Sense and Sensibility Lesson Plan

How does Austen satirize polite societal manners throughout the novel?

Lady Middleton acts as a "well-bred wife" does, resigning herself to having the Steeles as company, but this gracious resignation also means she will "reprimand [her husband] five or six times a day" on the subject. Sir John's tendency toward overstatement and overly generous praise is also mocked: Sir John claims that the Steeles are the "sweetest girls in the world," and Elinor observes that the "sweetest girls in the world" can be met all over England, and often aren't very sweet at all.

Lady Middleton's vanity is also shown to be ridiculous, since she is vulnerable to even the most obsequious...