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.
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.
