ideal of romantic love:“I could not be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point coincide with my own. He must enter into all my feelings; the same books, the same music must charm us both.”Marianne means what she says at the time, but her creator, Jane Austen, is using the statement ironically. In what way does Austen intend Marianne’s statement ironically? How has Marianne’s view of love changed by the end of the novel, and what has changed it?Answer:3.) The theme of selfishness versus selflessness is important inSense and Sensibility. Explain how each of thefollowing characters displays selfishness or selflessness:Willoughby, Lucy Steele, Brandon. Cite details from thenovel for each character.Answer:4.) What role does money play in the plot of Sense andSensibility—how does it motivate the characters and affecttheir happiness? Judging from the events of the characters’lives, what is Jane Austen’s view of the relationshipbetween money and happiness? Support your analysis andinterpretation with examples from the novel.Answer:
