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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Loss of Home:
Many of the characters in Sense and Sensibility face the threat of losing their homes (including the Dashwoods, Willoughby, and Edward), forming a motif. For the Dashwoods, loss of home is intimately tied to their womanhood—because Henry Dashwood had one son from a previous marriage, the home in which his wife and daughters all live is transferred to his son John and John's wife. Because working outside the home would lead the Dashwoods to lose their social status (as was true of most middle- to upper-class women in England at this time), the women cannot provide for themselves and are shuttled from home to home over the course of the novel.
Like the Dashwoods, Edward loses his home due to inheritance rights. Because he is the second son, he has no right to the estate and must figure out how to make a living and obtain land himself. He decides that joining the clergy will allow him to have a modest life with a simple home (which Colonel Brandon kindly offers to him). Edward’s lack of greed in this area ultimately makes him more desirable to Elinor, who similarly seeks a simple life.
Willoughby, on the other hand, loses his home due to his romantic history. When his aunt with whom he lives finds out that he has gotten Eliza pregnant and abandoned her, she forces him to leave, leading him to abandon his romantic attachment to Marianne in order to marry the wealthier Miss Grey (who could financially support him). Willoughby’s choice to prioritize his social standing over his love for Marianne reveals that he is not the man she thought he was.
Whatever the reason behind the initial loss of home, the search for a new home is a driving force for many characters in the novel, furthering their understanding of their own—and each other’s—relationship to marriage and money.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Art:
One of the ways that Austen shows the differences between Elinor and Marianne—and their respective romantic interests Edward and Willoughby—is via the motif of art. Artistic expression shows up several times throughout the novel, most often to highlight the ways in which Elinor prioritizes “sense” (or pragmatism) and Marianne prioritizes “sensibility” (or emotional sensitivity).
For example, Marianne is an expressive musician—letting her emotions guide her—while Elinor is a skilled sketcher and painter, who turns to art in order to avoid her feelings rather than express them. Here Austen captures the ways that Elinor avoids thinking about Edward via drawing:
Elinor sat down to her drawing-table as soon as he was out of the house, busily employed herself the whole day, neither sought nor avoided the mention of his name, appeared to interest herself almost as much as ever in the general concerns of the family, and if, by this conduct, she did not lessen her own grief, it was at least prevented from unnecessary increase, and her mother and sisters were spared much solicitude on her account.
Elinor turns to art to prevent an "unnecessary increase" in her grief—quite a pragmatic motivation for artistic endeavor. Both sisters are initially drawn to men who relate to art the way that they do. In fact, before she knows him better, Marianne cannot even understand why Elinor wants to be with Edward when he does not have a “taste” for art:
“What a pity it is, Elinor,” said Marianne, “that Edward should have no taste for drawing.”
“No taste for drawing,” replied Elinor; “why should you think so? He does not draw himself, indeed, but he has great pleasure in seeing the performances of other people […] He distrusts his own judgment in such matters so much, that he is always unwilling to give his opinion on any picture; but he has an innate propriety and simplicity of taste, which in general direct him perfectly right.”
The way Elinor defends Edward teaches readers both about Edward and about Elinor’s own character—that she cares more for “simplicity of taste” and modesty than extravagance or arrogance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Art:
One of the ways that Austen shows the differences between Elinor and Marianne—and their respective romantic interests Edward and Willoughby—is via the motif of art. Artistic expression shows up several times throughout the novel, most often to highlight the ways in which Elinor prioritizes “sense” (or pragmatism) and Marianne prioritizes “sensibility” (or emotional sensitivity).
For example, Marianne is an expressive musician—letting her emotions guide her—while Elinor is a skilled sketcher and painter, who turns to art in order to avoid her feelings rather than express them. Here Austen captures the ways that Elinor avoids thinking about Edward via drawing:
Elinor sat down to her drawing-table as soon as he was out of the house, busily employed herself the whole day, neither sought nor avoided the mention of his name, appeared to interest herself almost as much as ever in the general concerns of the family, and if, by this conduct, she did not lessen her own grief, it was at least prevented from unnecessary increase, and her mother and sisters were spared much solicitude on her account.
Elinor turns to art to prevent an "unnecessary increase" in her grief—quite a pragmatic motivation for artistic endeavor. Both sisters are initially drawn to men who relate to art the way that they do. In fact, before she knows him better, Marianne cannot even understand why Elinor wants to be with Edward when he does not have a “taste” for art:
“What a pity it is, Elinor,” said Marianne, “that Edward should have no taste for drawing.”
“No taste for drawing,” replied Elinor; “why should you think so? He does not draw himself, indeed, but he has great pleasure in seeing the performances of other people […] He distrusts his own judgment in such matters so much, that he is always unwilling to give his opinion on any picture; but he has an innate propriety and simplicity of taste, which in general direct him perfectly right.”
The way Elinor defends Edward teaches readers both about Edward and about Elinor’s own character—that she cares more for “simplicity of taste” and modesty than extravagance or arrogance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Letters:
Sense and Sensibility was originally an epistolary novel (or a novel made up of letters), and Austen still includes several letters scattered through the story, forming a motif. Letters, much like gossip, serve to complicate the characters’ ability to know the truth about each other’s inner feelings. This, in turn, leads letter recipients (like Marianne and Elinor) to draw false conclusions about other people’s true characters.
