The Importance of Wealth in Sense and Sensibility

Blog Entry #2
Austen's Sense and Sensibility revolves around dichotomies-- the obvious being that of sense and sensibility, but also that between the characters of Elinor vs Marianne, true love vs beneficial marriages, and real raw emotions vs maintaining the expected facade of composure. Each dichotomy presented by the novel revolves around a choice to be made, and-- although it is a very unromantic idea for a novel which focuses so heavily on love-- the driving force for these decisions ultimately boils down to wealth. From the very beginning of the novel wealth is presented as a major issue, as the Dashwood women are left with no inheritance other than that small amount which is allotted to them by John Dashwood from the fortune he inherited.  Gender roles play an important part in this issue of wealth as well, as the women are left with almost nothing due to the laws at the time which enforced money being passed down through male relatives, putting these female characters at the mercy of males. Obtaining income is then an issue for women at the time as well, as little work is available for females, and they are once again left at the mercy of males as they have few options to obtain any wealth at all other than to marry. Thus marriage and inheritance are the chief methods of acquiring wealth, and sometimes the only methods for survival, and thus much of the actions in the novel are strategically driven by either a desire or necessity for obtaining wealth through one of these methods. Although it may seem selfish and in bad taste that wealth is such a central driving factor for actions in the novel, wealth often becomes necessary not just in terms of greedy desire, but for survival, happiness, and even love.
Sensibility, and with it romantic notions of love, repeatedly fail the characters of Sense and Sensibility, and reality-- largely in the form of wealth-- is what they are ultimately left to accept and cope with. The Dashwood girls lack of wealth leads to Marianne's heartbreak over Willoughby, as he leaves for London suddenly with the excuse, "Mrs. Smith has this morning exercised the privilege of riches upon a poor dependent cousin, by sending me on business to London" (pg. 57). Ironically, Willoughby's excuse relies on his own lack of wealth as he sights this as the reason he must do his cousin bidding, but we will later come to find out that the reason behind his leaving Marianne and ignoring her inquisitions is because he becomes engaged to the far wealthier Sophia Grey due to a desire to secure his own wealth. Although Marianne and Willoughby had seemingly fallen deeply in love, it is the sensible and realistic need for wealth that trumps all romantic notions of love.
Marianne, of course, represents the sensibility side of the dichotomy, while her sister represents the sensible. We see this most in the strong differing of their opinions on the importance of love vs. wealth. While Marianne openly believes that love is far more important than status and wealth, Elinor-- always the one to adhere to the sensible and realistic-- counters her foolish beliefs with the realities of the world; "Your competence and my wealth are very much alike, I dare say; and without them, as the world goes now, we shall both agree that every kind of external comfort must be wanting. Your ideas are only more noble than mine." While most people would want to agree with Marianne's romantic view of the world, Austen implies that such romantic notions are often deceiving and urges us towards the sensible, which particularly at this time, was a necessity for survival.
Marianne's male prospects each represent a side of this dichotomy as well: Brandon representing sense and Willoughby sensibility.  Ultimately through her choices in love, we see Marianne transform into a more sensible character, as she eventually ends up with the more stable and supportive Colonel Brandon-- the sensible choice-- rather than follow her whims of sensibility.
Elinor; however, despite her painful maintenance of a sensible manner throughout many difficulties and heartbreaks, ultimately is the one who ends up with a romantic love story-- her lover, Edward, is the one who gives up his fortune (as his mother vowed it would only be awarded to him for marrying someone of high class) and marries her. Wealth once again plays a role here as he is left by his fiance who moves on to his brother when he loses his inheritance-- a move distinguished from sense as it was made out of greed and not necessity. It is heavily ironic that it is Elinor who partakes in the far less sensible marriage, from which we can divulge that Austen means to encourage sense over everything-- even wealth. Despite the lack of sense in her marriage choice, Elinor's continuous adherence to the sensible led to her ultimate happiness, while Marianne's happiness came only from her transition into a sensible mindset. Although wealth is a driving factor in the novel, and one that-- when sensible and necessary-- is encouraged, it seems that above all it is sense which Austen suggests, at times ironically and satirically, will lead to happiness.