Sense and Sensibility

Title: Sense and Sensibility

Author: Jane Eyre

Genre: Romance Novel, classic British Literature, Historical Fiction

Originally published: 1811

Plot Summary: (I’m sure most, if not all of you are familiar with the plot but here it is anyway)

Elinor is prudent as her sister Marianne is impetus. Each must learn from the other after they are forced by their father’s death to leave their home and enter into the contents of polite society. The charms of unsuitable men and the schemes of rival ladies mean that their paths to success are fraught with disappointments but together they attempt to find a way to happiness.

Review:

Let me say first of all, it is very difficult attempting to review a literary classic by the legendary and my personal favorite author Jane Austen. I was almost not going to write this review because this classic work of fiction has already been reviewed by such connoisseurs in the field of literature, I was almost afraid that it would not be an insult to review what is clearly established as a benchmark for all aspiring authors and novelists and is famous enough to warrant no more reviews.

So let me not call this a review, but rather a tribute to my favourite (i will keep saying that please  don’t mind me) Jane Austen. Oh, but to have been born in Miss Austen’s time, has been my eternal wish. But coming back to Sense and Sensibility it was Jane Austen’s first novel, originally published in 1811, when Ms Austen was 36 years old although she started writing it at the young age of 20. It may be her first novel to be published but in my eyes it is also her finest. It is such a work of delicate detailed fiction that makes you fall in love with the times, the characters and the author herself. This was my third reading of the book, the first time at the age of 11 when i did not understand much and many words which are no longer in use today. The second time i read it when i was 16 or 17 and loved the romanticism of the times and longed to have my own trials and excesses of love.

This third reading is of a new edition published by vintage classics in 2014. It has an excellent introduction by Fransesca Segal, which was a brilliant analysis of the novel and the characters. I love the vintage jacket cover, look at how gorgeous it is. I feel that each time i read this book it gets better and better. Actually that applies to all the Austen novels, i think that is one quality that makes a classic. This time i tried to read it as a contraiety between Sense and Sensibility, represented by Elinor and Marianne respectively. Although at first Elinor and Marianne seem to be polar opposites, one is sensible, practical, realistic and responsible, while the other is passionate, sensitive, excessive in her emotions. One may even call it a contraiety of the head vs the heart. Elinor seems to be ruled by her head, certainly she makes decisions based on practicality and prudence, whereas Marianne is ruled by her heart in all matters, she is passionate about everything and believes in one true love and is excessive in her happiness and melancholy with not a care for prudence or appearances. I do not have a favorite between the sisters but side more with Elinor who seems to be always protecting Marianne of her own excessive if not foolish actions. To be sure Marianne has a very loving heart and is equally protective of her sister, one can even say she is the more innocent, gullible and clear hearted of the two. Elinor is alone in her thinking in the Dashwood household as Marianne and their mother are alike guided by their sensibilities and Margaret is too little to be of much consequence in the story.

Edward Ferrars is hardly any young girls notion of her knight in shining armor, he is far too real to be a perfect lover. But for Elinor to fall in love with him, suffer through all the trials in quiet dignity and be truly happy in the end with him shows her character to be the perfect amalgamation of sense and sensibility. Likewise for Marianne, after suffering much at the hands of the despicable Willoughby, she becomes stronger in heart and character and chooses to see the practicalities and happiness in marrying the formerly “unmarriagable” Colonel Brandon. So what we are left with is the impression that neither sense nor sensibility can lead to happiness without the other. A balance of both is needed for perfect harmony as was in the Dashwood family after the marriages of Elinor and Marianne.

The other characters are all perfectly suited to their roles, my favorite is Mrs Jennings, who though seems to come off as a meddlesome and petty woman at first, turns out to have a generous and clear heart and a very kind disposition. The girls brother, Mr John Dashwood may not be necesarrily evil as his wife and mother in law, but he is almost as despicable as Mr. Willoughby in neglecting his sisters and step mother, who have nothing against him, and he certainly has enough cause to be generous but he is weak in character and quite despisable on the whole.

Sense and Sensibility makes for comfort reading,  to be transported into the picturesque english countryside and the ways and mannerisms of society at that time. I can pick up this book at any time and always learn something from the wiseness of Elinor and the passion of Marianne.

One of my favorite quotes on love comes from Marianne, ” it is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy – it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”

 

These are my feelings about one of my favourite novels, i haven’t gone much into details as there are many and i dare say better written reviews out there. But i hope you can relate as an Austen fan to my writing, or if you haven’t read Sense and Sensibility i hope this makes you want to start right now .

Thanks for reading, as always comments are most welcome.