JANE AUSTEN's SCRIPT of SISTERHOOD Each of Jane

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

JANE AUSTEN's SCRIPT of SISTERHOOD Each of Jane ABSTRACT THE PROBLEM OF FEMALE RESERVE: JANE AUSTEN’S SCRIPT OF SISTERHOOD Each of Jane Austen’s novels looks at sisterhood from a different angle, exploring varying versions of sisterhood that all point to its indisputable necessity in the lives of women. At the same time, however, Austen illustrates that female reserve frequently prevents sister relationships from reaching their full potential. Sisterly reserve is often tied to romantic interests, as women succumb to cultural pressure to hide their feelings at all costs. This thesis analyzes the complexities of the sister relationships in Austen’s six novels, tracing the struggles with silence that often result in a temporary or even permanent breakdown of female community. Through her portrayals of sisters, Austen also raises questions about moral development and female isolation, indicating that strong sisterhoods cultivate greater moral awareness, and that women without sisters still benefit from the female communities they create. The complete script that surfaces from an examination of all her novels argues that sisters and women consistently experience stronger female communities and greater participation in the world of rationality and meaning when they are able to overcome these instances of silence and jointly negotiate their experiences. Kristen Akina May 2011 THE PROBLEM OF FEMALE RESERVE: JANE AUSTEN’S SCRIPT OF SISTERHOOD by Kristen Akina A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English in the College of Arts and Humanities California State University, Fresno May 2011 APPROVED For the Department of English: We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree. Kristen Akina Thesis Author Ruth Jenkins (Chair) English Laurel Hendrix English Lisa Weston English For the University Graduate Committee: Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship. Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me. Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There is a mysterious, frightening world between the moment of saying, “I think I’d like to do my thesis on Jane Austen,” and staring incredulously at the completed project. I owe thanks to those who have walked me through this strange world by helping me develop this project as well as those who have contributed to who I am as a student of literature. I am grateful to all the members of my committee, whose teaching about scholarship has been invaluable to me for this project but has also extended beyond its scope. My chair, Ruth Jenkins, has guided me through this entire process of research and writing, reading multiple drafts and showing me at each step how to broaden and deepen my scholarship. Laurel Hendrix taught me so much about academic writing in my first year of graduate school, and these lessons came full circle as she read and responded to my thesis. Lisa Weston has given me feedback on samples of my work throughout my time here, from my first seminar paper to this project, and she helped me to finish strongly when I felt I had nothing left to say. And my family has also played an important role in my work through their influence and support. My parents helped to create and then nourish my desire for reading, and introduced me to some of my favorite authors, including Jane Austen. My grandma taught me about storytelling and how to view the world through story. My in-laws have encouraged and supported me through each phase of school. And finally, I am grateful to my husband Ben, for our continual conversations about Austen, and for all his personal sacrifices while I worked on this project. This thesis is dedicated to my sister Amy, who is for me the heroine in all our stories. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: THE SILENCES OF “SISTERLY CONSOLATION” IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE .......................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 3: “WE HAVE NEITHER OF US ANYTHING TO TELL”: SILENCES AND FEMALE COMMUNITY IN SENSE AND SENSIBILITY ............................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 4: “ALL TO HERSELF”: EMOTIONAL ISOLATION AND SISTER RIVALRY IN MANSFIELD PARK AND PERSUASION ........... 64 CHAPTER 5: “SCHEMES OF SISTERLY HAPPINESS”: FEMALE COMMUNITY AND MORAL AWARENESS IN EMMA AND NORTHANGER ABBEY .............................................................................. 93 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION ............................................................................. 117 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................... 