When Austen describes Elinor and Marianne’s half-brother John Dashwood (who has inherited their home after the death of their father and forces them to move out), she uses verbal irony:
He was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted, and rather selfish, is to be ill-disposed: but he was, in general, well respected.
As seen in the quote, Austen feigns that she is describing John in a complimentary way (as not ill-disposed), but quickly undercuts this point by describing him as cold-hearted and selfish—exactly the definition of what it means to be ill-disposed. Readers leave this moment with the sense that the narrator of Sense and Sensibility—much like its characters—may use indirect communication in an attempt to appear well-mannered while actually criticizing others.
In addition to providing readers with a humorous moment in this indirect dig at John’s character, Austen is highlighting how certain wealthy people will be greedy and seek to hoard wealth at the expense of those less fortunate; even though John is financially well-off, he forces the Dashwoods to leave their home and also only gives them 1,500 pounds a year to live off of, after initially deciding to give them 3,000 pounds a year. This is particularly selfish of him because the Dashwoods are all women who would not be earning an income of their own.
Near the start of the novel, Fanny Dashwood tries to convince her husband John that his half-sisters don’t need more than 1,500 pounds a year each to live off of (after he has proposed 3,000 pounds), inadvertently using verbal irony:
“Altogether, they will have five hundred a year amongst them, and what on earth can four women want for more than that? They will live so cheap! Their housekeeping will be nothing at all. They will have no carriage, no horses, and hardly any servants; they will keep no company, and can have no expences of any kind! Only conceive how comfortable they will be!”
This is ironic because, while trying to frame this relatively small amount of money as reasonable and “comfortable” for three women (and their mother), Fanny lists all of the amenities they will not have access to, such as transportation and help around the house. The fact that she goes as far as stating that they will not be able to keep company or have any expenses at all and that this will be a comfortable life for them takes the irony to a new level. This is Austen’s way of showing how greedy people with wealth in her particular society can be; not only do they take from the less fortunate, but they also frame their actions as if they are being kind and generous in the process. This is also an example of Fanny strategizing in order to maximize wealth for herself and her immediate family.
In an example of situational irony, Marianne ends up marrying Colonel Brandon, an older man she was expressly uninterested in for much of the novel. In one of the many moments in which Marianne makes her lack of interest in Colonel Brandon known, she gossips with Willoughby about how “nobody cares about” him:
“Brandon is just the kind of man,” said Willoughby one day, when they were talking of him together, “whom every body speaks well of, and nobody cares about; whom all are delighted to see, and nobody remembers to talk to.”
“That is exactly what I think of him,” cried Marianne.
It is notable that Marianne “cried” in agreement with Willoughby, as one of her primary attributes in the story is her sensibility, or her comfort with emotional expression. She relishes in extreme emotional states and, near the start of the novel, names a desire for “falling a sacrifice to an irresistible passion” when it comes to romantic love. While she most certainly fell in love with Willoughby in this manner, she had no similar feelings for Colonel Brandon.
Using ironic twists to her advantage, Austen has Marianne and Colonel Brandon end up together, communicating in the process that character is not fixed and that sensibility is only advantageous if paired with a certain amount of sense, or pragmatism. While Marianne’s love for Colonel Brandon is not a passionate one, Austen makes it clear in the end that “in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby.”
A key moment of situational irony in Sense and Sensibility is when Lucy Steele reveals to Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged to be married for four years. Elinor's reaction to this reveal highlights the irony in the interaction:
“Good heavens!” cried Elinor, “what do you mean? Are you acquainted with Mr. Robert Ferrars? Can you be?” And she did not feel much delighted with the idea of such a sister-in-law.
“No;” replied Lucy, “not to Mr. Robert Ferrars—I never saw him in my life; but,” fixing her eyes upon Elinor, “to his elder brother.”
What felt Elinor at that moment? Astonishment, that would have been as painful as it was strong, had not an immediate disbelief of the assertion attended it.
The irony in this moment stems from the fact that Edward has shown deep affection for Elinor, such that she and her entire family all believed him to be prepared to propose to her shortly. Elinor’s “astonishment” and “immediate disbelief” make it clear that she is as surprised by this reveal as readers are.
The ironic humor of their situation is even more apparent in the scene in which all three of them are alone in a room together after Edward comes to visit Elinor in London and inadvertently finds her in a house with his real fiancée:
It was a very awkward moment; and the countenance of each shewed that it was so. They all looked exceedingly foolish; and Edward seemed to have as great an inclination to walk out of the room again, as to advance farther into it.
