Austen’s writing style is centered on capturing her characters’ inner experiences (and the dynamics between characters), rather than describing scenery or the external world at large. When she is not sharing her characters’ inner workings, Austen is using dialogue to further the plot and establish the differences and relationships between different characters.
For example, rather than use narratorial exposition to establish that Marianne is looking to marry a passionate man like Edward, Austen has her communicate this in conversation with Sir John Middleton:
“He is as good a sort of fellow, I believe, as ever lived,” repeated Sir John. “I remember last Christmas, at a little hop at the park, he danced from eight o’clock till four, without once sitting down.”
“Did he indeed?” cried Marianne, with sparkling eyes, “and with elegance, with spirit?”
“Yes; and he was up again at eight to ride to covert.”
“That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue.”
In addition to using dialogue to communicate characters’ desires and fears, Austen also uses direct speech as a way to establish the dispositions and attitudes of the different characters in the novel—Elinor is rational because she speaks in a restrained and pragmatic way, Marianne is emotional and therefore goes on long, passionate rants, Willoughby is not fully trustworthy because he often speaks in flirty and indirect ways, and so on.
The narration of Sense and Sensibility is third-person omniscient, though the narrator stays close to Elinor’s perspective throughout. That said, there are a few moments when the voice shifts to offering glimpses inside Edward or Willoughby’s experiences, such as in this introduction to Edward’s character:
His mother wished to interest him in political concerns, to get him into parliament, or to see him connected with some of the great men of the day. Mrs. John Dashwood wished it likewise; but in the mean while, till one of these superior blessings could be attained, it would have quieted her ambition to see him driving a barouche. But Edward had no turn for great men or barouches. All his wishes centered in domestic comfort and the quiet of private life.
This moment helps readers to understand that Elinor is not wrong to believe she and Edward are a good fit—he does, in fact, seek a simple and comfortable life the way she does. It is no accident that Austen offers these glimpses inside the minds of other characters—she does so with intention in order to further the plot.
Austen’s writing style is centered on capturing her characters’ inner experiences (and the dynamics between characters), rather than describing scenery or the external world at large. When she is not sharing her characters’ inner workings, Austen is using dialogue to further the plot and establish the differences and relationships between different characters.
For example, rather than use narratorial exposition to establish that Marianne is looking to marry a passionate man like Edward, Austen has her communicate this in conversation with Sir John Middleton:
“He is as good a sort of fellow, I believe, as ever lived,” repeated Sir John. “I remember last Christmas, at a little hop at the park, he danced from eight o’clock till four, without once sitting down.”
“Did he indeed?” cried Marianne, with sparkling eyes, “and with elegance, with spirit?”
“Yes; and he was up again at eight to ride to covert.”
“That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue.”
In addition to using dialogue to communicate characters’ desires and fears, Austen also uses direct speech as a way to establish the dispositions and attitudes of the different characters in the novel—Elinor is rational because she speaks in a restrained and pragmatic way, Marianne is emotional and therefore goes on long, passionate rants, Willoughby is not fully trustworthy because he often speaks in flirty and indirect ways, and so on.
The narration of Sense and Sensibility is third-person omniscient, though the narrator stays close to Elinor’s perspective throughout. That said, there are a few moments when the voice shifts to offering glimpses inside Edward or Willoughby’s experiences, such as in this introduction to Edward’s character:
His mother wished to interest him in political concerns, to get him into parliament, or to see him connected with some of the great men of the day. Mrs. John Dashwood wished it likewise; but in the mean while, till one of these superior blessings could be attained, it would have quieted her ambition to see him driving a barouche. But Edward had no turn for great men or barouches. All his wishes centered in domestic comfort and the quiet of private life.
This moment helps readers to understand that Elinor is not wrong to believe she and Edward are a good fit—he does, in fact, seek a simple and comfortable life the way she does. It is no accident that Austen offers these glimpses inside the minds of other characters—she does so with intention in order to further the plot.
