Jane austen’s point of view in sense and sensibility
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The document discusses the point of view and narration in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. It notes that the novel is written in third-person narration from the perspective of an omniscient narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters and can move between their perspectives. While the narration follows all characters, it most often focuses on the thoughts and perspectives of the main character Elinor Dashwood. The narration also occasionally reveals the perspectives of male characters like Edward and John but sticks primarily to the female characters.
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Jane austen’s point of view in sense and sensibility
2. • Jane Austen's Sense and
Sensibility is written
(almost entirely) in third
person narration.
• The "point of view of
the narrator" is one of
an "omniscient" (all-
knowing) observer who
can see and hear
everything.
5. • In third person omniscient, the narrator knows
all the thoughts and feelings of all the
characters in the story. When writing in third
person omniscient, the author will move from
character to character, allowing the events to
be interpreted by several different voices, but
always maintaining an omniscient - or god-like
- distance.
7. • The point of view of the
narrator in Sense and
Sensibility refers to the
perspective under which
the narrative is told
depending on the events
that surround the plot. In
this case, the point of view
comes directly from the
perspective of Elinor, who is
the heroine and main
character of the story.
8. • This is a textbook third person omniscient
narrator – we have a privileged view inside the
minds of most of the characters, and Austen's
strong narratorial voice takes us in and out of the
people that populate this novel. However, the
narration tends to focus our perspective through
Elinor's thoughts most often, and we find our own
opinions most clearly influenced by hers. Notably,
Austen is primarily concerned with showing us the
female perspective here – though we occasionally
get to see "inside" Edward or John, we mostly
stick close to the women in the novel, and get to
know them better than anyone else.
9. • It is a third-person point
of view because the
narrator uses words such
as he, she, it and they
e.g., "THEY gave
themselves up wholly to
their sorrow". Third-
person is a narrative
mode in which each and
every character is
referred to by the
narrator as "he", "she",
"it", or "they".
10. • Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is written in third
person narration but it's worth pointing out that this novel
was written prior to the discovery and standardization of
modern point of view narration rules in 20th century.
• The "point of view of the narrator" is one of an
"omniscient" (all-knowing) observer who can see and hear
everything. This narrator fellows Elinor Dashwood and
relates what happens in her presence to the reader. The
reader can read minds and say how and what characters
are thinking and feeling but the narrator usually does this
"mind-reading" from a distance. Although you get
glimpses of a character's basic thoughts and feelings, the
narrator doesn't reveal all these thoughts and feelings nor
does the narrator reveal these thoughts or feelings with
any detail or depth. The narrator relates what can be
seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted.
11. • We know this because
of the word choice:
"he", "she", "they"
which indicates third
person as opposed to
the first person which
would be "I" and "we"
or the second person
which would be "you".
12. • We know this because of the information that is conveyed.
We know the narrator is omniscient because the information
related to the reader isn't limited to what one character can
see or hear. The narrator always knows what happens, when
and where, and to every one. The narrator knows every aspect
of every room, every article clothing, every fact about the
weather, the past, and the present and the narrator can even
tell you what any character is thinking or feeling. Here are
some examples that show that the narrator is "all-knowing":
(1) "The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Susex."
(2) "From a reverie of this kind, as she sat at her drawingtable,
she was roused one morning, soon after Edward's leaving
them, by the arrival of company." (3) "From a night of more
sleep than she had expected Marianne awoke the next
morning to the same consciousness of misery in which she had
closed her eyes."
13. • The point of view of the narrator is one of an all-
knowing observer who isn't a character in the story.
This all-knowing observer can read minds (but
doesn't reveal too much in that area) and focuses
mostly on Elinor. This all-knowing observer relates
the story to the reader mostly through what can be
seen, heard, tasted, touched, or smelled but
frequently comments and judges the story and
characters; this all-knowing observer also reveals
what the characters are thinking and feeling. I know
all this through word choice and what information is
given to the reader.