What literary devices does Jane Austen use in Sense and Sensibility?

Although Austen does not typically use figurative
language, but rather prefers to be very direct in her writing style,
Sense and Sensibility is one novel where she does employ a tiny bit of
figurative language. The reason is that, although Austen wrote during the Romantic movement, she
actually abhorred and protested against the movement. In fact, Sense and
Sensibility is a blatant protest against romanticism. Romanticism valued intense,
unrestrained emotions above reason. It also valued the individual above the greater good, or
society. Hence, we see that, with its main argument to promote the use of reason and sense above
unrestrained emotions, Sense and Sensibility is a protest against the
movement. As a protest, Austen chose to parody things commonly found
in romantic novels, such as figurative
language.

One example of figurative language we see is
personification. Marianne personifies
Norland when saying goodbye to it the evening before they move to Barton Cottage.
Just like many romantic poets, Marianne practically composes her own ode to the house,
personifying it as a real person. We especially see the personification in the
lines:

Dear, dear
Norland! ... when shall I cease to regret you!--when learn to feel a home elsewhere--Oh! happy
house, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this spot, from whence perhaps I may
view you no more! (Ch. 5)

We also see
Austen using one little simile in the novel. A simile is a type of
analogy in which two objects are compared using the words like or as. We see a simile used when
Mrs. Jennings later relays the long story of Fanny Dashwood being told about Lucy Steele's secret
engagement to Edward Ferrars. In this long account, Mrs. Jennings describes Fanny's
rage by using a simile, saying that Fanny "scolded
[Lucy] like any fury" (Ch. 37). In Greek mythology, the furies were "female spirits of justice
and vengeance" ( href="http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Furies.html">"Furies"). Their job was to
punish people on earth and torture those already in the underworld. Hence, with this analogy,
Mrs. Jennings is describing Fanny as being so angry with Lucy that Fanny is acting like a
torturous spirit bent on correcting Lucy's wrongful engagement.