4.2.3 Insincerities
Example 8
“Elinor，”cried Marianne，“is this fair？Is this just？Are my ideas so scanty？But I see what you mean.I have been too much at my ease，too happy，too frank.I have erred against every common-place notion of decorum；I have been open and sincere where I ought to have been reserved，spiritless，dull，and deceitful：—had I talked only of the weather and the roads，and had I spoken only once in ten minutes，this reproach would have been spared.”（Marianne）
Obviously what Marianne uttered was short of sincerity，only meaning to show her disagreement with her sister Elinor.Here，Elinor，with her coolness ofjudgment，expressed her concern about Marianne's excess of sensibility，especially when Marianne was with Willoughby，she would talk everything only with him，as if no others were there.This situation was caught by Elinor，so Elinor wanted to remind her sister not to be too emotional.But at that time，Marianne only thought that her sister was jealous of her love with Willoughby，so instead of following her sister's advice，she used ironic and exaggerating sayings to express her strong opposition.On the surface of her utterance，she fully agreed with her sister Elinor，and she even pretended to get what Elinor wanted to say.But in the deep sense，she was longing to show that what Elinor said was wrong.So here we can say that what Marianne said here was short of adequate sincerity，consequently violating the felicity condition of speech acts.As a result，the intention didn't accord with literal meanings and there arose the illocutionary force in this case.
Example 9
“I am sure you think me very strange，for inquiring about her in such a way；”said Lucy，eyeing Elinor attentively as she spoke；“but perhaps there may be reasons—I wish I might venture；but however I hope you will do me the justice of believing that I do not mean to be impertinent.”（Lucy）
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She looked down as she said this，amiably bashful，with only one side glance at her companion to observe its effect on her.
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“Offend me！How could you suppose so？Believe me，”and Elinor spoke it with the truest sincerity，“nothing could be farther from my intention，than to give you such an idea.Could you have a motive for the trust，that was not honorable and flattering to me？”（Elinor）
As we all know，although Lucy Steele and Edward Ferrars were supposed to have a secret engagement，yet Lucy was very jealous of the fact that Edward was fascinated very much by Elinor.Besides，Elinor knew quite well that Lucy was foolish，ridiculous and vulgar.For Lucy，she also made utterances short of sincerity.She knew that Elinor was in favor of Edward，however，she told Elinor that she and Edward were engaged on purpose.Because it was not polite to straightly express her envy，she told Elinor that she did not mean to be impertinent.On seeing this，every reader will get the idea that in fact Lucy did mean to be impertinent.Just as Austen wrote here：“with only one side glance at her（Lucy）companion to observe its effect on her（Elinor）.”Here，we readers got the idea that Lucy was insincere，attempting to remind Elinor that she and Edward's relations.Elinor knew quite well what Lucy really intended to do，so what Elinor said here was also short of sincerity.Here Elinor meant on the one side to conceal her feelings，on the other side to make an ironic and teasing response to Lucy's utterance.
Example 10
“She seems a most valuable woman indeed.—Her house，her style ofliving，all bespeak an exceeding good income；and it is an acquaintance that has not only been of great use to you hitherto，but in the end may prove materially advantageous.—Her inviting you to town is certainly a vast thing in your favor；and indeed，it speaks altogether so great a regard for you，that in all probability when she dies you will not be forgotten.—She must have a great deal to leave.”（John Dashwood）
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“But she raises none in those most concerned.Indeed，brother，your anxiety for our welfare and prosperity carries you too far.”（Elinor）
In this discussion about Mrs.Jennings”fortune between Elinor's brother John Dashwood and Elinor，John wanted his sister to try her best to make Mrs.Jennings pleased in order that Mr.Jennings might leave a part of fortune to her.Though knowing clearly her brother was wrong，Elinor still expressed her thankfulness for her brother's anxiety and concern for her.Obviously what she uttered was short of sincerity，only meaning to tease her brother's selfishness.
Example 11
“Colonel Brandon is certainly younger than Mrs.Jennings，but he is old enough to be my father；and if he were ever animated enough to be in love，must have long outlived every sensation of the kind.It is too ridiculous！”（Marianne）
“Did not you hear him complain of the rheumatism？And is not that the commonest infirmity of declining life？”（Marianne）
“My dearest child，”said her mother laughing，“at this rate you must be in continual terror of my decay；and it must seem to you a miracle that my life has been extended to the advanced age of forty.”
This is a talk among Marianne and their mother Mrs.Dashwood.In Marianne's mind，Colonel Brandon was too old and with a lot of illnesses to have the desire to talk about love，although Colonel Brandon was only thirty-five indeed.Elinor and her mother Mrs.Jennings were totally disagreeable with Marianne，and they both thought Marianne was so exaggerated and not fair to Colonel Brandon.As we all know，age forty is just a middle age，and we never say that age forty is a venerable age，not to mention living past forty is a miracle.Here，what Mrs.Dashwood said was short of adequate sincerity.According to Marianne's saying，forty must be a very old age，and her mother could live to the advanced age of forty was a miracle.So what Mrs.Dashwood said here was quite insincere to express her disagreement about her daughter Marianne's opinion.Of course here we readers will not agree with Marianne's opinion without any hesitation.After reading this dialogue，we can't help laughing heartily，and this ironic utterance engendered ridiculousness in the dialogue.Besides，through this dialogue Marianne's personality were completely presented.
