Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
published 1811
Set mid-1790s
I recently watched all the available Jane Austen screen adaptations – twenty four of them – and re-read her novels. This was so that I
could write an article for
the i newspaper - see here – and it was the best work
assignment I could ever have, I enjoyed it hugely.
Although Jane Austen has featured on the
blog in various ways, there have been very few actual straight
posts on the book – and they were on Northanger Abbey, which I described
as the slightest of the six main novels. So, time to put things right.
And as I both read the books and saw the films – I can discuss both.
Look, she made me this bow to my hat, and put in the feather last night. There now, YOU are going to laugh at me too. But why should not I wear pink ribbons? I do not care if it IS the Doctor's favourite colour.
This is Miss Steele, the older sister of the troublesome
minx Lucy Steele. She is called Anne for quite a lot of the book, and then
Nancy later: Nancy is a reasonable nickname for an Anne, but it’s quite odd
that it changes: it’s not an Eliza/Elizabeth situation. Lucy is awful, but Anne
is merely rather sad, with her imagined romances and flirting and protesting.
We can only hope that Lucy will find her a husband now that she is settled down
herself.
Marianne, the middle Dashwood sister, is a great character study in the book, resonating down the ages – it is clear how annoying she can be with her notions and ideas and insistence that her way of looking at things is the right/only way – while still being a good, whole-hearted person. She is also rude and tactless, but the (very recognizable) type who says ‘well I’m just like that, I can’t help telling the truth’. Down the ages there is a humblebrag trope of people saying ‘they don’t like me because I tell the truth’: I always want to say firmly ‘no, that’s not why they don’t like you’.
Marianne’s path to happiness is difficult (and the age
difference with her eventual husband gives pause these days): her older sister Elinor
straightforwardly has her eyes on one person, but there are troubles here too.
In my view Edward Ferrars is a very dim prospect indeed,
but is let off lightly by Jane Austen and by Elinor. By the final section of
the book he has three women in his toils, and it is amusing when he
turns up to see Elinor and must be rather horrified to find his secret fiancée,
the abovementioned Lucy Steele, sitting with her. What is he even thinking of? The
third woman, the heiress Miss Morton, is simply not considered at all. I do not
think his honour is as bright and shining as Elinor believes, and prefer the
view of the literary critic who refers to him as a ‘potential bigamist’. He
gets lucky.
Everyone is much too forgiving of him, although in one of
the early forgotten serials there is an excellent moment when he falls
backwards into the rosebushes. Serve him right.
And even Jane Austen has a moment:
SPOILER
When he finally has managed to sort out his affairs, he
comes to visit Elinor:
His errand at Barton, in fact, was a simple one. It was only to ask Elinor to marry him;-and considering that he was not altogether inexperienced in such a question, it might be strange that he should feel so uncomfortable in the present case as he really did, so much in need of encouragement and fresh air. [emphasis added by me]
I think Jane is finding him as annoying as I did by now.
I haven’t nearly finished all I could say about S&S, but will pause (for now) and move on to the screen versions.
There are four extant adaptations of Sense and Sensibility
(as with all the books there may be versions which have not been preserved
anywhere). The Oscar-winning film with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet is
probably the most famous – Hugh Grant plays Edward Ferrars and Alan Rickman is
Colonel Brandon. When I reviewed Alan
Rickman’s Diaries for the i newspaper in 2022, I was charmed to
find that he objected to there not being enough about the men, he wanted to
investigate Col Brandon’s ‘journey’ more. (as Anne Elliot says in Persuasion, Men
have had every advantage of us in telling their own story – just not enough
for AR). There is more gossip-y bitching from the set of S&S in the
diaries.
My favourite version was a 2008 BBC serial, adapted by Andrew
Davies. He is a supremely good writer but you have to accept that there
will be things added, the plot will be smoothed, and there will be some
unclothed scenes.
But he is true to the spirit of the author, and tells a
compelling story, bringing forward the elements which most resound in modern
times. He is very good at social events and group conversations, and has an excellent
understanding of the feelings and humiliations
of young people.
The two earlier TV serials are worthy, but no need to seek
them out unless you are very completist (as I was) or want to see Ferrars fall
over.