One example of this is when Willoughby responds to Marianne’s heartfelt, romantic letters, writing back that he never had romantic feelings for her whatsoever:
My esteem for your whole family is very sincere; but if I have been so unfortunate as to give rise to a belief of more than I felt, or meant to express, I shall reproach myself for not having been more guarded in my professions of that esteem.
What Marianne does not know when she receives this harsh response is that it was Willoughby’s fiancée Miss Grey who wrote the letter, and that Willoughby merely transcribed what she forced him to say. It is not until she learns this truth several chapters later that Marianne is able to release her belief that Willoughby intentionally hurt her.
Elinor, too, receives deceitful mail related to Edward and Lucy. As Lucy is aware of Elinor and Edward’s romantic attachment to each other, she intentionally writes letters to Elinor that exaggerate her relationship with him:
I know your friendship for me will make you pleased to hear such a good account of myself and my dear Edward, after all the troubles we have went through lately, therefore will make no more apologies, but proceed to say that, thank God! though we have suffered dreadfully, we are both quite well now, and as happy as we must always be in one another’s love.
Given that Lucy soon leaves Edward for his brother Robert, and that Edward confesses to Elinor that he has not loved Lucy for a very long time, this letter serves only to wound and confuse Elinor. Though letters are often thought to be the way in which people can divulge their true feelings, in Sense and Sensibility they are another tool for people to use to scheme their way into marriages and social positions, hiding the truth in the process.
Related Themes:
Chapter 38
Explanation and Analysis—Letters:
Sense and Sensibility was originally an epistolary novel (or a novel made up of letters), and Austen still includes several letters scattered through the story, forming a motif. Letters, much like gossip, serve to complicate the characters’ ability to know the truth about each other’s inner feelings. This, in turn, leads letter recipients (like Marianne and Elinor) to draw false conclusions about other people’s true characters.
One example of this is when Willoughby responds to Marianne’s heartfelt, romantic letters, writing back that he never had romantic feelings for her whatsoever:
My esteem for your whole family is very sincere; but if I have been so unfortunate as to give rise to a belief of more than I felt, or meant to express, I shall reproach myself for not having been more guarded in my professions of that esteem.
What Marianne does not know when she receives this harsh response is that it was Willoughby’s fiancée Miss Grey who wrote the letter, and that Willoughby merely transcribed what she forced him to say. It is not until she learns this truth several chapters later that Marianne is able to release her belief that Willoughby intentionally hurt her.
Elinor, too, receives deceitful mail related to Edward and Lucy. As Lucy is aware of Elinor and Edward’s romantic attachment to each other, she intentionally writes letters to Elinor that exaggerate her relationship with him:
I know your friendship for me will make you pleased to hear such a good account of myself and my dear Edward, after all the troubles we have went through lately, therefore will make no more apologies, but proceed to say that, thank God! though we have suffered dreadfully, we are both quite well now, and as happy as we must always be in one another’s love.
Given that Lucy soon leaves Edward for his brother Robert, and that Edward confesses to Elinor that he has not loved Lucy for a very long time, this letter serves only to wound and confuse Elinor. Though letters are often thought to be the way in which people can divulge their true feelings, in Sense and Sensibility they are another tool for people to use to scheme their way into marriages and social positions, hiding the truth in the process.
Related Themes:
Chapter 47
Explanation and Analysis—Gossip:
Throughout Sense and Sensibility, characters are constantly gossiping about each other—specifically who is romantically interested in or engaged to whom—forming a motif. The gossip is sometimes harmless, such as when Anne Steele lists all of the “beaux” (her word for eligible, unmarried men) she is interested in, but occasionally leads to major miscommunications. The prime example of this in the novel is when the Dashwoods’ servant Thomas tells them that “Mr. Ferrars” is married, not clarifying that he means Robert Ferrars, and everyone assumes he means Edward:
“Who told you that Mr. Ferrars was married, Thomas?”
“I see Mr. Ferrars myself, ma’am, this morning in Exeter, and his lady too, Miss Steele as was […] I took off my hat, and she knew me and called to me, and enquired after you, ma’am, and the young ladies, especially Miss Marianne, and bid me I should give her compliments and Mr. Ferrars’s, their best compliments and service, and how sorry they was they had not time to come on and see you.”
After this conversation, Elinor is devastated and lets go of her attachment to Edward, despite the fact that he is very much single and hopes to marry her (as he fortunately soon communicates). Gossip like this is not merely Austen’s way of adding humor or irony to the story, but also serves to further her point that upper-middle-class women in this particular society have little to do besides gossip and scheme about how to achieve financial security. If they were able to work or control their own fates, gossip like this would not be so devastating to women, as well as the family members (like sisters and widowed mothers) who depend on them. The way in which characters gossip—like Lucy and Anne Steele, for example—also shows their character; while the Dashwoods strategize about suitors in order to survive, the Steeles do so from a place of self-interest and greed.
Related Themes:
