Роль эпитета в произведении «Разум и чувства» Джейн Остин.

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TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc420472328 \h 3Chapter 1. Studying of Epithets in Modern Stylistics PAGEREF _Toc420472329 \h 41.1.Notion of Epithets PAGEREF _Toc420472330 \h 41.2.Main types of Epithets in English Language PAGEREF _Toc420472331 \h 7Chapter 2. Analyze of epithet functioning in the literary texts PAGEREF _Toc420472332 \h 112.1.Jane Austin and her works PAGEREF _Toc420472333 \h 112.1.Epithets and their role in creation of portrait images in «Sense and sensibility» by Jane Austen PAGEREF _Toc420472334 \h 13Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc420472335 \h 21Referencies PAGEREF _Toc420472336 \h 22

IntroductionOne of the most important problems of modern linguo-stylistics is studying of the linguistic nature and functioning of separate stylistic devices in various literary functional styles. Every research in this area is a necessary step on the way to creation of the adequate stylistic description of the language system in general.
This research work is devoted to one of the oldest stylistic devices – epithet. The epithet has a long history, it has been attracting attention of the scientists for a long time because of its nature and variety.
Epithets in English emotive prose can fulfil different stylistic functions: a descriptive function (to describe characters, views, situations, different things and feelings); an expressive function (to make the texts more expressive and emotional).
The purpose of the research work is to study and analyze the functioning of epithets in English prose for creation of an portrait image.
The object is literary text.
The subject is linguostylistic peculiarities of epithet using for creation of an portrait image.
To achieve the set goal the following objectives were identified, namely:
to study the theoretical material to the researching point;
to study the definition of an epithet and its functioning peculiarities;
to read and analyze the novel «Sense and sensibility» written by Jane Austin.
The material of the work is Jane Austin’s novel «Sense and sensibility» and its translation «Разум и чувства» done by I. Gurov.
The work consists of introduction, two chapters and four paragraphs, conclusion and references.
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Chapter 1. Studying of Epithets in Modern Stylistics1.1.Notion of EpithetsAn epithet (from Greek: ἐπίθετον epitheton, neut. of ἐπίθετος epithetos, "attributed, added") or byname is a descriptive term (word or phrase) accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It can be described as a glorified nickname. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It can also be a descriptive title: for example, Alexander the Great.
In contemporary usage, epithet often refers to an abusive, defamatory, or derogatory phrase, such as a racial epithet or as in economics, «the dismal science». The less offensive use is criticized by Martin Manser and other prescriptive linguists.
In linguistics, an epithet only can be a metaphor, essentially a reduced or condensed use of apposition. Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name or appear in place of their name, as what might be described as a glorified nickname or sobriquet. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage. Not every adjective is an epithet. An epithet is especially recognizable when its function is largely decorative, such as if «cloud-gathering Zeus» is employed other than in reference to conjuring up a storm. «The epithets are decorative insofar as they are neither essential to the immediate context nor modelled especially for it. Among other things, they are extremely helpful to fill out a half-verse», Walter Burkert has noted.
Some epithets are known by the Latin term epitheton necessarium because they are required to distinguish the bearers, e.g. as an alternative to numbers after a prince's name — such as Richard the Lionheart (Richard I of England), or Charles the Fat alongside Charles the Bald. The same epithet can be used repeatedly joined to different names, e.g. Alexander the Great as well as Catherine the Great.
Other epithets can easily be omitted without serious risk of confusion, and are therefore known (again in Latin) as epitheton ornans. Thus the classical Roman author Virgil systematically called his main hero pius Aeneas, the epithet being pius, which means religiously observant, humble and wholesome, as well as calling the armsbearer of Aeneas fidus Achates, the epithet being fidus, which means faithful or loyal.
Arnold (Arnold 2002) defines an epithet as «lexical-syntactical figure of speech which fulfils a function of the definitive (а silvery laugh) or the adverbial modifier(to smile cuttingly) or just predicative». The epithet has a figurative meaning and emotive and expressive connotations, which help him to show author’s attitude to the subject.
According to Prof. Galperin I.R., Epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence, used to characterise an object and pointing out to the reader and frequently imposing on him.
According to Prof. Sosnovskaya V.B., Epithet is an attributive characterisation of a person, thing or phenomenon. It is, as a rule, simple in form. In the majority of cases it consists of one word: adjective or adverb, modifying respectively nouns or verbs.