Though the irony of this situation is entertaining for readers, it is also unsettling. Austen established Edward as a kind and humble man, and yet the fact that he has led two women on raises questions about his character. Here she communicates that he may not be the right match for Elinor after all—though, later, after making amends and taking responsibility for his actions, Edward is able to find his way back into her heart.
Despite his endless flirting with Marianne (including buying her a horse and keeping a lock of her hair), Willoughby reveals to her that he was never interested in her romantically—an example of situational irony. Readers assume—as Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood do—that Edward has asked Marianne to marry him and is just in London for work-related matters when, in fact, he is in London in order to find a wealthy woman to marry (which he finds in Miss Grey).
As Willoughby writes in a letter to Marianne after ignoring her at a party he attended with Miss Grey:
That I should ever have meant more, you will allow to be impossible, when you understand that my affections have been long engaged elsewhere, and it will not be many weeks, I believe, before this engagement is fulfilled.
Though readers later learn that Miss Grey is the one who wrote this letter and forced Edward to transcribe it (threatened, as she was, by Marianne’s romantic letters to Edward that she found and read), this is still a shocking moment of situational irony where Edward’s entire character comes into question.
The moment that Marianne reads Edward’s letter is also a moment of dramatic irony, as, immediately after reading it, she tells Elinor that she has no idea how she—Marianne—must feel when, really, Elinor is silently suffering over Edward’s similar betrayal of her for another woman. The underlying irony comes through in their conversation in which Elinor implies that there are painful matters of which Marianne is unaware:
“I cannot, I cannot,” cried Marianne; “leave me, leave me, if I distress you; leave me, hate me, forget me; but do not torture me so. Oh! how easy for those who have no sorrow of their own to talk of exertion! Happy, happy Elinor, you cannot have an idea of what I suffer.”
“Do you call me happy, Marianne? Ah! if you knew!”
Austen is known for the layers of irony she is able to weave into a single text, and this moment is a prime example of that.
In an example of verbal irony, Lucy Steele communicates to Elinor how glad she is to find her still in town when she, in fact, means the opposite, given her awareness of Elinor and Edward’s love for each other:
“I should have been quite disappointed if I had not found you here still,” said she repeatedly, with a strong emphasis on the word. “But I always thought I should. I was almost sure you would not leave London yet awhile; though you told me, you know, at Barton, that you should not stay above a month. But I thought, at the time, that you would most likely change your mind when it came to the point […] And now to be sure you will be in no hurry to be gone. I am amazingly glad you did not keep to your word.”
The verbal irony comes across via Austen’s use of italics—each time Lucy emphasizes a word, readers can imagine her smiling through her teeth. She is not happy to find Elinor in town “still” because she wants Edward all to herself. Elinor “told” Lucy that she would leave in less than a “month,” so, the italics imply, she should have kept to her “word.”
The irony becomes even more obvious when Austen describes Elinor’s reaction to Lucy’s sweetly sarcastic welcome; as the narrator writes, “she hardly knew how to make a very gracious return to the overpowering delight of Lucy in finding her still in town.” Here Austen implies that Elinor is herself aware of the verbal irony and knows that Lucy is not being genuine in her performance of “overpowering delight.” Overall, this moment shows Lucy’s true character—that she is rude and passive-aggressive, wanting Edward (and his wealth) all to herself.
In an example of verbal irony, Austen describes Mrs. Ferrars—Edward’s mother—as if she is complimenting her when really she is criticizing her:
Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect. Her complexion was sallow; and her features small, without beauty, and naturally without expression; but a lucky contraction of the brow had rescued her countenance from the disgrace of insipidity, by giving it the strong characters of pride and ill nature. She was not a woman of many words: for, unlike people in general, she proportioned them to the number of her ideas.
While there are moments in Austen’s description of Mrs. Ferrars that are overtly unflattering—“her complexion was sallow,” she was “serious, even to sourness”—she also includes descriptions that appear to be complimentary when they are not. For example, the fact that Mrs. Ferrars’s brow made her seem prideful and ill-natured is not “lucky.” Similarly, stating that she had few ideas to contribute in conversation does not set her apart from “people in general” in a positive way, as Austen implies, but in a negative way.