Sense and Sensibility 1995 (film, Emma Thompson, dir Ang
Lee)
Sense and Sensibility TV serial 1983
Sense and Sensibility TV serial 1971
Bonnets of the era, NYPL.
Marianne looking miserable at a ball. Fashion plate, 1804, NYPL.
A potential bigamist - that casts a whole new light on the character!
ReplyDeleteHe's just a boy who cain't say No....
DeleteYes, another very recognizable type who gets into trouble without meaning to, and can't get himself out. I could see him actually going ahead with another marriage if things went sufficiently wrong, because he couldn't bring himself to explain, or put a stop to matters.
DeleteOr Bertie Wooster without Jeeves to get him out of these matrimonial entanglements.
DeleteOh that's a splendid idea, and yes you could exactly imagine it...
DeleteThat's the thing about Austen, Moira. She created characters that really resonate We all know someone like Marianne; we all have met people like Lucy. And, of course, there's the sly wit, too.. Oh, and I do like that term: potential bigamist. That says it all.
ReplyDeleteWe can just really enjoy her can't we? Human nature hasn't changed that much in 200 years.
Delete"His errand at Barton, in fact, was a simple one. It was only to ask Elinor to marry him;-and considering that he was not altogether inexperienced in such a question, it might be strange that he should feel so uncomfortable in the present case as he really did, so much in need of encouragement and fresh air." Not so much "sly wit" as "Oh, meeeeeow!" Love it. Lucy
ReplyDeleteI know. Reading them again I discovered so many clever, searing, funny bits that I had either not noticed or forgotten - that's as well as all the famous ones.
DeleteNot that I hold any brief for Edward Ferrars but I wouldn't say Lucy Steele was in his toils, exactly - she's more than capable of looking after her own interests and freeing herself from him when it suits her to do so!
ReplyDeleteSovay
By modern-day standards she was young when they met - he has to take some responsibility!
DeleteTrue, but "in his toils" implies to me that he's in control of their relationship - which may have been true when they met but four years on, I'm not convinced she's in love with him any more than he is with her, and she seems to be calling the shots. Not condemning her of exonerating him - he did propose and she's a young woman with no fortune and has to be pragmatic; he's her best prospect for a secure future and she's not going to let him wriggle out of the engagement (though it must be clear to her that he'd be happy to do so) unless something better comes along.
DeleteElinor is definitely in his toils, being emotionally engaged; as for Miss Morton, no way of knowing since she never appears.
Sovay
Miss Morton a figure of mystery! Like Miss King in P&P - having money exempts you from the author worrying about you.
DeleteLucy is awful - but she still exemplifies truths about the economic and social status of women, problems that Edward doesn't have.
Elinor does worry about Miss Morton - at least to the extent of commenting on the family's assumption that she can be married off to either Edward or Robert indifferently:
Delete"We think now " -- said Mr. Dashwood, after a short pause, "of Robert's marrying Miss Morton."
Elinor, smiling at the grave and decisive importance of her brothers tone, calmly replied --
"The lady, I suppose, has no choice in the affair."
"Choice! -- how do you mean?"
"I only mean, that I suppose from your manner of speaking, it must be the same to Miss Morton whether she marry Edward or Robert."
"Certainly, there can be no difference; for Robert will now to all intents and purposes be considered as the eldest son; and as to anything else, they are both very agreeable young men -- I do not know that one is superior to the other."
Sovay
Very satirical: and the 'Certainly, there can be no difference...' element is something you can imagine Jane saying in her letters. She would be intending an irony, but very much a real attitude. Your choice of partner is not entirely your own, nad not based always on true love...
DeleteI was reminded of Georgette Heyer’s “The Convenient Marriage” which opens with plans for the Earl of Rule to marry the eldest and most beautiful of three Miss Winwoods; the family, though aristocratic, is on its uppers so she feels compelled to agree even though she Loves Another, but her youngest sister decides to rescue her by proposing to the Earl herself on the grounds that as far as he’s concerned, one Miss Winwood is probably as good as another. Rather implausibly, he goes along with this …
DeleteSovay
Convenient Marriage was one of my least favourites when I read them all as a teenager, but I can't remember why - is it not romantic enough?