I.R. Galperin underlines that an epithet has both referential and emotive meaning.
The stylists determine conventional or standing epithet, they are, for example: green wood, lady gay, fair lady, fair England, salt seas, salt tears, true love.
The conventional epithet can be tautological: soft pillow, green wood, or estimative: bonny boy, bonnie young page, bonnie ship, bonnie isle etc.. or false steward, proud porter, and finally, descriptive: silk napkin, silver cups, long tables.
The epithets of private character opposed to them mark out those qualities which matter for this thinking in subjects and the phenomena and don't form constant couples.
Many fixed epithets are closely connected with folklore and can be traced back to folk ballads (e.g. "true love", "merry Christmas", etc.).The structure and semantics of epithets are extremely variable which is explained by their long and wide use. Semantically, there should be differentiated two main groups, the biggest of them being affective (or emotive proper). These epithets serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as affective epithets (e.g. "gorgeous", "nasty", "magnificent", "atrocious", etc.). The second group -figurative, or transferred, epithets-is formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes (which will be discussed later) expressed by adjectives. E.g. "the smiling sun", "the frowning cloud", "the sleepless pillow", "the tobacco-stained smile", "a ghost-like face", "a dreamlike experience. In the overwhelming majority of examples epithet is expressed by adjectives or qualitative adverbs (e.g. "his triumphant look" = he looked triumphantly).* Nouns come next. They are used either as exclamatory sentences (You, ostrich!) or as postpositive, attributes ("Alonzo the Clown", "Richard of the Lion Heart").
Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structures, and in inverted constructions, also as phrase-attributes. Pairs are represented by two epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in "wonderful and incomparable beauty" or "a tired old town". Two-step epithets are so called because the process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages: the qualification of the object and the qualification of the qualification itself, as in "an unnaturally mild day" (Hut.), or "a pompously majestic female". Phrase-epithets always produce an original impression. Cf.: "the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room smell. Their originality proceeds from rare repetitions of the once coined phrase-epithet which, in its turn, is explained by the fact that into a phrase-epithet is turned a semantically self-sufficient word combination or even a whole sentence, which loses some of its independence and self-sufficiency, becoming a member of another sentence, and strives to return to normality. Inverted epithets. They are based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: logically defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa. E.g. instead of "this devilish woman", where "devilish" is both logically and syntactically defining, and "woman", also both logically and syntactically defined, W. Thackeray says "this devil of a woman". Here "of a woman" is syntactically an attribute, i.e. the defining, and "devil"-the defined, while the logical relations between the two remain the same as in the previous example-"a woman" is defined by "the devil".
So, epithet is a lexical stylistic device that relies on the foregrounding of the emotive meaning. Epithet is a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing. The structure and semantics of epithets are extremely variable which is explained by their long and wide use. Epithets may be classified from different standpoints: semantic and structural. Semantically, epithets should be divided into two main groups: affective (associated) and figurative (unassociated). Structurally, epithets can be viewed from the angle of composition and distribution. From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may be divided into simple, сompound, phrase and sentence epithets.
1.2.Main types of Epithets in English LanguageCompositionally epithets fall into:
•simple or word-epithets, e.g. Happiness for him had a feminine shape. (Priestley)
•compound epithets (formed by compound adjectives), e.g. a crescent-shaped object; wild-looking young fellows (Priestley).
•two-step epithets (supplied with intensifiers), e.g. … fatally second class … public school … (Priestley)
•phrase epithets (also called hyphenated epithets when written through a hyphen), e.g. Now he was practically a four-hundred-a-year man instead of a three-hundred-a-year man. (Priestley) …
•reversed epithets (composed of two nouns linked by an of-phrase where the attributive relation between the members of the combination shows that the SD is an epithet), e.g. a thick figure of a man (Priestley)
According to I.R. Galperin, semantically epithets may be divided into 2 groups:
•associated underlining the essential feature of the object, e.g. tremendous moustache. (Priestley)
•unassociated with the noun, unexpected and striking, e.g. the inhuman drawing-room. (Priestley)
V.A. Kukharenko splits epithets into:
•fixed (trite, traditional, conventional, standing), e.g. a devoted friend, magic weather.
•figurative (transferred) that can be metaphorical, metonymic, ironical, etc., e.g. bushy eyebrows. (Priestley)
From the point of view of the distribution of epithets in the sentence, there can be distinguished a string of epithets whose function is to give a multisided characterization. E.g. That she was not really a creature of that world only made her more fascinating, mysterious, romantic … (Priestley).
There are some examples:
1. The picture of spring scented the soft breeze flowing across the mountains where vague streaks of green defined the dominating, heaped and quarried ugliness.
2. … the liquid patience of her large brown eyes.
3. It was then that she gave him a small smile, blinking at him through her tea-confused eyes, knowing that this was the first time that this man, to whom she owned her life, had asked her to do something for him...
According to Prof. I. Galperin epithets can be classified from different standpoits: semantic and structural. semantically, epithets may be devided into Semantically, epithets should be divided into two main groups: affective (associated) and figurative (unassociated).
Structurally, epithets can be viewed from the angle of composition and distribution. From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may be divided into simple, сompound, phrase and sentence epithets.
Semantically epithets are looked at from different angles, which is reflected in the following:
I.R. Galperin showed that associated epithets are those that point to a feature which is essential to the object they describe: the idea expressed is to a certain extent inherent in the concept of the object, as in: 'darkforest \ fantastic terrors \ 'dreary midnight'.
Unassociated epithets are attributes used to characterize the object by adding a feature not inherent in it. i.e. a feature which may be so unexpected as to strike the reader by its novelty. The adjectives do not indicate any property inherent in the objects but fitting in the given circumstances only, as in 'heart-burning smile', 'voiceless sands', 'bootless cries'._As far as novelty is concerned epithets can be trite and genuine. Through their long run some of the latter have become fixed without losing their poetic flavour. Such epithets are mostly used in folk songs and ballads.
Kukharenko determines affective, figurative epithets.
Affective (or emotive proper) epithets serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as effective epithets (e.g. gorgeous, magnificent, atrocious)
Figurative for transferred; epithets are formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives. Thus epithets can also be based on similarity of characteristics, on nearness of the qualified objects, and on their comparison respectively. The third and the first types can be found in this:
7 cannot imagine what Bosch-like picture of Ware Commons Mrs Pouiteney had built up over the years; what satanic orgies she divined behind every tree...' (Fowles) As for the metonymic one. study this: 'Her painful shoes slipped off (Updike)
Skrebnev points out that epithets can be metaphorical, metonymic and ironical.
As far as structural division is concerned, the classifications of the scholars have more points in common. Despite the differences in terms, hi essence they are very much alike. The table below contrasts these two approaches.

Chapter 2. Analyze of epithet functioning in the literary texts2.1.Jane Austin and her worksJane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary as well as her acclaimed plots have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. From her teenage years into her thirties she experimented with various literary forms, including an epistolary novel which she then abandoned, wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.
Austen's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security.[6] Her works, though usually popular, were first published anonymously and brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her nephew's A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public, and by the 1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer. The second half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the emergence of a Janeite fan culture.
Jane Austen can be carried to those European writers of a transitional era of the XVIII-XIX centuries who altered interpretation of human character and expanded a genre framework of the novel. As A.M. Zverev in the preface to "The encyclopedia of literary heroes" writes: "Throughout the XVIII century the hero of the novel or drama usually represented the certain set formula by means of which virtues, defects, the passions inherent in a human nature were illustrated... However already to the end of the century of Education exemplariness gives way to more and more distinct understanding of uniqueness of each destiny. Enters art, bringing enduring creative findings, psychologism".At present Jane Austen has the pride of creation the classical English novel. The British encyclopedia wrote: «Although the birth of the English novel is to be seen in the first half of the 18th century in the work of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding, it is with Jane Austen that the novel takes on its distinctively modern character in the realistic treatment of unremarkable situations of everyday life».
Stylistics of her work was also an innovation. She was the first who started applying widely not actually - the direct speech, implication, intertextual inclusions. In delineation of comic and satirical characters the main role in its novels is played by irony, implication and dramatization of a narration when each character has a self-expression opportunity. At creation of images of heroes the writer uses not actually - the direct speech which is directly entering readers into an inner world of heroes graphic means of expressiveness, intertextual inclusions, different types of an art detail, dramatization of a narration are applied by it, for it ritmiko6intonatsionnogo registrations are fruitfully used rich stylistic opportunities of parameters of the offer. Thanks to all these expressional means the sociocultural background of novels, but their main function – characterologic is created. The combination of ironical speech tone to stylistic receptions of a psychological narration makes an individual originality of style of the writer.
Austen’s most beloved characters are her heroines. Whether it be the spry and witty Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice(my favorite book and heroine of all time), the sensible and superior Elinor Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility, the handsome and clever Emma Woodhouse of Emma, the genuine and intelligent Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, or the patient and honored Anne Eliot of Persuasion, a piece of Jane Austen is within each and everyone them. Through the portrayal of her heroines, Austen succeeds in arousing the reader s emotions and makes the characters become a component of the reader s soul.
The noble ethical and esthetic ideal is embodied in images of her heroes: harmony of feeling and reason, rejection of all vulgar, rough, trite, high culture of feelings. All this also allows to speak about an inherent value of her creativity.
Obligatory attribute of psychological novels is a large number of detailed descriptions of experiences, feelings and emotions of the main characters. Often authors replace with it lack of an interesting and fascinating plot, completely focusing the attention on an inner world of heroes, their experiences. If work is really written by the master, in that case it is transformed to a genre of the psychological drama when all this has an appearance of simple descriptions of the one who of what thought and that told and surely includes elements of love lyrics, work is a romance novel.
At Jane Austen's novels there are all above-mentioned signs, language of work is rather emotional and saturated.
2.1.Epithets and their role in creation of portrait images in «Sense and sensibility» by Jane AustenCertainly, one of the most widespread receptions allowing to characterize the character, his appearance, character, behavior, thoughts feelings is the epithet. By means of epithets the special subtlety of the description, expressiveness, depth is reached. Reading and pondering upon sense of an epithet in work, we gradually understand the author's view of habitual things.
In the novel "Sense and Sensibility" not so many epithets are used for creation of the portrait characteristic. One of the most striking examples of a portrait is the description of appearance of the main character – Marianna Dashwood:
Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure. – У мисс Дэшвуд был очень нежный цвет лица, черты которого отличались правильностью, и прелестная фигура.When translating epithets from English into Russian the translator uses some receptions: translating the phrase "Adj + Nom" delicate complexion lexical addition is used, the translator adds an adverb for strengthening of impression "very much" - "very gentle complexion". The phrase regular features (regular features) is translated by means of the subordinate attributive clause – "which lines differed in correctness". The phrase "a remarkably pretty figure" is translated almost literally with omission of an intensifying adverb of "remarkably". The adjective of pretty indicates appearance 'attractive, full of grace'. This adjective is translated into Russian as "pretty, pretty" and used in relation to someone or something rather small.
Marianne was still handsomer. – Но Марианна не уступала сестре в миловидности и даже превосходила ее.
In the English language epithet handsome is used in comparative degree. The adjective handsome has a semantic shade 'making pleasant impression correctness of proportions, the correct lines". We translate this adjective into Russian as "красивый". The adjective handsome is usually used in relation to a man. It can be also used and after the attitude towards the woman, but then handsome indicates only correctness of proportions of a female figure or correctness of lines of her face. The word handsome will also approach at the description of the subjects having pleasant proportions or symmetry.
Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of height, was more striking; and her face was so lovely, that when in the common cant of praise, she was called a beautiful girl, truth was less violently outraged than usually happens. - Может быть, сложена она была не столь гармонично, но более высокий рост лишь придавал ее осанке известную величавость, а лицо было таким чарующим, что называвшие ее красавицей меньше уклонялись от истины, чем это обычно при светских похвалах.For the creation of the main hero image only positive adjectives a re used: striking (поразительный), lovely (милый), beautiful (красивый). There are also some interjunctions: so, more, less violently.
Her skin was very brown, but, from its transparency, her complexion was uncommonly brilliant; her features were all good; her smile was sweet and attractive; and in her eyes, which were very dark, there was a life, a spirit, an eagerness, which could hardily be seen without delight. – Прозрачная смуглость кожи не умаляла яркости румянца, все черты обворожали, улыбка пленяла, а темные глаза искрились такой живостью и одушевлением, что невольно восхищали всех, кто встречал их взор.So, the portrait of main hero Ms Marianna Dashwood consists of following adjectives:very brown skin («прозрачная смуглость кожи»), more striking form («величавость осанки»), so lovely face («лицо было таким чарующим»), remarkably pretty figure («прелестная фигура»), uncommonly brilliant complexion («яркость румянца»), delicate complexion («очень нежный цвет лица»), good, regular features («черты которого отличались правильностью», «все черты обворожали»), sweet and attractive smile («улыбка пленяла»), very dark eyes («темные глаза»).
In whole, Marianna is «a beautiful girl» for the readers. And her character is as good as her appearance.