In typical Austen fashion, she takes time to mock arrogant, wealthy people who take themselves too seriously. This is just one of the ways that she satirizes the class-divided British society of her time.
In an example of dramatic irony, Margaret, Marianne, and Mrs. Dashwood don’t know—as Elinor and readers do—that Edward has been engaged to Lucy Steele for four years. Because of this, they talk about him as if he’s still the perfect suitor for Elinor, offering him compliments that Elinor accepts silently because, as the sister who has “sense,” she believes that she must keep painful feelings and truths to herself.
In one scene, Marianne even interrupts a tense moment where Edward finds himself alone with Elinor and Lucy (two women he has led to believe he would marry) by singing his praises:
“I am very sure that conscience only kept Edward from Harley Street. And I really believe he has the most delicate conscience in the world; the most scrupulous in performing every engagement, however minute, and however it may make against his interest or pleasure. He is the most fearful of giving pain, of wounding expectation, and the most incapable of being selfish, of any body I ever saw.”
While Marianne believes herself simply to be doting on her future brother-in-law, she is inadvertently highlighting how Edward has not at all lived up to his perceived character traits of selflessness and conscientiousness. Readers, like Elinor and Edward, know the truth, however—that he is actively hurting both women by withholding his true feelings from them.
A key moment of situational irony in Sense and Sensibility is when Lucy Steele reveals to Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged to be married for four years. Elinor's reaction to this reveal highlights the irony in the interaction:
“Good heavens!” cried Elinor, “what do you mean? Are you acquainted with Mr. Robert Ferrars? Can you be?” And she did not feel much delighted with the idea of such a sister-in-law.
“No;” replied Lucy, “not to Mr. Robert Ferrars—I never saw him in my life; but,” fixing her eyes upon Elinor, “to his elder brother.”
What felt Elinor at that moment? Astonishment, that would have been as painful as it was strong, had not an immediate disbelief of the assertion attended it.
The irony in this moment stems from the fact that Edward has shown deep affection for Elinor, such that she and her entire family all believed him to be prepared to propose to her shortly. Elinor’s “astonishment” and “immediate disbelief” make it clear that she is as surprised by this reveal as readers are.
The ironic humor of their situation is even more apparent in the scene in which all three of them are alone in a room together after Edward comes to visit Elinor in London and inadvertently finds her in a house with his real fiancée:
It was a very awkward moment; and the countenance of each shewed that it was so. They all looked exceedingly foolish; and Edward seemed to have as great an inclination to walk out of the room again, as to advance farther into it.
Though the irony of this situation is entertaining for readers, it is also unsettling. Austen established Edward as a kind and humble man, and yet the fact that he has led two women on raises questions about his character. Here she communicates that he may not be the right match for Elinor after all—though, later, after making amends and taking responsibility for his actions, Edward is able to find his way back into her heart.
In an example of situational irony near the end of the novel, everyone in the Dashwood family believes that Lucy has married Edward when she has really married his brother Robert. This is because, in the following exchange, the Dashwoods’ servant refers to Robert simply as “Mr. Ferrars” and the Dashwoods jump to conclusions, having enormous emotional responses in the process:
“I suppose you know, ma’am, that Mr. Ferrars is married.”
Marianne gave a violent start, fixed her eyes upon Elinor, saw her turning pale, and fell back in her chair in hysterics. Mrs. Dashwood, whose eyes, as she answered the servant’s enquiry, had intuitively taken the same direction, was shocked to perceive by Elinor’s countenance how much she really suffered, and in a moment afterwards, alike distressed by Marianne’s situation, knew not on which child to bestow her principal attention.
It isn’t until Edward comes to the Dashwoods’ home and clarifies that he has not married Lucy and very much wants to marry Elinor that the Dashwoods’ extreme reactions seem humorous.
This moment has a couple other layers of situational irony as well. First is that Lucy has made such a fuss about being married to Edward for four years—making sure to communicate in her letters to Elinor how deeply in love they are with each other—that her immediate abandonment of him for his brother comes as quite a shock. It is also ironic because Robert made it known earlier in the novel that he disliked Lucy, going as far as to call her “the merest awkward country girl, without stile, or elegance, and almost without beauty.” The layers of irony in this moment contribute to the climax of the story, making it possible for Edward’s ultimate declaration of love to Elinor to shock and delight readers in a meaningful way.