Example 12
“My protégé，as you call him，is a sensible man；and sense will always have attractions for me.Yes，Marianne，even in a man between thirty and forty.He has seen a great deal of the world；has been abroad；has read，and has a thinking mind.I have found him capable of giving me much information on various subjects，and he has always answered my inquiries with the readiness of good-breeding and good nature.”（Elinor）
“That is to say，”cried Marianne contemptuously，“he has told you that in the East Indies the climate is hot，and the mosquitoes are troublesome.”
“He would have told me so，I doubt not，had I made any such inquiries，but they happened to be points on which I had been previously informed.”（Elinor）
“Perhaps，”said Willoughby，“his observations may have extended to the existence of nabobs，gold mohrs，and palanquins.”
This is a discussion among Elinor，Marianne and Willoughby，talking about Colonel Brandon.In Elinor's eyes，Colonel Brandon was a sensible man with broadened mind and a lot of knowledge.But to Marianne，Colonel had no taste at all because of his old age.For Willoughby，in order to make Marianne pleased，he tried his best to follow Marianne's opinion.So here when Elinor praised Colonel Brandon about his good nature and well-informed mind，Marianne made a teasing ironic utterance to show her disagreement.As we all know，a well-informed person cannot only know some trivial things，such as what the climate is like in someplace，and if the mosquitoes are troublesome，or we do not call him well-informed.Therefore，Marianne's utterance here was short of sincerity，consequently violating the felicity condition of speech acts.Because for Marianne，she must know clearly what a wellinformed man is like.As a result，Marianne's real intention didn't accord with literal meanings and there arose illocutionary force in this case，that is，to show her disagreement with her sister and her dislike of Colonel Brandon.In order to follow Marianne，what Willoughby said was also short of sincerity，especially he added a word“extended”to emphasize his teasing of Colonel Brandon's lack of taste.In short，through their insincerity utterances，the characters”personalities were fully presented here：Marianne was too excessive of sensibility，too idealistic，subjective and Willoughby was such a man full of meanness and vanity.
Example 13
Mrs.Palmer's eye was now caught by the drawings which hung round the room.She got up to examine them.
“Oh！Dear，how beautiful these are！Well！How delightful！Do but look，mama，how sweet！I declare they are quite charming；I could look at them for ever.”And then sitting down again，she very soon forgot that there were any such things in the room.（Mrs.Palmer）
This is an insincerity case from Mrs.Palmer.From what Mrs.Palmer said we might suppose that Mrs.Palmer was an expert in drawing，at least in her taste and appreciation about other's drawings.But from the last sentence we got the fact that Mrs.Palmer knew nothing about drawing.Therefore，Mrs.Palmer's utterance here was short of sincerity，aiming to tell that she was not the one who was ignorant of drawing.Besides，through Mrs.Palmer's insincerity saying we readers would get to know people's vanity nature prevailing the whole society in Austen's times.This kind of utterance engendered ridiculousness in the whole discourse，forming a great drive to attract the readers to move on in the story.
Example 14
“Strange if it would！”cried Marianne；“What have wealth and grandeur to do with happiness？”
“Grandeur has but little，”said Elinor，“but wealth has much to do with it.”
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“About eighteen hundred or two thousand a-year；not more than that.”（Marianne）
Elinor laughed.“Two thousand a-year！One is my wealth！I guessed how it would end.”
“And yet two thousand a-year is a very moderate income，”said Marianne.“A family cannot well be maintained on a smaller.I am sure I am not extravagant in my demands.A proper establishment of servants，a carriage，perhaps two，and hunters，cannot be supposed on less.”
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“What magnificent orders would travel from this family to London，”said Edward，“in such an event！What a happy day for booksellers，music-seller，and print-shops！You，Miss Dashwood，would give a general commission for every new print of merit to be sent you—and as for Marianne，I know her greatness of soul，there would not be music enough in London to content her.And books！—Thomson，Cowper，Scott—she would buy them all over and over again；she would buy up every copy，I believe，to prevent their falling into unworthy hands；and she would have every book that tells her how to admire an old twisted tree.Should not you，Marianne？”
Here，Elinor，Marianne and Edward were talking about the least amount of fortune that could lead to happiness.For Marianne，wealth had nothing to do with happiness.In Elinor's view，wealth was necessary for life.No matter how different their opinions were，one thing was the same，that is，the least amount of fortune that they referred to was in fact so large an amount.Especially for Marianne，she was so naïve that she even supposed two thousand a year was a very moderate income，even though she still thought wealth had nothing to do happiness.So here，we readers may have been expecting what Edward said would follow a series of procedures and tell the sisters about his opinions about wealth.Never have we predicted Edward would conclude this matter in such a way.On the surface，Edward helped the sisters to suppose what could do with the money；however，he exaggerated the usage of this two thousand so much that we readers got to know instantly that he was making an ironic utterance to mock the sisters，especially Marianne's naivety.Violating the felicity condition of speech acts，Edward's utterance was short of adequate sincerity，making a laughing stock to our readers.
Irony was achieved through violating these three felicity conditions.But studying deeper，we may find that in either void speech acts or breaches，insincerity of the speaker was involved in utterances.So this phenomenon also proves the above idea：Sincerity forms the essential and necessary condition in ironic speech acts.