121 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION I once thought that to have what is in general called a Freind (sic)(I mean one of my own Sex to whom I might speak with less reserve than to any other person) independant (sic) of my Sister would never be an object of my wishes, but how much was I mistaken! Charlotte is too much engrossed by two confidential Correspondents of that sort, to supply the place of one to me, and I hope you will not think me girlishly romantic, when I say that to have some kind and compassionate Freind who might listen to my Sorrows without endeavouring to console me was what I had for some time wished for… – Jane Austen, “Lesley Castle” Jane Austen wrote the above passage in the 1790s when she was in her teens, as part of an epistolary short story she dedicated to her brother. Although her six novels do not boast the satire, dramatic swoons, and murders of her very early work, they do retain and develop the above concern with sisterhood and female friendship. Each of her completed novels portrays her protagonists’ need for a sister or friend to confide in, to share experiences with, and to negotiate the world with through the exercise of reason. In her novels Austen offers different versions of sister relationships, drawing attention to the importance of sisters in the lives of her female protagonists and illustrating the moral benefits of sisterhood along with the consequences of its absence. Austen’s focus on sisters and women has prompted a wide range of critical response. From her time throughout the first half of the twentieth century, many critics judged that she wrote about women because her narrow domestic circle admitted no other knowledge or experience. In the 1970s, when feminist criticism 2 began to emerge, critics read her cutting indictments of society as repressed anger, and reasoned that her focus on women instead reflected an overt attempt to resist the patriarchal bent of her culture. While every possible middle ground between both extremes has also been covered, the debate has retained a certain sharpness and urgency as critics make varying claims about Austen’s actual opinions. The question of Austen’s feminism in particular has continued to cling tenaciously to the minds of critics. Devoney Looser in 1995 identified five primary viewpoints in the ongoing debate. The first viewpoint belongs to those who answer a resounding, unqualified yes to the question of Austen’s feminism, declaring that to be a female writer during a time when publication exposed a woman to much censure, was by default to be a feminist. The second view holds that Austen’s conservative beliefs and privileging of the traditional marriage plot prevent her from joining the ranks of proponents of true feminism. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, representative of the third view, see subtle feminism and controlled rage in Austen’s measured prose, and the fourth argues that the entire question is moot because the term “feminism” had not yet come into use during Austen’s time (Looser 5). The fifth perspective notes Austen’s focus on female characters and the plight of women in her society, and reasons that her ability to create strong, intelligent women indicates a sense of feminism (Looser 6). More recently, Vivien Jones termed Austen a “postfeminist,” arguing that Austen includes ideas from the women’s movement of the 1790s, but incorporates them into a more conservative, individual agenda (291). Jones’s focus on Austen’s conservatism places her in Looser’s second category of critics who protest over the marriage plot, despite her term “postfeminist.” Looser ends her review of feminist criticism with a call to move away from attempts at labeling Austen and to analyze instead her portrayals of gender, 3 arguing that, “A focus on gender politics is the strength all feminist work on Austen exemplifies – and it’s a strength that one also finds in Austen’s own writings” (8). Jones has claimed that this strength is small in stature and focused on the individual: “Austen’s awareness of gender politics operates at the level of individual choice (or lack of it) rather than fueling any demand for structural social change” (285). Although this is accurate, concerns of gender permeate all of Austen’s texts, and are perhaps made more poignant by their emphasis on characters rather than causes. Women are constantly called upon to negotiate their places in the world in relation to men and other women, and I will be focusing on this within the context of sister relationships. In her emphasis on sisters, Austen automatically shows the importance of relationships between women, and through both dialogue and silences between the sisters, illustrates how their relationships with men can be mediated and understood through their closeness to one another. Therefore, my argument will center on feminist aspects of Austen’s writings and her focus on the stories of sisterhood, while avoiding any attempt to categorize or affix a label on her frequently subtle philosophies.
