“Unceasing Attention to Self-Interest”: Fighting for Female Agency and Self-Determination in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
Presenter Type
UNO Graduate Student (Masters)
Major/Field of Study
English
Advisor Information
Kristen Girten
Location
MBSC306 - G (Masters)
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
24-3-2023 1:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2023 2:15 PM
Abstract
When analyzing Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, most scholars typically focus on the romantic trials and tribulations of the novel’s two main characters: sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and their respective qualities of sense and sensibility. When discussed at all, the secondary characters of Fanny Dashwood, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy Steele are positioned as the one-dimensional “villains” of the piece, the selfish, grasping antithesis of the warm hearted and guileless Elinor and Marianne. However, in my paper, I argue that contrary to most scholars’ assessments, the characters of Fanny, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy are not mere foils for Elinor and Marianne, the dark to their light. I contend that these three women—selfish and ruthless as they may be—are acting out of a fierce determination to maintain agency over their own lives within the rigid boundaries of a patriarchal system that does not protect them or afford them the right of self-rule. In Austen’s world, female agency can only be purchased with great wealth, and as is repeatedly shown in Sense and Sensibility, for women, it can be so very easily taken away. Austen’s novel and her portrayal of Fanny, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy serve as a sharp critique of a system that perpetuates female dependence on men and encourages avarice and manipulation as a means of survival.
Scheduling
9:15-10:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m.-Noon, 1-2:15 p.m., 2:30 -3:45 p.m.
“Unceasing Attention to Self-Interest”: Fighting for Female Agency and Self-Determination in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
MBSC306 - G (Masters)
When analyzing Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, most scholars typically focus on the romantic trials and tribulations of the novel’s two main characters: sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and their respective qualities of sense and sensibility. When discussed at all, the secondary characters of Fanny Dashwood, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy Steele are positioned as the one-dimensional “villains” of the piece, the selfish, grasping antithesis of the warm hearted and guileless Elinor and Marianne. However, in my paper, I argue that contrary to most scholars’ assessments, the characters of Fanny, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy are not mere foils for Elinor and Marianne, the dark to their light. I contend that these three women—selfish and ruthless as they may be—are acting out of a fierce determination to maintain agency over their own lives within the rigid boundaries of a patriarchal system that does not protect them or afford them the right of self-rule. In Austen’s world, female agency can only be purchased with great wealth, and as is repeatedly shown in Sense and Sensibility, for women, it can be so very easily taken away. Austen’s novel and her portrayal of Fanny, Mrs. Ferrars, and Lucy serve as a sharp critique of a system that perpetuates female dependence on men and encourages avarice and manipulation as a means of survival.