Though Austen satirizes different aspects of most characters in the novel (such as Elinor’s compulsive suppression of her feelings and Marianne’s over-the-top display of hers), there are other characters, like Fanny Dashwood, whose entire existence is meant to satirize something. With Fanny, Austen seeks to mock wealthy landed gentry who would hoard wealth and think little of the welfare of others.
Though Fanny is not a central character, she is instrumental in leaving the Dashwoods in a much worse financial situation than they could have been. When Henry Dashwood dies, he specifically asks his son, Fanny’s husband John, to give Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret 3,000 pounds a year to live off of in his absence. John has just inherited Henry’s estate, so he could easily comply with this simple request. Still, Fanny reacts in a highly exaggerated way to convince him otherwise:
Mrs. John Dashwood did not at all approve of what her husband intended to do for his sisters. To take three thousand pounds from the fortune of their dear little boy, would be impoverishing him to the most dreadful degree. She begged him to think again on the subject. How could he answer it to himself to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum?
Here Fanny is obviously exaggerating—her son would most certainly not be “impoverished” by going without that (relatively) small amount of money. Her rhetoric—“his only child”—also shows her willingness to be manipulative.
Not only is Fanny obsessed with wealth, but, as Austen makes a point of stating right at the start of the novel, she is also exceedingly rude:
Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband’s family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it.
The satirical way in which Austen writes about Fanny—such as stating that she “had no opportunity” to show how truly cruel she could be—shows that she mostly serves as both comedic relief and social commentary on certain greedy members of the upper class.
Though Austen satirizes different aspects of most characters in the novel (such as Elinor’s compulsive suppression of her feelings and Marianne’s over-the-top display of hers), there are other characters, like Fanny Dashwood, whose entire existence is meant to satirize something. With Fanny, Austen seeks to mock wealthy landed gentry who would hoard wealth and think little of the welfare of others.
Though Fanny is not a central character, she is instrumental in leaving the Dashwoods in a much worse financial situation than they could have been. When Henry Dashwood dies, he specifically asks his son, Fanny’s husband John, to give Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret 3,000 pounds a year to live off of in his absence. John has just inherited Henry’s estate, so he could easily comply with this simple request. Still, Fanny reacts in a highly exaggerated way to convince him otherwise:
Mrs. John Dashwood did not at all approve of what her husband intended to do for his sisters. To take three thousand pounds from the fortune of their dear little boy, would be impoverishing him to the most dreadful degree. She begged him to think again on the subject. How could he answer it to himself to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum?
Here Fanny is obviously exaggerating—her son would most certainly not be “impoverished” by going without that (relatively) small amount of money. Her rhetoric—“his only child”—also shows her willingness to be manipulative.
Not only is Fanny obsessed with wealth, but, as Austen makes a point of stating right at the start of the novel, she is also exceedingly rude:
Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband’s family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it.
The satirical way in which Austen writes about Fanny—such as stating that she “had no opportunity” to show how truly cruel she could be—shows that she mostly serves as both comedic relief and social commentary on certain greedy members of the upper class.
Amongst the characters that Austen uses to satirize aspects of British society in the early 19th century is Mr. Palmer. With Mr. Palmer, Austen is mocking older wealthy patriarchs who want comfort and ease yet choose to marry energetic younger women who frustrate them. For much of the novel, Mr. Palmer is overtly rude to his wife, including actively ignoring her:
“Only look, sister, how delightful every thing is! How I should like such a house for myself! Should not you, Mr. Palmer?”
Mr. Palmer made her no answer, and did not even raise his eyes from the newspaper.
“Mr. Palmer does not hear me,” said she, laughing, “he never does sometimes. It is so ridiculous!”
