An analytical essay on the social context of "A sense & sensibility" by Jane Austin.

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Sam Higton                09/05/07

An analytical essay on the social context of “A sense & sensibility” by Jane Austin

Sense & sensibility, written by Jane Austin was written in 1811, when society was quite different. Chivalry and Honour were much more important then today, because these equalled respectability. To get anywhere in the eighteen hundred’s aristocratic society, you needed to be respected. The 19th century was also heavily based around decorum, to have a seemingly modest behaviour.

In this coursework, I will be looking into how the characters comply with the standards of the age. I will also be looking at the relevance of the title to the text, and how the English language is used to purvey what the author is trying to tell us.

The Novel starts off with a narrative on the family of dashwood, telling the reader of their estate and where it is situated. The owner of the estate, Mr John Dashwood, When married to his late wife, had one son, Mr John Dashwood. When His first wife died he married a second wife, who had 3 daughters from a previous marriage. They all lived in the Sussex estate quite happily until Mr Dashwood finally caught a disease and was about to die. Although he considered his three daughters to be closer to him then his son, who was now married and lived in London, he was obliged to leave the estate and finances to his son, as that was stated in the will. “To him, the succession to the Norland estate was not so really as important as to his sisters…” this quote clearly shows the state of affairs, as the sons wealth is nearly equal to the Norland estate itself, whereas the young miss Dashwoods will have nothing. He was not happy about this, so he asked his son to give each of the young Miss Dashwoods a small sum of money each.

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Mr John Dashwood’s wife however was not happy about this, and tried to persuade him to give as little as possible to the three daughters. “How could he answer it to himself to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum?” is but one of her arguments. But this one stands out the most, as she is trying to say that, merely because his not related to the daughters by blood, and merely through marriage, then they are not worthy of his inheritance. This is a clear sign of the times, as back then, ...

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