DeleteThe discussion of Miss Morton is also not very different from the matter of Mr Collins in P&P - it doesn't seem to matter which of the Bennet sisters he marries.
Horry Winwood is one of Heyer's most charming heroines. It always seemed to me that Rule fell for her straightaway.
DeleteClare
Romance is in the mind of the reader but the central relationship has some uncomfortable elements - not least a big age difference (she’s 17, he’s 35) and the fact that the Earl has an established mistress whom he has no plans to give up when he marries. He’s charmed and amused by Horry but I’m not convinced that he falls in love with her at first sight, and he certainly can’t be under any illusion that she’s in love with him, or that she has any real understanding of what marriage is about. For most of the book they seem to be leading separate lives, Horry getting into all kinds of trouble through her lack of knowledge of the world and the Earl extricating her from her predicaments but then stepping back and letting her entangle herself again. There’s a happy ending largely, I think, because it’s a “romance” novel so HAS to end well - anything resembling this relationship in real life would surely result in complete disaster …
DeleteTaking it all too seriously perhaps! It’s not in my top five Heyer romances but I do have a soft spot for Horry and her brother Pel.
Sovay
I think he’s charmed and greatly amused by Horry at their first meeting - not so sure that he’s in love with her though, and their marriage is a very odd relationship which I feel only ends well because this is a romance novel so no other ending is acceptable!
DeleteCiB - romance is in the mind of the reader but there are some uncomfortable aspects to the central relationship in “The Convenient Marriage” - not least the significant age difference (Horry’s 17, the Earl’s 35) and the fact that he has an established mistress whom he has no intention of giving up after marriage - so teenage you may well not have found it romantic.
Along with many other readers I always wonder why, when Mrs Bennett says outright that she doesn’t mind which of the girls Mr Collins marries, she doesn’t encourage him from the outset to propose to Mary who seems to be his natural match.
Sovay
17 and 35 is too big an age gap to us, but The Convenient Marriage was first published in 1934. Women were still marrying for security then, witness all those young women married to retired colonels in golden-age detective novels. Horry promises not to interfere with Rule, and he does get rid of the mistress halfway through the book. All romance novels are fairy tales up to a certain point, but teenage me loved it. That is also a while back, of course.
DeleteAs to Mr Collins, I too thought at first he and Mary would be perfect for each other, but now I think: poor Mary if she had married him. She had few social skills and couldn't have managed him and Lady de Bourgh the way Charlotte did. Mr Collins is a man and went straight for the prettiest sister: Jane. Mrs Bennet had to persuade him away from that choice. I don't think she could have made him propose to the most awkward of the five. Charlotte had to flatter him into proposing to her after Lizzie turned him down. It's sad that Charlotte had to settle for Mr Collins, but marriage was the only way to get some security.
PS, that was Clare
DeleteHorry and the Earl do marry with the understanding that they won’t interfere with each other, but I don’t think he SHOULD have married her on that basis. She’s 17, has had a sheltered, frugal upbringing which has given her no insight into the potential dangers of the fashionable world, and suddenly she can go where she likes, do what she likes, spend as much as she likes … not surprising that she gets into trouble and yes, he does get her out of various scrapes but he’s put himself in a position where it’s hard for him to protect and advise her, which she needs - she’s very vulnerable to the envy and malice of society at large and the machinations of his enemies who are prepared to do her serious harm to get back at him.
DeleteI may be taking this too seriously! Age difference is certainly far more of an issue now than in the past, though even in the 1930s it could be a concern - one of Georgette Heyer’s detective novels, “The Unfinished Clue”, features an unhappy marriage in which difference in age is agreed to be a major cause of friction.
I take your point about Mary Bennett, though it would probably be the least worst option for her - likely alternatives would be poor relation in someone else’s household, or governess, neither of which would make for a happy future. And she and Mr Collins do seem to have interests in common - she might not feel the need to manage him as Charlotte does. Lady Catherine is a stumbling block, but a temporary one - once Mr Bennett’s dead and the Collinses are settled at Longbourn they’ll be free of her …
Sovay
About Mary Bennet and Mr Collins: I think many of have felt that this would be the perfect solution, and when Mr Collins leaves Longbourn after his first visit, hinting that he will be back soon, the narrator comments: "Mrs Bennet wished to understand that he thought of paying his addresses to one of her younger girls, and Mary might have been prevailed on to accept him. She rated his abilities much higher than any of the others; there was a solidity in his reflections which often struck her, and though by no means so clever as herself, she thought that if encouraged to read and improve himself by such an example as her's, he might become a very agreeable companion."
