A Structuralist Reading of Austen's Sense and Sensibility The fundamental structural dynamic that underlies the entire manifested universe, much less literature, is duality; therefore, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is easily analyzed from a structuralist point of view. Each of us is a complex mixture of polar opposites, the most primary of which is the division between right and left brain, or, more commonly, “heart and mind.” ". Austen's technique in this novel is to completely eliminate the corpus callosum, thereby juxtaposing the two halves in a "binary opposition", a division between the heart that pulsates and exults and the mind that checks and evaluates. Marianne is of course the heart of the novel, Elinor the mind In addition, the other characters also belong to one of these two categories I have arranged the most important figures of the novel in this way: SENS SENSIBILITYElinor MarianneEdward Mrs. DashwoodLucy &nbs. ...... middle of paper ......the novel can stand alone from its constituent elements, to be used and reused again and again by simply replacing different characters, different circumstances and Narcissus and Goldmund. Hesse is a perfect example. In this novel, the same dualism of heart and mind is explored (and in a much more interesting way, in my opinion) in the experiences of the two main characters. In conclusion, it must be said that. t there are certainly other structural dichotomies within the novel. , contrasts of top and bottom that bisect the lateral distinctions I focused on. These involve the changes in social status experienced by various characters such as Elinor, Marianne, Lucy and Edward. These, however, are secondary to the main theme, the seemingly impassable and yawning chasm that separates those who have sense from those who are possessed by mere insignificant sensitivity..