Recommended publications
  • Analysis of Intrapersonal Conflict Characters in Sense and Sensibility's
    ANALYSIS OF INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICT CHARACTERS IN SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’S NOVEL BY JANE AUSTEN THESIS Submitted by HAIRI MUNANDAR NIM. 140203178 Student of Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan Department of English Language Education FAKULTAS TARBIYAH DAN KEGURUAN UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI AR-RANIRY BANDA ACEH 2021 M / 1441 H HAIRI MUNANDAR NIM. 140203178 Student of Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan Department of English Language Education SURAT PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN (Declaration of Originality) Saya yang bertandatangan di bawah ini: Nama : Hairi Munandar NIM : 140203178 Tempat/tanggal lahir : Blang Pidie/21 April 1995 Alamat : Rukoh, Darussalam, Banda Aceh Menyatakan dengan sesungguhnya bahwa skripsi yang berjudul: Analysis of Intrapersonal conflict Characters in Sense and Sensibility’s Novel by Jane Austen adalah benar-benar karya saya, kecuali semua kutipan dan referensi yang disebutkan sumbernya. Apabila terdapat kesalahan dan kekeliruan di dalamnya, maka akan sepenuhnya menjadi tanggungjawab saya. Demikianlah surat pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sesungguhnya. Banda Aceh, 12 December 2020 Saya yang membuat surat pernyataan, Hairi Munandar ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Alhamdulillah, all praises be to Allah SWT, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful, The King who owns the power over all the creatures and who always blesses and gives me health, strength and passion to accomplish this thesis. Peace and salutation be upon the prophet Muhammad SAW whom together with his family and companions has struggled whole heartedly to guide his ummah to the right way. First of all, I would like to dedicate my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my supervisors Khairiah Syahabuddin, M.Hsc. ESL., M.TESOL., Ph.D. and Rita Hermida, M.Pd. for their valuable guidance, advices, support, kindness, insightful comment, and immense knowledge in completing this thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Silence and the Duel in Sense and Sensibility
    “He to defend: I to punish”: Silence and the Duel in t Sense and Sensibility :Li VINCE BREWTON Vince Brewton (email: [email protected]) is Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Alabama. He has written for The Southern Quarterly and The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. His ongoing research reflects on the relationship between identity and violence. A t the heart of Sense and Sensibility we find a little-noted duel, an affair of honor conducted between Colonel Brandon and Willoughby, two of the three male principals in the novel. The duel, though heavy with significance for the novel, is interestingly underemphasized in the text itself and largely unacknowledged in critical discussion. A Regency duel is an example of what Peter Gay calls “the cultivation of hatred,” i.e., the sub- limation of raw aggression as well as the deliberately nurtured expression of that same resentment.1 The “hatred” sufficient to provoke a duel arises over Willoughby’s seduction of Brandon’s ward, Eliza, and the duel exists for the reader only because its participants engage in a secondary discur- sive “duel” on the “site” of Elinor Dashwood, each confiding in her his grievance and his justification for his conduct. While the duel is never revealed to us in its details directly or indi- rectly, it is significant as an emblem of the power relations informing the plot of Sense and Sensibility. I want to place the unconsidered duel within the framework of power relations in the work while at the same time undertaking to read the novel in light of the duel’s significance and deter- mine the extent to which it alters or affirms our approach to the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Sense and Sensibility Discussion Questions
    Sense and Sensibility Discussion Questions 1. In this novel Austen parodies the 18th-century cult of sensibility, which valued strong emotions over reason and intellect. Consider the significance of the novel’s title. How are the qualities of sense and sensibility represented in the main characters? 2. Discuss the entailment of Norland, the Dashwood estate. Could the Dashwood sisters’ father have done more to provide for the future of his wife and daughters? 3. How does John Dashwood fulfill the promise to his father to “take care” of his half-sisters and stepmother? How is he influenced? 4. Who is the heroine of the novel? Is Elinor too good to be true, too perfect? Is Marianne too flawed to be the heroine? 5. Although Elinor Dashwood is not a first-person narrator, most of the story is told through her eyes and thoughts. Do you think Austen agrees with Elinor’s viewpoint? 6. What is your opinion of Marianne at the beginning and then at the end of the novel? 7. What qualities does Marianne find appealing in Willoughby? Compare Marianne’s initial impression of Colonel Brandon. 8. Austen’s parody of the cult of sensibility is primarily embodied in Marianne. What mistakes does Marianne make in being guided by the tenets of sensibility? How does it affect her judgment of Elinor? 9. How and why does Marianne become ill? In the end, does Marianne examine her own conduct? Does she grow as a character to become self-aware? 10. How did you feel about Willoughby when he first entered the novel? What clues does Austen provide about his character? Is his apology to Elinor at the end of the book believable? Do you feel sorry for him? Should Elinor have told her sister what he said? 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility
    SUMMARY -139- Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility KITAWAKI Tokuko Sense and Sensibility was Jane Austen’s first novel published in 1811. Its first manuscript was entitled Elinor and Marianne, which was written as the story of two sisters in 1795. This story was rewritten twice in the sixteen years before its publication. Sense and Sensibility is regarded as a debate or a dialogue. Elinor Dashwood is a symbol of sense and Marianne Dashwood is that of sensibility. Jane Austen tried to let sense and sensibility have a dialogue through this novel. In the end of the story we are able to deepen our understand- ing of these two ideas. Elinor is intellectual and prudent, but she is affectionate and her feelings are strong. Marianne is emotional and imprudent, but she is also sensible and clever. We should not think of one as superior to the other. Both Elinor and Marianne are more or less endowed with sense and sensibility. Marianne’s behaviour is based on her own feelings, and she often ignores the feelings of other people. Her slightest consideration of circumstances invites ultimately her sufferings. In spite of Elinor’s advice to pay much attention to formal social activities, Marianne will never listen to her and indulges herself in loving a play boy. She was betrayed by the materialist Willoughby, who was engaged to the wealthy Miss Grey. Marianne suffers from his desertion and becomes seriously ill. Through these sufferings she learns to thank the people around her and behave properly. Elinor is always thinking of the feelings of other people and controls her own strong feelings.