Though Mr. Palmer is primarily used for moments of comic relief like this, Austen also allows him to change over time, becoming kinder and more emotionally present with the Dashwood sisters when they stay with him—Austen’s way of communicating that character is not fixed. For example, when Marianne becomes quite ill and it’s unclear if she will make it through the night, Mr. Palmer does not want to leave her:
Their party was now farther reduced; for Mr. Palmer, though very unwilling to go, as well from real humanity and good-nature, as from a dislike of appearing to be frightened away by his wife, was persuaded at last by Colonel Brandon, to perform his promise of following her.
There is still a dig at Mr. Palmer’s relationship dynamic here—Mr. Palmer does not want to appear like he is "frightened" of his wife—but, at the same time, Austen makes a point of stating that his kindness comes from a place of “real humanity and good nature.” Like many other characters in the novel, Mr. Palmer shows that people can change. This is an important lesson for both Dashwood sisters, who end up marrying men who, earlier in the novel, they had decided were not suitable partners.
Lucy Steele is a lower-class woman obsessed with marrying a wealthy man, seemingly without regard for his character. With Lucy, Austen is satirizing women who act as though they are from a higher class than they are and for whom marriage is a ticket to financial security rather than love or partnership. This comes across in the way that Lucy stays engaged to Edward for four years (even as it’s obvious that he no longer loves her) and then ultimately abandons him for his wealthier and more ambitious brother, Robert.
Austen intentionally exaggerates Lucy’s poor social skills and posturing, both as part of the satire and also to show how the Dashwood sisters are more tactful and well-intentioned. Here Elinor reflects on how challenging it is to be around Lucy:
As a companion for half an hour Elinor frequently found her agreeable; but her powers had received no aid from education, she was ignorant and illiterate, and her deficiency of all mental improvement, her want of information in the most common particulars, could not be concealed from Miss Dashwood, in spite of her constant endeavour to appear to advantage.
Austen pokes fun at Lucy’s lack of class in other ways, including in the letters that she writes to Edward and Elinor. Near the end of Lucy’s letter to Edward announcing that she has left him for his brother (which Edward shares with Elinor), she writes, “My paper reminds me to conclude,” a common way that well-mannered people would end their letters when their words reached the bottom of the page. Lucy’s letter is quite short, however, showing that she either did not understand the phrase or wrote in large, ungainly handwriting. She also writes with many grammatical errors, such that Edward feels compelled to say that he “blushed over the pages of her writing.”
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.
Amongst the characters that Austen uses to satirize aspects of British society in the early 19th century is Mr. Palmer. With Mr. Palmer, Austen is mocking older wealthy patriarchs who want comfort and ease yet choose to marry energetic younger women who frustrate them. For much of the novel, Mr. Palmer is overtly rude to his wife, including actively ignoring her:
“Only look, sister, how delightful every thing is! How I should like such a house for myself! Should not you, Mr. Palmer?”
Mr. Palmer made her no answer, and did not even raise his eyes from the newspaper.
“Mr. Palmer does not hear me,” said she, laughing, “he never does sometimes. It is so ridiculous!”
Though Mr. Palmer is primarily used for moments of comic relief like this, Austen also allows him to change over time, becoming kinder and more emotionally present with the Dashwood sisters when they stay with him—Austen’s way of communicating that character is not fixed. For example, when Marianne becomes quite ill and it’s unclear if she will make it through the night, Mr. Palmer does not want to leave her:
Their party was now farther reduced; for Mr. Palmer, though very unwilling to go, as well from real humanity and good-nature, as from a dislike of appearing to be frightened away by his wife, was persuaded at last by Colonel Brandon, to perform his promise of following her.
There is still a dig at Mr. Palmer’s relationship dynamic here—Mr. Palmer does not want to appear like he is "frightened" of his wife—but, at the same time, Austen makes a point of stating that his kindness comes from a place of “real humanity and good nature.” Like many other characters in the novel, Mr. Palmer shows that people can change. This is an important lesson for both Dashwood sisters, who end up marrying men who, earlier in the novel, they had decided were not suitable partners.
