Sense
and Sensibility:
Comparing Fanny and Elinor
In the penultimate chapter of Jane
Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, there
surfaces a comparison between Fanny and Elinor, two characters otherwise wholly
different in their personalities and motivations.
When a slight opportunity for Edward
Ferrars’ redemption appears, Elinor persuades her fiancée to take it. Initially, Edward seems less than inclined to
crawl back to his family, exclaiming, “A letter of proper submission!...would
they have me beg my mother’s pardon for Robert ingratitude to her, and breach of honor to me?” (Austen 263). The italics of ‘me’ and ‘her’ signify the enormous gap between Edward and his mother and,
by extension, the rest of the Ferrars. Additionally, throughout his dissent he
speaks with great passion, evidenced by the constant dashes inserted into his
sentences. Finally, he ends this moment with a repetition of his opening line,
saying “I know of no submission it is proper
of me to make” (263). This repetition, first of incredulity and then of denial,
emphasizes his unwillingness to change his opinion.
Regardless, Elinor convinces him to
do so through manipulation. She recognizes his anger at being required to ask
forgiveness despite his brother’s marriage to Lucy, and so she tells him to
apologize instead for “having ever formed the engagement which drew on you your
mother’s anger” (263). This course of action appeals to Edward for, in
apologizing for his past behavior, he calls to attention the double standard of
Robert’s elevation. However, when this fails due to Edward’s refusal to write a
letter, “it was resolved that, instead of writing to Fanny, he should go to
London and personally entreat her good offices in his favour” (263). Although
the language somewhat obfuscates the sentence, adding uncertainly to who
resolved the situation, it is nonetheless clear Edward’s trip to London is a
compromise between him and his soon-to-be wife. Elinor, after all, has already
convinced Edward to seek forgiveness, but he wishes to do it on his own terms.
This exchange bears striking
similarity to the one between Fanny and John Dashwood at the beginning of the
novel. Though the circumstances vary, John, like Edward, believes himself set
in his opinion regarding the amount of money he plans to give to his sisters,
saying, “He thought of it all day long, and for many days successively, and did
not repent” (7). The significance of this quote lies in his belief in his
righteousness, similar to Edward’s indignant
response of being asked to submit for forgiveness. Yet Fanny soon
convinces him otherwise, wittling his generosity down from three thousand
pounds to five hundred to an annuity to no more than a small home with few
furnishing touches (12). The discourse of John and Edward varies, as John bows
to his wife’s will almost immediately, but both of their dialogues include many
dashes signifying emotion.
Perhaps the role of money best ties
these two otherwise very distinct relationships together. John wishes to give
his sisters money, and he wishes to give them a considerable amount. Edward,
conversely, is unwilling to accept his mother’s money if doing so requires an
apology. Yet in both of these cases, their woman counsels them towards money.
Fanny convinces her husband to act with stinginess, and Elinor convinces Edward
to seek forgiveness and thus once again allow his mother to aid him
financially.
Mrs. Edward Ferrars and Mrs. John
Dashwood are different characters, but as relates to wealth, it seems, they
have more in common than one would first suspect.
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