She was sensible and clever; but eager in everything: her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent. - Она была умна, но впечатлительна и отличалась большой пылкостью: ни в печалях, ни в радостях она не знала меры. Она была великодушна, мила, загадочна - все что угодно, но только не благоразумна.
Reading descriptions of Elinor and Margaret we can find more epithets, which are used to describe their characters, but not the appearance.
В описании сестер Элинор и Маргарет эпитеты используются для описания больше внутренних черт характера, нежели внешности.
Elinor, this eldest daughter…. She had an excellent heart;—her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them .- Элинор, старшая из сестер... Душа у нее была прекрасная, сердце доброе и привязчивое, а чувства очень сильные, но она умела ими управлять.
To describe the age of the girl the superlative of elder is used. Elinor’s character is described as: «excellent heart» и «affectionate dosposition» (досл.нежный, ласковый характер). It must be said that first epithet is used in pretposition (an excellent heart), and then in postposition (her disposition was affectionatе, her feelings were strong).
The youngest sister the reader sees as a a good-humored, well-disposed girl; («добрая и хорошая девочка»).
Margaret, the other sister, was a good-humored, well-disposed girl; but as she had already imbibed a good deal of Marianne's romance, without having much of her sense, she did not, at thirteen, bid fair to equal her sisters at a more advanced period of life. - Маргарет, третья сестра, была доброй, хорошей девочкой, но уже успела впитать немалую толику романтичности Марианны, хотя далеко уступала ей в уме, и в свои тринадцать лет, разумеется, не могла считаться равной более взрослым сестрам.
So, epithets help the author to create the images of sisters Daschwood: they are well-disposed, beautiful, clever girls:
The Miss Dashwoods were young, pretty, and unaffected. - Барышни Дэшвуд были молоды, хороши собой и держались с приятной естественностью
The opposite character is their relative – their brother’s wife. Her image is more negative than positive.
But Mrs. John Dashwood was a strong caricature of himself;—more narrow-minded and selfish. – Однако миссис Джон Дэшвуд была как бы преувеличенной карикатурой на него самого - еще более себялюбивой и холодной.Her character and activates are often described with negative epithets with negative meanings (often with affixes): ungracious behaviour, immoveable disgust, highly unpleasing.
One another example of an negative image is Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton's mother.
Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton's mother, was a good-humoured, merry, fat, elderly woman, who talked a great deal, seemed very happy, and rather vulgar. - Матушка леди Мидлтон, добродушная веселая женщина, уже в годах, очень говорливая, выглядела всем довольной и порядком вульгарной.
Men images can be devided into 2 groups: young and old men.
The sisters Dashwood’s brother is «a young man», who is «well-respected» in the society. He is also « not an ill-disposed».
He was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted and rather selfish is to be ill-disposed: but he was, in general, well respected - Он вовсе не был дурным человеком - конечно, если черствость и эгоистичность не обязательно делают людей дурными - и, во всяком случае, пользовался общим уважением.
Mr Dashwood’s character is described with epithets in postposition: cheerful and sanguine. …but his temper was cheerful and sanguine - Но человек по натуре бодрый и не склонный унывать …
One another young man is brother of Mrs. John Dashwood:
This circumstance was a growing attachment between her eldest girl and the brother of Mrs. John Dashwood, a gentleman-like and pleasing young man, who was introduced to their acquaintance soon after his sister's establishment at Norland, and who had since spent the greatest part of his time there. - Обстоятельством этим была крепнущая взаимная симпатия между ее старшей девочкой и братом миссис Джон Дэшвуд, очень приятным молодым человеком с благородными манерами, который познакомился с ними вскоре после переезда его сестры в Норленд и с тех пор почти постоянно гостил там.
There is a complex epithet used «a gentleman-like and pleasing young man». We can’t translate this example without descriptive means.
An important role plays Marianne’s lover, Mr Willougby.
His manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the theme of general admiration, and the laugh which his gallantry raised against Marianne received particular spirit from his exterior attractions. - Благородная красота и редкое изящество их нового знакомого тотчас стали темой всеобщего восхищения: необыкновенная эта привлекательность в сочетании с галантностью придавала особую забавность маленькому приключению Марианны.So, young men are described with help of following epithets: young man, amiable, gentleman-like and pleasing young man, not an ill-disposed young man, cheerful and sanguine, cold hearted, well respected, selfish.
