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Kim's Reviews > Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility
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It's been quite a while since I last read Sense and Sensibility and this is the first time I've listened to it on audiobook. As I listened to Nadia May's excellent narration, I realised that there was much I'd forgotten about the book since I last read it.
I had certainly forgotten the flashes of humour and the sharpness of the satire. For example, Austen is particularly pointed in her descriptions of the indulgence with which the less satisfactory mothers amongst her characters (Fanny Dashwood, Lady Middleton) treat the misbehaviour of their offspring. These scenes are laugh-out-loud funny. However, they also made me think how often Austen must have been exposed to the ill-disciplined children of her acquaintances!
There is arguably more social commentary in Sense and Sensibility than in Austen's other novels. While the dependence of single women and the devastating potential effect of inheritance laws is also central to the plot of Pride and Prejudice, it is in Sense and Sensibility that the actual effect is felt most keenly in the situation of the Mrs Dashwood and her daughters.
Primarily, though, Sense and Sensibility is about relationships - relationships between sisters, between mothers and children, between friends. It is these relationships, good and bad, positive and negative which form the core of the novel. They are more important than the ultimate romantic pairings and just as important as the theme suggested by the title, that is, the different approaches to life of those with contrasting temperaments.
Indeed, in my view, the romantic pairings form the least satisfactory element of the novel. (view spoiler). While expected in such a novel, the romantic relationships do not have the same impact as those of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth or even of Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley.
Overall, I've appreciated Sense and Sensibility much more this time around than I have on previous readings. While it does not have the same emotional effect on me as my favourite Austen novel - Persuasion - it remains a masterpiece.
I had certainly forgotten the flashes of humour and the sharpness of the satire. For example, Austen is particularly pointed in her descriptions of the indulgence with which the less satisfactory mothers amongst her characters (Fanny Dashwood, Lady Middleton) treat the misbehaviour of their offspring. These scenes are laugh-out-loud funny. However, they also made me think how often Austen must have been exposed to the ill-disciplined children of her acquaintances!
There is arguably more social commentary in Sense and Sensibility than in Austen's other novels. While the dependence of single women and the devastating potential effect of inheritance laws is also central to the plot of Pride and Prejudice, it is in Sense and Sensibility that the actual effect is felt most keenly in the situation of the Mrs Dashwood and her daughters.
Primarily, though, Sense and Sensibility is about relationships - relationships between sisters, between mothers and children, between friends. It is these relationships, good and bad, positive and negative which form the core of the novel. They are more important than the ultimate romantic pairings and just as important as the theme suggested by the title, that is, the different approaches to life of those with contrasting temperaments.
Indeed, in my view, the romantic pairings form the least satisfactory element of the novel. (view spoiler). While expected in such a novel, the romantic relationships do not have the same impact as those of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth or even of Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley.
Overall, I've appreciated Sense and Sensibility much more this time around than I have on previous readings. While it does not have the same emotional effect on me as my favourite Austen novel - Persuasion - it remains a masterpiece.
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Reading Progress
May 14, 2011
– Shelved
August 31, 2011
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Started Reading
September 7, 2011
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Finished Reading
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Kathryn
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 08, 2011 02:37PM
Great review! :-)
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Thanks, Kathryn. I should re-read this one more often.
I can understand why as one of three sisters this would be your favourite Austen, Abigail. Austen's depiction of the relationship between the sisters is so full of affection and tenderness. It strikes me that relationships between sisters are also important in Pride and Prejudice and - in a much less positive sense - in Persuasion. However, the romantic relationships predominate in those two novels. I wonder if the less than satisfactory romantic pairings in Sense and Sensibility have the effect of placing more emphasis on the other relationships in the novel. Apart from the relationships between the sisters, there's also the mother / child relationships. The novel certainly seems to feature more than the usual number of mothers for an Austen novel - and mothers who are very different from each other at that.
I wish I could write reviews like this.
Weren't we just discussing the feelings of many that the romance in S&S is very passionate? But as the passionate pairing does not last, it seems to me that Austen is writing about a steadfast love, one that is not knocked about by passionate feelings. That's the kind of love that Marianne chooses in the end. Now that I think about it, it's present in all of her books.
Weren't we just discussing the feelings of many that the romance in S&S is very passionate? But as the passionate pairing does not last, it seems to me that Austen is writing about a steadfast love, one that is not knocked about by passionate feelings. That's the kind of love that Marianne chooses in the end. Now that I think about it, it's present in all of her books.
Jeannette, thank you for the compliment!While I see a lot of passion in the romantic love in Persuasion and to some extent in Pride and Prejudice, I see it less in Sense and Sensibility. However, I also think that Austen most values romantic love where there is also friendship, esteem, mutual understanding and respect. In this novel, it seems to me that Elinor and Edward's relationship has less underlying passion and more of those other qualities. That's what suits their temperament. And before this re-reading, I would also have said that Marianne ultimately chose the same kind of relationship. However, this time around it seemed to me that for Marianne, at least at first, there was only friendship, esteem and respect - no underlying passion. The problem with that is that Marianne is passionate by nature. It made me feel - ever so slightly - that Marianne was short-changed in the true love department in comparison to Austen's other heroines.
I think what bothers me most about Marianne and Brandon, is that Brandon is trying to recapture his first love. I feel that is a bad basis for a relationship, don't you? Marianne was slowly won over, and hopefully their love grows deeper as they age.
I was surprised just now to think that each book has at least one "lover" who remains steadfast through rejection and/or other obstacles. Elinor and Edward, Knightley, Anne and Wentworth, Darcy (as well as Bingley & Jane), Fanny, Tilney (to the least extent, even thought his sister is also a good example). And, they are all rewarded in the end.
I was surprised just now to think that each book has at least one "lover" who remains steadfast through rejection and/or other obstacles. Elinor and Edward, Knightley, Anne and Wentworth, Darcy (as well as Bingley & Jane), Fanny, Tilney (to the least extent, even thought his sister is also a good example). And, they are all rewarded in the end.
Kim and Jeannette, I agree with both of you about the Marianne and Brandon relationship being one of the least satisfying (to me). I do think it was meant to be a hopeful and loving relationship, but it was never as convincing to me, for the reasons you have both outlined.