    [Show full text]
  • SENSE and SENSIBILITY by Jane Austen
    SENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Jane Austen THE AUTHOR Jane Austen (1775-1817) was the seventh child and second daughter of an Anglican rector in a country parish in Hampshire, England. She had a happy childhood. She read widely, though she had little formal schooling, and she and her siblings delighted in writing and performing plays at home. At the age of twelve, she began to write parodies of popular literary works, and set her hand to her first serious writing project when she was nineteen. That project was an epistolary novel called Lady Susan which, while not a work of genius, was good enough to encourage her to keep writing. Austen’s novels evolved through years of writing and rewriting. In 1795, she began a novel called Elinor and Marianne that was finally published in 1810 as Sense and Sensibility. She started writing First Impressions in 1796; it was initially rejected for publication, but later saw print in 1812 as Pride and Prejudice. She began work in 1799 on a novel called Susan (not to be confused with her initial effort), which was published posthumously in 1818 as Northanger Abbey. She wrote three other novels as well - Mansfield Park (1813), Emma (1815), and Persuasion (published posthumously in 1818). Her personal life was a happy but quiet one, consisting largely of her writing, along with the kind of country amusements - balls, parties, and teas - described in her novels. The family struggled financially between the death of her father in 1805 and the publication of her first novel in 1810. She never married, though in her late twenties she received a proposal from a local aristocrat named Harris Bigg-Wither.
    [Show full text]
  • Yoshitomo Nara and Child As Hero
    FURJThe Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal The Right to Bare Arms: Implications of Feminist- Humanitarian Justifications for War | Yoshitomo Nara and Child as Hero | Probing the Formation of Ferulic Acid Derived Nanoconjugates as Building Blocks for Antioxidant Applications | Attraction and Education: Whether Intellectual Indicators of Future Success Make Men More Attractive to Women in a Period of Mating Optimism | Reclaiming a Cultural Identity: Ghanian Hip-Life and the Bronx | “She wept for him” : Sympathy and Male Power in Sense and Sensibility TheFURJ Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal Spring 2013 Volume 3 03 - Letter from the editors 04 - Staff and acknowledgments NEWS & FEATURES 06 - Science in the Bronx: A New Collaboration Lauren Kawulicz, FCRH ’16 Jacqueline Monnat, FCRH ’13 07 - Faculty Research Mentor Award 08 - Psychology Graduate Student Challenging Diagnoses to Improve Treatment for At-Risk Kids III Taylor Garre, FCRH ’16 55 - Select Undergraduate Research 09 - Digital Humanities: A New Approach Accomplishments: Publications, to Analyzing Historical Events Awards & Recognitions Megan Cattel, FCRH ’15 56 - “She wept for him”: Sympathy and Sara DeSimine, FCRH ’14 Male Power in Sense and Sensibility 11 - Media Professor Tracks Changing Rachael Prensner, FCRH ’14 Face of Investigative Reporting Taylor Garre, FCRH ’16 COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH ARTICLES 61 - Making Midtown Brandon Pietras, FCLC ’12 14 - The Right to Bare Arms: 67 - Implications of Feminist-Humanitarian Directive Affects of Aromatic Justifications for War Nitration Based Upon Differing Experimental Conditions Rebecca Lindner, FCRH ’13 Kelsey Topa, FCRH ’14 22 - Yoshitomo Nara and Child as Hero 70 - Computational Studies of sl(2) Isabella Bustamante, FCLC ’12 Conformal Blocks 30 - Probing the Formation of Ferulic Acid Zachery Wills, FCLC ’14 Derived Nanoconjugates as Building Blocks for Antioxidant Applications BOOK REVIEWS Princess U.
