Title: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Jane Austen
Pages: 367
Finished: January 13, 2018
First Sentence: The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex.
Summary: A tale of two sisters, each who love a man and deal with their disappointments in very different ways. Elinor, all sense, takes care of her suddenly impoverished family and protects their feelings even at the expense of her own. Marianne, on the other hand, feels everything as acutely as possible to the point of endangering her own life. As with any Austen novel, all turns out all right in the end. Both get their man, both learn a bit more about the other, and everyone who deserves happiness gets it!
Thoughts: In the past, out of Austen's six main novels, I've ranked this number 5. I'm curious to see if my rankings change in the course of this reread.
Let's start with the characters. Elinor is really quite amazing. She's so incredibly mature that it's hard for me to believe she's only 19. Of course, I'm thinking of 21st Century 19-year-olds who are still adolescents instead of adults. But with everything we know about brain development now, it still rings hard for me to believe. (It's also the reason I don't have an issue with Emma Thompson playing her, because Elinor reads as 30 years old to me instead of 19...) Anyway. Even though this wasn't my favorite Austen novel, I did like Elinor for many years and strove to be like her. Her ability to govern her temper, to feel her feelings but not inflict them on everyone was very admirable to me. Even while reading it now, I found her very admirable. Sure, it's okay to feel your feelings, and it's even okay to let other people know you feel your feelings, but I like that she never was a woe is me type.
Marianne on the other hand... Marianne is who I always was. Maybe not to that extent, but I did and do tend to be reactive. While reading through this time, Marianne absolutely read like a 16-year-old to me. Impetuous, selfish, and only aware of her own feelings. I tried to cut her some slack because she was 16, but if she was viewed as an adult by her peers, it was hard to reconcile that with how she acted. (This is why I teach preschoolers instead of teenagers!)
The rest of the cast is you standard affair. Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrers are more complex then then rest as they are our leading gentlemen, but the rest of the cast falls into the various comfortable roles of social foibles. Mrs. Jennings and Sir John Middleton are ridiculous and rude though it can be excused because they are of society. John and Fanny Dashwood are absolutely mean (seriously, Fanny Dashwood is such an awful woman. Obviously learned from her awful mother.) Willoughby is a cad, and even when he tries to explain his reasoning for doing as he did, he still comes across as horrible (though he won over Elinor). Again, that's possibly the 21st century feminist in me talking. I just hate the way he explains why he did what he did, and while he explains it basically shows that he's just as bad as he was. And he gets excused because he really did love her? Blech. The Steeles? I love to hate on Lucy. She's so underhandedly malicious and contriving.
The social commentary was way more prevalent to me than it was the last time I read this. Which was about five years ago. I think that's what I love about Austen. Everytime I reread her novels, I discover more than was there before. Her characters are so real that I can name them in other people. Lady Middleton who only talks of her children. We STILL have that issue today. In fact, my entire generation is the result of overindulgence - something that is somehow blamed on us even though we're not the ones who overindulged ourselves. Mrs. Jennings as the woman who has to interfere in everyone's business. I certainly know a few people who live for the drama and help in the most unhelpful ways possible. The whole Fanny Dashwood bit at the beginning... well... let's just say I'm intimately aware of that whole thing. Even at what seems like it should be ridiculousness, these characters are so completely connected to people I know.
I enjoyed reading this, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next one.
As I've yet to read any other Austen novels this year, I'm ranking this as #1. Will change as I read more.
Read for the Austen Challenge.
Let's start with the characters. Elinor is really quite amazing. She's so incredibly mature that it's hard for me to believe she's only 19. Of course, I'm thinking of 21st Century 19-year-olds who are still adolescents instead of adults. But with everything we know about brain development now, it still rings hard for me to believe. (It's also the reason I don't have an issue with Emma Thompson playing her, because Elinor reads as 30 years old to me instead of 19...) Anyway. Even though this wasn't my favorite Austen novel, I did like Elinor for many years and strove to be like her. Her ability to govern her temper, to feel her feelings but not inflict them on everyone was very admirable to me. Even while reading it now, I found her very admirable. Sure, it's okay to feel your feelings, and it's even okay to let other people know you feel your feelings, but I like that she never was a woe is me type.
Marianne on the other hand... Marianne is who I always was. Maybe not to that extent, but I did and do tend to be reactive. While reading through this time, Marianne absolutely read like a 16-year-old to me. Impetuous, selfish, and only aware of her own feelings. I tried to cut her some slack because she was 16, but if she was viewed as an adult by her peers, it was hard to reconcile that with how she acted. (This is why I teach preschoolers instead of teenagers!)
The rest of the cast is you standard affair. Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrers are more complex then then rest as they are our leading gentlemen, but the rest of the cast falls into the various comfortable roles of social foibles. Mrs. Jennings and Sir John Middleton are ridiculous and rude though it can be excused because they are of society. John and Fanny Dashwood are absolutely mean (seriously, Fanny Dashwood is such an awful woman. Obviously learned from her awful mother.) Willoughby is a cad, and even when he tries to explain his reasoning for doing as he did, he still comes across as horrible (though he won over Elinor). Again, that's possibly the 21st century feminist in me talking. I just hate the way he explains why he did what he did, and while he explains it basically shows that he's just as bad as he was. And he gets excused because he really did love her? Blech. The Steeles? I love to hate on Lucy. She's so underhandedly malicious and contriving.
The social commentary was way more prevalent to me than it was the last time I read this. Which was about five years ago. I think that's what I love about Austen. Everytime I reread her novels, I discover more than was there before. Her characters are so real that I can name them in other people. Lady Middleton who only talks of her children. We STILL have that issue today. In fact, my entire generation is the result of overindulgence - something that is somehow blamed on us even though we're not the ones who overindulged ourselves. Mrs. Jennings as the woman who has to interfere in everyone's business. I certainly know a few people who live for the drama and help in the most unhelpful ways possible. The whole Fanny Dashwood bit at the beginning... well... let's just say I'm intimately aware of that whole thing. Even at what seems like it should be ridiculousness, these characters are so completely connected to people I know.
I enjoyed reading this, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next one.
As I've yet to read any other Austen novels this year, I'm ranking this as #1. Will change as I read more.
Read for the Austen Challenge.
I'm reading this right now. I read Joanna Trollope's modernization last year, but struggled with getting into it. This was actually the first Austen I ever read, so it's been nice to revisit it. I completely agree with you on your assessments of the characters. This was a great review!
ReplyDeleteI will admit, I've only read a couple of Austen adjacent books. Much like you, I've struggled with many of them. Too much fanfiction, not enough wit typically.
DeleteI'm trying to remember which the first Austen was that I ever read. It was either this one or Northanger Abbey, but I'm really not sure. It's been close to 15 years since my first ever read through.
I look forward to your review!
I also identify with Marianne!! & yet totally admire Elinor. <3
ReplyDelete