1. Discuss the importance of secrecy and deception in "Sense and Sensibility".
Concealment, secrecy, and deception form a thematic pattern in Sense and Sensibility. Austen has included numerous incidents of people hiding things from others, both in justifiable and reprehensible ways. Firstly, there is the concealment practiced by Elinor. She hides her feelings in order to be polite to others and deceives people into thinking that she agrees with them when in fact she does not. For instance, when Robert Ferrars praises cottages in a manner which shows he knows nothing about rural living, Elinor, "agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition" (p. 255). Austen shows that this is a necessary deception by revealing what happens when people make no attempt to hide their feelings when circumstances require it through her portrayal of Marianne.
Elinor and Marianne both suspect the other of secrecy. Elinor is unsure whether Marianne and Willoughby are engaged or not; if they are, then Marianne has kept this from her. Elinor, knowing her sister's open nature, cannot think of a reason why she should have concealed an engagement from her family, but, on the other hand, she cannot see their behaviour as anything other than that of an engaged couple. Society only recognises affection in the context of the channels it has invented to contain it: hence two people who appear to love each other must be engaged, or else there is no way of classifying their relationship. Everyone who has seen Marianne and Willoughby together assumes that they are engaged; Elinor cannot be so sure. In fact, Marianne has never been engaged to Willoughby; she concealed nothing from anyone, but acted in such a way as to make everyone misread her situation. Even with Elinor, she has not been as open as she prides herself on being. She checks all the letters that arrive at Mrs. Jennings's house, and is clearly anxious to receive one, but when Elinor asks her about it, she is evasive. Elinor reproaches her with having "no confidence" in her; Marianne retorts that she has nothing to conceal, and that Elinor herself is keeping something from her:
"'Our situations then are alike. We have neither of us anything to tell; you, because you communicate, and I, because I conceal nothing.'" (p. 184)
This is, of course, true. Elinor is concealing the secret of Lucy and Edwards' engagement, which has itself been a secret for the last four years. In the world of Sense and Sensibility, there is a great deal going on under the surface and as the novel progresses Austen reveals more and more of what has been long hidden. There is Willoughby's seduction of Eliza Williams and Colonel Brandon's involvement with her and her mother, then Willoughby's engagement to Miss Grey, then Lucy and Edwards' engagement. As well as these big secrets, Austen shows that hidden motives flow beneath the surface of polite social discourse. Sir John's kind offer to the Dashwoods of Barton Cottage is a way of securing company for himself; Mrs. Ferrars is rude about Elinor's painting as a way of being rude about Elinor herself; Anne Steele's assertions that there is nothing between her and Doctor Davis are really meant to invite contradiction; beneath John Dashwood's hope that his step-sisters will marry well lies his guilt that he did not provide for them better.
Austen shows that some forms of secrecy are necessary and correct, while others are damaging. Sense and Sensibility contains the full range, from Elinor's polite social deceptions to Willoughby's concealment of why he deserted Marianne until the very end of the novel. Pride and Prejudice has a similar structure, with Wickham's true conduct concealed until Darcy reveals it to Elizabeth. Such revelations are always turning points in the plots. Breaches of the social code that are kept secret are the heroine's biggest threat, because, as with Marianne, they may be taken in by the deception and thrown off the path to a suitable marriage.
2. Explore the theme of observation and judgement in "Sense and Sensibility".
Elinor says of Marianne that,
"'A few years however will settle her opinions on the basis of common sense and observation; and then they may be more easy to define and justify than they are now, by any body but herself.'" (p. 86)
Clearly the careful observation of those around us is crucial if we are to form reliable, balanced judgements. Elinor embodies this process, while Marianne resists it. Elinor is able to appreciate the complexity of those around her; for instance, she comes to "really love" (p. 304) Mrs. Jennings, whose vulgarity is mixed with real kindness. Marianne, on the other hand, does not alter her judgements once they have been made and only at the end of the novel is able to be civil to Colonel Brandon. She judges differently from Elinor, in a way consistent with their different characters. Marianne believes in the supremacy of her own judgement, but her judgements are not based on careful observation of her environment as Elinor's are. This is made clear when Elinor berates Marianne for having gone to Allenham while Mrs. Smith was there:
"'I am afraid,' replied Elinor, 'that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.'
'On the contrary, nothing can be stronger proof of it, Elinor; for if there had been any real impropriety in what I did, I should have been sensible of it at the time, for we always know when we are acting wrong, and with such a conviction I could have had no pleasure.'" (p. 97-87)
Marianne feels that she could not have acted wrongly without being aware of it; this, however, discounts the possibility that she might have acted in a way incompatible with general notions of what is improper. Elinor cites the comments of Mrs. Jennings to prove her point: the fact that Mrs. Jennings mentioned the incident in an insinuating tone, as if having found Marianne in the act of doing something indiscreet, shows clearly that Marianne should not have gone to Allenham. Marianne brushes Mrs. Jennings's opinion aside, saying that it is worthless. Elinor, however, realises that the opinion of those who may be less intelligent or well-mannered than herself is still a valuable guide to behaviour. She cannot discount any evidence of how society judges people; this is part of her careful observation of those around her.
Accurate judgement is made more difficult by the prevalence of secrecy and deception in Austen's world. Judging correctly becomes a process of reading between the lines and seeing through social facades. Thus, Elinor has to see behind Lucy's claim that she only told Elinor about her engagement because she wanted to hear about her prospective mother-in-law to the truth, that Lucy told her in order to make it clear to her that Edward belongs to someone else. Elinor is then able to protect herself by adopting a social façade of her own and manufacturing an indifference to their engagement.
It would be too harsh to say that Marianne misjudged Willoughby, because there is no way that she could have known about what he had done in the past or that he would also reject her. However, it is notable that Elinor was always more careful in her judgement of him. Marianne, like her mother, cannot "love by halves" (p. 367) and so threw herself unrestrainedly into her affection for Willoughby. In such a position, she was automatically vulnerable. Elinor, on the other hand, is the first to suggest that there may be something underhand in Willoughby's sudden departure from Barton. As regards her own suitor, she does not overstate her feelings for Edward, with the result that Marianne thinks her "cold- hearted" (p. 55). Mrs. Dashwood and Marianne, it comes out, had assumed that they were already engaged. They have leapt from an incomplete observation to a false judgement. This parallels Elinor's uncertainty over whether Marianne and Willoughby were engaged; she, however, is judging as accurately as she can from the evidence before her and comes to no certain conclusion because of the contradictory nature of that evidence. In certain cases, making no judgement at all is as sensible as making an accurate one.