    [Show full text]
  • Sense and Sensibility: a Virtual Gallery
    Sense and Sensibility: A Virtual Gallery Alli Smith and Sarah Tyndall Students in ENGL 340: Studies in Jane Austen Fall, 2017 Professor Inger Brodey UNC-CH Sense and Sensibility was Jane Austen’s first published novel. It was printed in 1811 with the insignia “By a Lady” on its opening title page1. Austen was a new author with a new story; a story focused on ladies rather than the men they are trying to attain. Sense and Sensibility is a story that focuses on the importance of sororal bonds and friendship over romance. The title page from a first edition of Sense and Sensibility2. In this virtual exhibit, visual representations of Sense and Sensibility are on display to highlight the lasting impact of Jane Austen’s first ever published novel. This exhibit showcases how her novel has been read and interpreted in a variety of ways throughout time. It begins with the first illustrations found in her novels and includes television and film adaptations of the work as well as new artwork in association to it. 1 Cavendish, Richard. Publication of Sense and Sensibility ‘By a Lady.’ History Today, 2011. http://www.historytoday.com/richard- cavendish/publication-sense-and-sensibility-‘-lady’. Accessed 9 Oct 2017. 2 “Sense and Sensibility First Edition.” Austenonly, 17 Jan 2013, https://austenonly.com/category/200th-anniversary-of-publication-of-sense-and- sensibility/. The Illustrations of William Greatbatch In 1833, the first illustrated copy of Sense and Sensibility was published. The edition only included two illustrations. These illustrations were steel engravings etched by the artist William Greatbatch.
    [Show full text]
  • December 11, 2012–January 13, 2013
    December 11, 2012–January 13, 2013 SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents PLAY GUIDE • Written by Lindsey Schmeltzer Education Intern Melissa Neumann Education Intern • By Jane Austen Adapted for the stage by Mark Healy Play Guide edited by Directed by Art Manke Leda Hoffmann December 11, 2012-January 13, 2013 Education Coordinator Quadracci Powerhouse JC Clementz Literary Assistant MARK’S TAKE: “Sense and Sensibility is my favorite of Jenny Kostreva Education Director Jane Austen’s wonderful works. I love the relationship between the two sisters — Lisa Fulton their contrasts, their journeys, their growth Director of Marketing throughout—and how this 200-year-old story • still resonates. We all fall in love, we all have our hearts broken, we all go through periods Graphic Design by where our lives are suddenly turned upside- Eric Reda down, and Austen’s beautiful prose manages to get right to the heart of those moments and makes us feel and say, ‘wow, I know that, I felt that, I understand that.’” -Mark Clements, Artistic Director TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 3 Synopsis Page 4 The Characters Page 5 Character Relationships Tickets: 414-224-9490 Page 6 The Settings www.MilwaukeeRep.com Page 7 Jane Austen’s Biography Mark Clements Page 8 Historical Context: Artistic Director The Regency Era Dawn Helsing Wolters Page 9 Sense vs. Sensibility Managing Director Page 10 Adaptation: From Novel To Stage Milwaukee Repertory Theater 108 E. Wells Street Page 11 Glossary Milwaukee, WI • 53202 Page 12 Creating the Rep Production Page 14 Visiting The Rep SYNOPSIS Henry Dashwood has three children: a son, John, by his first wife and two daughters, Elinor and Marianne, by his second.
