The Qualities Jane Austen Valued in the Women of "Sense and Sensibility"

Good looks are never as important as personal qualities of spirit and cultural understanding in the heroines of Jane Austen's novels. "Sense and Sensibility" briefly touches on the appearances of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, but this is not until chapter ten, rather than the initial descriptions of them in chapter one, showing Austen's thoughts of outer beauty as insignificant.
Elinor possesses "a strength of understanding and coolness of judgement" also having "an excellent heart - her disposition was affectionate and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them."
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