Old men are described with honour: the old gentleman (почтенный джентльмен), and sometimes with some disgust:
Colonel Brandon, the friend of Sir John, seemed no more adapted by resemblance of manner to be his friend, than Lady Middleton was to be his wife, or Mrs. Jennings to be Lady Middleton’s mother. He was silent and grave. His appearance however was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor, for he was on the wrong side of five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome, his countenance was sensible, and his address was particularly gentlemanlike. – Полковник Брэндон так разительно не походил на сэра Джона, что, казалось, столь же не подходил для роли его друга, как леди Мидлтон для роли его жены, а миссис Дженнингс для роли матери этой последней. Полковника отличали молчаливость и серьезность, что, впрочем, отнюдь не лишало его внешность известной привлекательности, хотя Марианна с Маргарет и признали его про себя скучнейшим старым холостяком – ведь ему было никак не меньше тридцати пяти лет! Тем не менее, хотя лицо его и не поражало красотой черт, оно несло на себе печать благообразия, а держался он, как истый джентльмен.
Nevertheless, all men images are gentlemen. .
All the epithets in this novel can be devided into some groups.
The first – the largest one – are the epithets describing characters. For example, cold hearted (черствость), selfish (эгоистичность), steady respectable young man (благоразумный и степенный молодой человек), neither unjust so ungrateful (он не был настолько несправедлив и неблагодарен), cheerful and sanguine (бодрый и не склонный унывать), a more amiable woman (более мягкосердечная женщина), more narrow-minded and selfish (еще более себялюбивой и холодной), generous, amiable, interesting (великодушна, мила, загадочна), sensible and clever (умна, но впечатлительна), eager in everything (отличалась большой пылкостью), quiet civility (спокойная вежливость), amiable (милый), natural shyness (застенчивость), noisy children (шумные дети), very happy, and rather vulgar (всем всем довольной и порядком вульгарной) и т.д.
The second group – the epithets describing portrait images. Среди них стоит выделить следующие: manly beauty, handsome, young, pretty, merry, fat, elderly woman; not unpleasing; a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure; her form was more striking; uncommonly brilliant; features were all good; her skin was very brown; her skin was very brown4 very dark eyes.The third group – ethical epithets. There are a lot of epithets with the word heart: : excellent heart, good heart; open, affectionate heart. There are also a lot of epithets to describe young men: not an ill-disposed young man; a gentleman-like and pleasing young man; particularly gentlemanlike и т.д.
There are not so many epithets to describe physical traits: the old gentleman, the eldest girl, eldest daughter.
Had he been only in a violent fever, you would not have despised him half so much. Confess, Marianne, is not there something interesting to you in the flushed cheek, hollow eye, and quick pulse of a fever?" - Если бы он слег в горячке, ты презирала бы его куда меньше! Ну, признайся, Марианна, ведь воспаленное лицо, потускневшие глаза и частый пульс горячки таят для тебя особую привлекательность, не так ли?
In conclusion, epithets in Jane Austen's novel "Sense and Sensibility" can be used for display of the following features of the portrait characteristic of the person: physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, psychological and physiological. Use of epithets is also presented in the description of the portrait characteristic of the character and in a target text. Thus the translator uses various methods of transfer of epithets from English into Russian.

ConclusionThe epithet is the word defining, characterizing a subject or action and underlining in them any characteristic property or quality.
In broad treatment the concept "epithet" represents a look a track, poetic, art definition. Research of the linguistic nature of an epithet assumes the accounting of a complex of the indicators covering its different aspects, such as semantics, structure, familiarity degree, a quantitative index, stylistic coloring and figurative potential.
The epithet is considered as the systemically important center tropics, in this regard there is a problem of classification of stylistic kinds of epithets which meet in English-speaking fiction.
Epithets in Jane Austen's novel should be carried to a kind of implicit metaphors since their figurative sense is presented, as a rule, in implicitly expressed form and comes to light as a result of semantic updating of an attributive lexeme in a microcontext of the defined word. Metaphorical epithets are peculiar to the novel, as to a genre in general.
The metaphorical epithet is a bright tool for figurativeness of the art text, means of characterization of heroes. At the novel there is a large number of various epithets, not all from which are adjectives on chasterechny accessory. From the first pages of the novel it becomes clear that the writer owns expressional means of language. In the novel enough descriptive lexicon which allows to create this or that mood of heroes, their portrait image is used.
The analysis of epithets showed in the novel that the most part is made by the epithets opening character and an emotional condition of characters.
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