    [Show full text]
  • Antonio Calvo Maturana
    Antonio Calvo Maturana PERSUASIONS ON-LINE V.32, NO.2 (Summer 2012) The Maiden’s Consent (El sí de las niñas), or Women’s Sense and Sensibility in Absolutist Spain (1806) ANTONIO CALVO MATURANA Antonio Calvo Maturana (email: [email protected]) has a Ph.D. in Modern History and teaches at the University of Alicante (Spain). He has published several books and essays on Spanish culture at the end of the Old Regime. THE FOLLOWING LINES ARE A TRIBUTE to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, a novel that the editors of this volume laudably chose to commemorate on the second centenary of its publication. Seduced by the project, I decided to perform an exercise of comparative literature addressing the following questions: How did Spanish contemporary fiction represent Sense and Sensibility’s main concerns? Could this comparison offer an interesting perspective on Sense and Sensibility, and even on the rest of Austen’s writings? Could we use this comparison to measure Austen’s conservatism or progressivism about key notions like love or obedience? In Spain, the writing and publication of Sense and Sensibility coincided with two periods: the reign of Charles IV (1788-1808), the last Spanish “Enlightened Despot,” and the Peninsular War (1808-1814), one of the most important conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars. Since the latter period was very prolific in publications (mainly political) but much poorer than the former in the quality of fictional narratives, the reign of Charles IV (1788-1808) was the period to examine for a proper comparison.1 Further, since the Spanish government forbade the publication of novels in 1799 (Álvarez Barrientos), we will resort to the theatre.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter One 1 Introduction Psychological Background 5 Narratological Background 11
    ABSTRACT Beneath the Surface: Psychological Perception in Jane Austen’s Narration Erin D. Werley, M.A. Thesis Director: Dianna M. Vitanza, Ph.D. This thesis argues that Jane Austen’s novels are more psychologically sophisticated than they have been given credit for and that the psychological depth of her heroines is revealed by Austen’s unique narration. First, I examine episodes in which the characters exhibit behavior that evinces psychological realism. As a basis of comparison, I juxtapose Erik Erikson’s theories of psychosocial developmental stages as evidence of Austen’s intuitive understanding of human behavior. Next, I examine the narratological means by which Austen reveals her characters’ psychological realism. I investigate Austen’s use of subjective phrases and pragmatic signals to reveal the narrator’s presence and her employment of free indirect discourse to reveal her heroines’ psyches. Beneath the Surface: Psychological Perception in Jane Austen's Narration by Erin D. Werley, B.A. A Thesis Approved by the Department of English ___________________________________ Dianna M. Vitanza, Ph.D., Interim Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ Dianna M. Vitanza, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ Jay B. Losey, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Terrill F. Saxon, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2008 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2008 by Erin D. Werley All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Acknowledgments iv 2. Dedication v 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Toolkit Sense & Sensibility Toolkit
    Bedlam's TOOLKIT Welcome! This Toolkit introduces topics, content, themes, and more about the A.R.T. production of Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility. This exhuberant and inventive take on a Jane Austen classic explores questions of balancing reputation, expectation, and love using humor, emotion, and bold theatricality. This Toolkit is designed for classroom and individual use as preparation for or follow-up to seeing the A.R.T. production of Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility. In its pages you will find articles, activities, and tools that help to illuminate the background and ideas at play in the work on stage: the context of Jane Austen and her classic text, concepts of theatrical adaptation, Bedlam’s signature performance style, and more. See you at the theater! BRENNA NICELY JAMES MONTAÑO A.R.T. Education & Community A.R.T. Education & Community Programs Manager Programs Fellow BEDLAM’S SENSE & SENSIBILITY TOOLKIT 2 Table of Contents SENSE & SENSIBILITY: THE NOVEL Summary..........................................................................................................................5-6 The Characters...............................................................................................................7-8 The Script of Sensibility.............................................................................................9-11 The World of Sense & Sensibilty .........................................................................12-15 Sense in Adaptation...................................................................................................16-18
    [Show full text]
  • The Transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism As Reflected in the Figure of Marianne Dashwood
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Repositorio Universidad de Zaragoza Trabajo Fin de Grado The Heroine Who Felt Too Much: The Transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism as Reflected in the Figure of Marianne Dashwood Autor/es Patricia Embid Wypysczyk Director/es Dra. Mª Dolores Herrero Granado Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Grado en Estudios Ingleses 2014 Repositorio de la Universidad de Zaragoza – Zaguan http://zaguan.unizar.es TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Analysis 3 Conclusion 20 27841 Trabajo fin de Grado Patricia Embid Wypysczyk Introduction Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility —first published in 1811— is a novel that wonderfully illustrates the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. The Neoclassical legacy can be seen, among other things, in the novel’s formal obsession with symmetrical patterns, so often expressed in its constant use and reliance on parallelisms and contrasts. To put it differently, Sense and Sensibility makes use of a technique widely used in eighteenth-century prose, usually labeled as ‘clarification through differentiation’: readers can easily tell right from wrong, since they are systematically confronted with situations and characters that encapsulate very different, if not at times opposite, attitudes and values; the virtues of the hero and the heroine become all the more clear and praiseworthy when the prime antagonists behave in a despicable manner. Similarly, if there are characters that undergo a remarkable evolution throughout the novel, there must also be flat characters who remain the same from beginning to end, which thus allows readers to realize, not only who the main characters are, but also the importance of learning and acquiring maturity through experience and education.
    [Show full text]