Achieving a Balanced Life in Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility Essay

Achieving a Balanced Life in Jane Austens sensory faculty and SensibilityWe are a great deal told that too much of anything passel be a bad thing. Even Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, insisted that the only path to real contentment and knowledgeable peace is The Golden Mean ( recoil & Wagnalls 328). This life lesson is learned by two of Jane Austens or so well-known geeks. Only when Elinor and Marianne Dashwood achieve a balance between Sense and Sensibility do they find true happiness in their lives. The dichotomy 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 psychological contrast between the novels two main characters. Elinor, the older of the two, represents qualities of sense, such as reason, restraint, social responsibility, and a clear-headed concern for the welfare of others. In contrast, Marianne, her younger sister, rep resents the qualities of sensibility, such as emotion, spontaneity, impulsiveness, and rapturous devotion. As both Elinor and Marianne suffer disappointments in love, they undergo transformations that bring each character closer to the other in behavior and personality. Elinor, the epitome of all that is proper and conventional, begins to show emotions, traits that appeared to have been hidden within her. Marianne, the over-reacting and highly emotional young lady, evolves into a more mature and dignified woman. In the final analysis we find that only when these two young women achieve a balance in their lives, can they truly enjoy a peaceful existence. In other words, the novels success is a result 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 but maintaining some of their own, these women have achieved the necessary balance. Perhaps Yasmine Gooneratne says it best when she writes, The complete tender 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.Works 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)