Secrets of Sense and sensibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Secrets of Sense and sensibility - Essay Example It was essential then that the discourse of meaning in which these two characters appear though the passages within the novel be able to understand discreet measures in which women and women relationships were being censored by society. To show that Elinor and Marianne are able to use secrets as a measure of passing information and meaning to the other characters I have chosen two scenarios from the book to illustrate my point. The first scene that I would like to explore is when Marianne was having an intense relationship with Willoughby and an attachment so strong between the two of them that in the minds of the adults it was almost an assured attachment that would lead to marriage. However, in the eyes of pre-pubescent Margaret she could not understand that such daily contact between the two could excite into marriage. It was only when she witnessed that Willoughby had taken a lock of Marianne’s hair as a sign of fixed attachment did Margaret presume that the two will soon be engaged; Margaret related something to her the next day, which placed this matter in a still clearer light. Willoughby had spend the preceding evening with them, and Margaret, by being left some time in the parlour with only him and Marianne, had had opportunity for observations, which with a most important face, she communicated to her eldest sister, when they were next by themselves. The secret in question was the lock of hair obtained by Willoughby from Marianne that signifies their strong attachment from one another. However, we know this to be beside the case when Willoughby has a secret of his own to conceal that he may not marry Marianne. The eyes of a child, in this case, Margaret who’s pre-pubescent and slowly learning the art of conveying meaning without declaring it to the public world allows Marianne to be subtly disgraced without the knowledge of the public sphere thus securing