Passion and Calmness—A Study on the Growth of Marianne and Elinor in Jane Austen’s Sense and

Abstract

Sense and Sensibility is Jane Austen’s first published novel with proficient skills and ingenious conception of the plots, telling an attractive and thought-provoking story of two sisters’ love experience and growth with calmness and passion which makes people contemplate the relationship between sense and sensibility. There would be a common mistake that people may easily regard Elinor as a stamp only of “sense” while Marianne of “sensibility” or superficially make a comparison of them to judge which is superior. This paper, with the analysis of the characteristics of Elinor and Marianne, aims to point out the themes Austen conveys and the importance of both sense and sensibility for people and tries to put forward some suggestions and advice.

Key words: Elinor, Marianne, calmness, passion, growth

摘        要

《理智与情感》是著名女作家简•奥斯丁发表的第一部长篇小说。作者以熟练的写作技巧，巧妙的情节构思，通过讲述埃莉诺和玛丽安两姐妹的感情经历及她们在成长过程中激情与冷静的体现，使大家对“理智”与“情感”关系有了深思。很多读者极可能会单纯地认为埃莉诺代表着理性，而玛丽安代表着感性，或者极肤浅地将二者进行比较从而得出理智与情感在个人的生活和成长中谁更重要。本文旨在通过分析两姐妹的性格差异和成长经历，说明理智与情感的同等重要性，挖掘出奥斯丁所要表达的深刻主题以及她对世人的劝告。

关键词：埃莉诺，玛丽安，冷静，激情，成长