Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen | Lost in Austen

Sense and Sensibility was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be published and follows the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marinne, after the death of their father. As is characteristic of Austen's novels, the girls are mediocre when it comes to upper class society and impoverished thanks to the lack of genorosity of their half-brother and his wife. Necessity sees them relocated from their childhood home to a cottage on the grounds of a wealthy relation of their mother's. From this point on there are a series of events that see the sisters drifiting on the outer edges of engagements before finally ending up happily married and financially comfortable.

One of the biggest problems I had with this novel was the character of Marianne. I found her transformation from spoiled, silly childishness to stoic maturity hard to accept. Of course this book is set in a different time and teenagehood didn't exist, but is a broken heart really a cure for being vapid? I felt her decision to marry Colonel Brandon at the end of the novel was unrealistic even within the context of the plot. I understand that Austen wanted to tie up all the lose ends in order to make for a happy ending, but I think that even if Marianne  and Brandon had met and courted others and married them I would have found it more believable. Their story is hardly what I would call a romance. 

Elinor too frustrated me, but for different reasons. I found her self-sacrificing nature not to be the heroism that I assume Austen intended, but instead weakness of character. For all the faults with Marianne, her character is still passionate. That is of course because Marianne is the sensibility to Elinor's sense, a dichotomy that did very little for me. As the narrative is told mostly from the perspective of Elinor, as readers, we are privy to most of Elinor's thoughts and feelings. As a sister, daughter and friend she cannot be faulted in her ability to please others but in her role as a lover she fails miserably. Even through the veil of Regency honour and propriety Austen makes the connection between Edward Ferrars and Elinor very clear and I am disappointed that Elinor never so much as confides in her mother or sister. However, this romance is one that I believed and one that I found myself rooting for throughout the novel. If the novel had focused upon this couple I would have been perfectly satisfied with it. 

The redemption of Willoughby was something that I also felt dubious about. Even having finished the novel I am not sure that Willoughby is given redemption, but I do feel as though at least at the very end Austen attempts to induce sympathy for him. Willoughby for all intents and purposes is a 19th century gold digger, but is also a victim of a society that tells him that money dictates his worth as a human being (as are all the others). This is an example of the overall impression that I got from the novel, namely as a platform for Austen to attack the same idle classes and their shallow snobbishness that she herself belonged to. How can the rich and idle criticise the rich and idle? Certainly not in any way that I could take seriously.

Sadly my reading of this novel was coloured by many things that the book did just not overcome. It was coloured by my outrage at Austen's hypocrisy, my idea of what a romance is or should be and high expectations of a 'Jane Austen novel'. I was entirely underwhelmed and am happy to take at least some responsibility for that. Thankfully, my experience of this novel has not put me off Austen or any re-imaginings of Sense and Sensibility.

Rating: ★★