Too much of a good thing...

I, like others who have posted, began to think about the ending of the novel and what its purpose was. I noticed that lots of people did not like the ending and some even complained that the Dashwoods got the short end of the deal. I think the ending was perfect. Edward and Elinor get to be together and they do not need his mother's money to be happy. Marianne marries and falls in love and all their family gets to live near each other. I think the lesson though is that too much sense or sensibility can be bad. At the beginning of the novel Elinor and Marianne more strictly fit into their roles as sense and sensibility. However, towards the end Elinor becomes more sensible particularly in the scene in which she thinks she finds out of Lucy and Edward marrying. Austen writes "She now found, that in spite of herself, she had always admitted a hope, while Edward remained single, that something would occur to prevent his marrying Lucy..." (p. 360) A very sensible notion! Then when Edward, arguably the male Sense, truly is free he rushes off with abandon to see Elinor, also very sensible. This lessening of the complete sense they tried to maintain throughout the novel allows their happy ending. Marianne, as she gets older loses some of her sensibility and gains some sense, thus allowing her happy ending as well. Marianne "was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract by her conduct, her most favourite maxims...and with no sentiment superior to strong esteem and lively friendship, voluntarily to give her hand to another!"She realizes some of her sensible ideas are silly and holding her back from happiness. I think Austen's lesson is that too much of either sense or sensibility will lead to unhappiness, but a mixture of both is the way to be successful.