How Does Austen Use Figurative Language In Sense And Sensibility
1941 Words8 Pages
ISU Preliminary Analysis
Victoria Di Caro
ENG 4UB
Fall 2014
Quotation Analysis
"I am afraid," replied Elinor, "that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety."
"On the contrary, nothing can be a stronger proof of it, Elinor; for if there had been any real impropriety in what I did, I should have been sensible of it at the time, for we always know when we are acting wrong, and with such a conviction I could have had no pleasure."
Austen, pg.73
This quotation is part of a conversation between the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, during their visit to Whitwell. The sisters along with Willoughby, Colonel Brandon, and the Middletons, planned an excursion to Whitwell to enjoy each others company.…show more content… Austen’s effective use of imagery ultimately cements the critical analysis and understanding accredited to the reader while reading the novel. Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. Austen’s effective use of imagery is first evident when the Dashwoods are forced to move out of the estate in Sussex, to a smaller cottage in the country. The day the family departs Marianne wanders the grounds of the estate alone, emotionally distraught about her having to leave her home in the estate. Austen writes, Oh! happy house, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this spot, from whence perhaps I may view you no more!--And you, ye well-known trees!--but you will continue the same.--No leaf will decay because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we can observe you no longer!--No; you will continue the same; unconscious of the pleasure or the regret you occasion, and insensible of any change in those who walk under your shade!” (33). Austen’s use of imagery to describe the Dashwood home is highly effective in conveying the loss the Dashwoods are faced with; Sussex is the place they call home, anywhere else is just a house. When Marianne says “No leaf will decay because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we can observe you no longer,” it clearly illustrates the grounds of the Sussex estate to become dead and dull without the presence of the Dashwood sisters and their mother. Moreover, Austen’s detailed imagery changes the mood of the novel for the reader from pleasant to disheartened. However, when the family does move to the cottage at Barton, Austen’s effective use of imagery has the opposite effect on the reader than that of what was previously mentioned. Austen writes that