Paper by Keith Nelson

In Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, the love triangle of Marianne Dashwood, John Willoughby, and Colonel Brandon mirrors one developed in her later novel, Emma; Emma Woodhouse finds herself caught between the romance of Frank Churchill and George Knightley. Throughout the two texts, both characters realize an exciting new romance in Willoughby and Churchill, experience their potential lovers’ faults, and ultimately choose the older, wiser man. Austen uses this commonality of romantic plot points along with the tools of free indirect discourse and a subversion of expectations to develop Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood as distinct characters, revealing that finding love is a maturing process, a pathway both the rational and the romantic must follow.

Despite their differing natures, both Emma and Marianne run into the same problem: a youthful, spirited lover who distracts from their real romance. Emma meets the exciting whirlwind that is Frank Churchill, described as being “quick and sensible,” and his “countenance [having] a great deal of the spirit and liveliness as his fathers” (Austen, Emma 146). John Willoughby, a man of “youth, beauty, and elegance” (Austen, Sense 44), saves Marianne after she sprains her ankle, and Marianne immediately praises him, despite seeing “less of his person than the rest” (Austen, Sense 44). Though involved with similar love interests, the third-person narrator adopts the thoughts of Emma and Marianne in two distinct tones: one of grounded rationality and one of dreamy romance. Emma’s description of Frank Churchill is level-headed, pointing out what she sees and feels, stating that “she felt immediately that she should like him,” describing his manner, conversation, and spirit as “well-bred,” arriving at the conclusion that “acquainted they soon must be” (Austen, Emma 146). Austen uses this initial meeting of Frank Churchill to portray Emma as less swayed by looks than by air, as she describes his character more than his initial appearance, though he is still stated to be a “very good looking young man” (Austen, Emma 146). Emma’s praise of Churchill is based on what is tangible, breaking down Frank to see what is really attractive about him. In this, Austen uses a tone of rational delight to portray this logical nature in Emma. On the other hand, Marianne’s description of John Willoughby overflows with irony, as the narrator states that she saw “less of his person than the rest,” despite being the one to describe him most. The text states that “His person and air were equal to what her fancy had drawn for the hero of a favorite story” (Austen, Sense 44). His actions fit into her imaginative view of a hero, seeing Willoughby run from afar just to save her. Marianne is looking for some sort of ideal man to come and, as Willoughby does, sweep her off her feet. Marianne even forms her ideal man to fit Willoughby, realizing that “of all manly dresses a shooting-jacket was the most becoming” (Austen, Sense 45). Willoughby represents everything that Marianne expects in a man: heroic, romantic, and dashing. Her reaction is almost ethereal, helping the reader understand the delusional perspective of romance which Marianne holds.Austen uses these imaginative thoughts of Marianne to characterize her as someone who lets emotions take hold of her, being instantly swept away by her busy imagination (Austen, Sense 45). The strength of her imagination is emphasized when the pleasure of her daydream causes the pain of her sprained ankle to be “disregarded” (Austen, Sense 45), showing that Marianne’s emotions are so overwhelming that even her own pain is completely ignored. Using free indirect discourse, in which Austen blends the thoughts and speech of the characters, the nature of Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood is shown in their reaction to similar romantic interests to be overly rational and logical in the former, but emotional and dreamy in the latter. Though their reactions are different on the surface, both women “judge” their men with their own biases and worldviews, rather than getting to know the men first- Emma with her pleased reaction to Frank’s “well-bred conversations” and quickness (Austen, Emma 146), and Marianne with dreamy heroic ideals and movie-like romanticism.

When Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood both discover the lies their respective love interests tell them, Austen uses the subversion of readers’ and characters’ expectations to show the growth of Emma and Marianne, both growing from their previous faults of an overly rational or overly romantic view of love. When Emma Woodhouse finds out about Frank Churchill’s engagement to Jane Fairfax, Emma is said to have “even jumped with surprise”, and was “horror struck” (Austen, Emma 304). Mrs. Weston expects this reaction to be from Emma’s attachment for Frank, and is nervous to share the news, “averting her eyes” when speaking to Emma (Austen, Emma 304), framing the conversation through the eyes of Mrs. Weston, giving the reader this same sense of fear. However, this expectation is contradicted by Emma’s suddenly steady countenance in the response to Mrs. Weston (Austen, Emma 304). Despite Mrs. Weston’s worry, Emma has realized that her attachment to Frank has ceased, for a reason that she herself does not know (Austen, Emma 305), calling it a thing of “wonder” (Austen, Emma 305). The word “wonder” here to describe the loss of attachment implies that trying figure out the reason would be out of reach; that a logical view of why she now feels differently towards Frank cannot be fully given or thought through, that it is just something that happened. Through this realization, Austen shows the growth in Emma’s view of love, letting her emotions speak for themselves to show a change from Emma’s previously logical view of love.

