Achieving a Balanced Life in Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility Essay

Achieving a Balanced life history in Jane Austens finger and susceptibilityWe are often told that too oftentimes of anything can be a bad thing. Even Aristotle, one of the superior thinkers of all time, insisted that the only path to real contentment and inner quietness is The Golden Mean (Funk & Wagnalls 328). This life lesson is learned by two of Jane Austens close well-known characters. Only when Elinor and Marianne Dashwood achieve a balance between Sense and Sensibility do they find true happiness in their lives. The duality between sense and sensibility is one of the lenses through which Austens Sense and Sensibility is most commonly analyzed. This distinction is most clearly symbolized by the mental contrast between the novels two main characters. Elinor, the older of the two, represents qualities of sense, such(prenominal) as land, restraint, social responsibility, and a clear-headed concern for the welfare of others. In contrast, Marianne, her adolescenter sist er, represents the qualities of sensibility, such as emotion, spontaneity, impulsiveness, and rapturous devotion. As both Elinor and Marianne suffer disappointments in love, they endure transformations that bring each character closer to the other in air and personality. Elinor, the epitome of all that is proper and conventional, begins to show emotions, traits that appeared to have been hidden deep down her. Marianne, the over-reacting and highly emotional young lady, evolves into a more mature and self-respectful woman. In the final analysis we find that only when these two young women achieve a balance in their lives, can they truly relish a peaceful existence. In other words, the novels success is a proceeds not of the triumph of sense over sensibility, or sensibilit... ...rself as a mature and responsible young woman. By adapting some of each others traits tho maintaining some of their own, these women have achieved the necessary balance. Perhaps Yasmine Gooneratne says it best when she writes, The complete kind-hearted personality needs certain qualities in balanced proportion. Sense and sensibility, reason and passion, mind and heart, complement each other (73). This is The Golden Mean. plant life CitedAristotle. Funk and Wagnallas New Encyclopedia. 1992. 328.Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York Doherty, 1995.Gooneratane, Yasmine. Jane Austen. London Cambridge, 1970. 73.Mansell, Darrel. The Novels of Jane Austen An Interpretation. London Macmillian, 1973. 66.Reinstein, P. Gila. moral Priorities in Sense and Sensibility. Renascence 35.4 (Summer 1983) 269-83. (I found this using the MLA Database)