Romanticism And Realism In Jane Austen's Novel: Sense And Sennsibility

Sense Over Sensibility Jane Austen is a great English novelist. she wrote six books during the romantic period. Her books are Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abby, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Mansfield Park. Even though, Austen lived and wrote in the romantic era which was in the 18th century, she was considered a realist novelist. When in fact, realism developed in the 19th century. Sense and Sensibility Austen’s first novel represents a clash between romanticism and realism. The novel was adapted into a film in 1995 and I saw that it clearly portrayed the conflict between romanticism and realism. The story is about the Dashwood family, particularly Elinor and Marianne. It shows how they encounter sense and sensibility in life and love after all of the events they go through. Impulsive Marianne Dashwood tumbles into a magical romance that goes sour. Elinor on the other hand is the more realistic

She is emotionally more secure than Marianne. In the movie, every person tends to trust her, maybe because she is the quieter one. Almost every character trusts Elinor with some sensitive information. In the scene when Lucy finds out that Elinor has an attachment to Edward, she tells her about their secret engagement and asks her to not tell anyone. The selfish Lucy did that because she senses a rivalry and wants to frustrate Elinor. However, as expected Elinor keeps the secret to herself and hides her frustration. This behavior confirms that Elinor is sensible and hides her here emotions very well. The film critic Brain Koller agrees, he says about the Emma Thompson who played the role of Elinor “Thompson is sensible, Winslet is sensitive. But the fires of passion still burn inside Thompson, even though she cloaks them with civility and modesty.” The character shows how she managed to hide her upset emotion and stays realistic and strong to survive the tough reality she was