Date of Award
Summer 8-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Barbara Fitzpatrick
Second Advisor
Leslie White
Third Advisor
Robert Shenk
Abstract
Jane Austen’s novels remain an essential component of the literary canon, but her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, is frequently neglected. However, in Sense and Sensibility is the genesis of Austen’s technique through which her major characters cultivate and reveal a strong inner life, demonstrated through the character of Elinor Dashwood. This technique is a characteristic she incorporates in each of her succeeding novels. Her approach to literature centers on the interiority of her characters and their ability to change, but it her first novel Austen takes a unique approach. Following the structure of an eighteenth-century sermon, Austen creates a sermon for lay people that centers on the cultivation of a strong interior life.
Recommended Citation
Mejias, Sarah J., "Sense and Sensibility: A Sermon on Living the Examined Life" (2017). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2387.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2387
Included in
Ancient Philosophy Commons, Christianity Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Religion Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons
Rights
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