In the same way, Austen uses Marianne’s realization of Willoughby’s lies to grow her character beyond her romantic idealization, using Elinor’s hesitancy to tell Marianne to create suspense, with Marianne’s response ultimately subverting the expectation of an emotion outbreak. Elinor, having received the confession from Willoughby, walks with Marianne, and Elinor uses the opportunity to begin her “recital, as she hoped, with address” (Austen, Sense 324). The words “recital” and “address” show Elinor’s nervous state, and that the weight of telling Marianne of Willoughby’s confession is equal to that of a stage performance, building suspense. Austen uses this language to create a sense of delicacy in Elinor’s approach, as Elinor is expecting that the wrong word in her address could cause a negative reaction in Marianne. This nervous diction is contradicted by Marianne’s reaction, saying “not a word”, walking back home, then going “slowly upstairs” (Austen, Sense 324). Looking specifically at Marianne’s reaction to Willoughby’s letter from back in Chapter 29, she is said to “almost [scream] with agony” (Austen, Sense 173). Through her repeated outbreaks of overwhelming emotions, Marianne’s dread would be expected to break through once again. However, Marianne shows growth by contradicting the strong emotions shown in her past by calmly hearing the news, withholding questions, and retreating to “reasonable” solitude (Austen, Sense 324). When Marianne hears from Elinor that Willoughby did love her, but chose to marry for money, she chooses to react calmly and reasonably, despite the news being so devastating. Through this, Austen shows Marianne to be growing from not only her attachment to Willoughby but also her overwhelming emotions and sensibility, subverting the expectations placed by her own previous actions.

Both Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood end up with the older, more mature man in their respective stories, Emma with Mr. Knightly, and Marianne with Col. Brandon. In this, Austen uses free indirect discourse to reveal the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters to show how their views of love have changed. For example, when Mr. Knightly proposes to Emma, her inner thoughts state that “the dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps the most prominent feeling” (Austen, Emma 330). Emma’s most overwhelming emotion at the time is not that of rationality, not immediately viewing the relationship through the eyes of others such as her father or Harriet, but a feeling of pure delight, as if she is living in the “happiest dream” and wishes not to be woken up. Through the whole proposal, Emma does not logically describe Mr. Knightley’s air or looks to convince herself why she should accept, as she described Frank Churchill, but takes Knightley at his word. Austen uses free indirect discourse to bring the reader into the thoughts of Emma to explicitly reveal this change in thought, as when Emma asks herself what she should say, her thoughts respond with, “Just what she ought, of course” (Austen, Emma 331). Emma no longer needs to convince herself of love, as seen with Frank Churchill, but her emotions and feelings do the speaking for her, saying “just what she ought” to say (Austen, Emma 331). In the end, Emma learns through Frank Churchill and George Knightley that love is not just an idea you convince yourself of, but an overwhelming feeling that lets you speak your heart and be vulnerable, and Austen uses free indirect discourse to do it.

For Marianne, this change in heart is explicitly stated by the narrator in the last chapter of the text, when she is said to “discover the falsehood of her own opinions… to counteract… her favorite maxims” (Austen, Sense 352). Austen reveals through the narrator’s knowledge that Marianne’s view of love has been turned upside down, contradicting her previous romantic sentiments and her dislike of Col. Brandon, thinking previously that he was “too old to be married” (Austen, Sense 352). Where Marianne would have expected an irresistible passion as she did before, she now enters a new stage of life, taking on solid responsibilities and actions out of love for Brandon (Austen, Sense 352). The two years that Marianne lives in the text have changed her personality to grow past Willoughby, now finding her happiness in the happiness of Col. Brandon, the narrator stating that her “whole heart became… devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby” (Austen, Sense 352). Austen, using free indirect discourse, ends the story of Marianne by directly stating her difference in countenance, her actions now rebuking her old thoughts of romance and her old love for Willoughby.

Overall, the similar romantic beats of Sense and Sensibility and Emma show the overarching idea that love is a growing process, which both characters show through their encounters with youthful, passionate loves and their ending marriage to the more mature man. Through free indirect discourse, Austen gives the reader direct insight into this growth, showing Emma’s distant and critical view of love morphing into her feelings for Mr. Knightley, along with Marianne’s fall to passion and high romantic expectations, eventually giving way to sense and truth in her marriage to Col. Brandon. In this description and change, Austen uses the previous nature and actions of the two characters to show this growth, subverting the expectations of the reader to draw attention to these changes. In the end, both Emma and Sense and Sensibility show that through the journey of love, character and nature are challenged uniquely, with Austen exposing narrow views of love to show drastic growth in her characters.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Edited with an introduction and notes by Ros Ballaster, Penguin Classics, 2014.

Austen, Jane. Emma. Edited by James Kinsley, Oxford World’s Classics, new ed., Oxford University Press, 2008.