DeleteQuite so. But I think the fact that Jane Austen does not choose this neat solution is one of the (very many) reasons she is such a great writer. Because life is not that neat for one thing. And as pointed out above: psychologically it wouldn't work. Mr Collins is a vain man and when he cannot have one of the pretty sisters he will not fall back on the least attractive one. That would be admitting defeat. Charlotte takes advantage of his vanity by flattering and soothing in a way that makes him think she has fallen in love with him, which turns his defeat into a victory.
One assumes that either Jane or Lizzie would take their mother and unmarried sisters in after Mr Bennet's death, and that they would treat them well. They already had Kitty living with them, and Lydia and Wickham stayed with the Bingleys often.
DeleteAs to the Convenient Marriage: Rule doesn't promise not to interfere with Horry. After all her job will be to provide him with an heir. He does say that 35 is too old for 17, but she insists that she likes the look of him and expected him to look much older. And there would be trouble at home if he didn't marry her. He won't propose to Elizabeth now, and the Winwoods need the settlement. In a more realistic novel he would look elsewhere for a bride, but this is a romance!
Clare
Excellent discusssion on both those books! I can see that I will have to re-read The Convenient Marriage so as to have an opinion. I think you can look at a couple (real or fictional) and think an age difference might not make for happiness with those characters, but I'm not sure there should be actual rules or judgement...
DeleteMr Collins - I'm not sure any character has promoted more or better discussion here! what a tribute to Jane Austen and the worlds she created.
I didn't mean to say quite so much about "The Convenient Marriage" as may appear - I commented on 15 May, then my comment vanished into the ether so I commented again, but now the first comment is back ... anyway, Clare's quite right, it's romance not realism and needs to be looked at through rose-tinted glasses! I think realism v romance is what makes Mr Collins so interesting to us - he is much closer to the reality (and by no means the worst prospect) of what many women would have to consider settling for, not rich and sweet-natured Mr Bingley or richer and romantically moody Mr Darcy.
DeleteMrs Bennett, Mary and Kitty have a much more secure future in prospect by the end of the novel but at the time of Mr Collins’ visit that’s not the case. However I've always assumed that Mrs Bennett is being over-optimistic about Mr Collins' plans to return - having been warned off Jane and turned down by Elizabeth he can't really be expected to plough on down the list of sisters, and presumably he's coming back because he expects Elizabeth to have changed her mind.
Sovay
When I first read the book (many many years ago) I thought Mr C was a cartoon figure, and it was obvious it would be a dreadful fate to be married to him.... but as the years go by I find him much more interesting than that. And - as we discussed a while back - a girl could do a lot worse at that time and with those economic pressures.
DeleteThe 2005 Joe Wright film made it overt: Charlotte says to Lizzie 'I'm a burden... I'm frightened' - Mr Collins is her way out. 'Not all of us can afford to be romantic...Don't you dare judge me Lizzie.'
Surely someone will write a book from the POV of Mr Collins, giving his thoughts on Mary, and on the list of sisters available.
Mr Collins proposes to Charlotte within 3 days of being rejected by Elizabeth! In chapter 22.
DeleteFair play to him, no point hanging round.
DeleteHOT NEWS: I said above that I would re-read The Convenient Marriage, and now I have, and realized a good way in that it wasn't the book I was thinking about - I was talking (in my brief comments) about A Civil Contract, a much more sober affair from later in her writing career. Convenient Marriage very entertaining - though slightly too many rounds of plot, and I found the brother amusing at times, but really - taking it too seriously, but basically the girls have to marry money because of his gambling. If they were not posh that would be described as pimping and prositution.
DeleteI'm sure the arrangement of the marriage would be seen as perfectly normal in that time (which is perhaps 1780s rather than Regency), given the commmercial nature of the relationship, age difference not a problem. Though it wasn't clear exactly why Rule had to marry into that family rather than any other. But definitely shades of Mr Collins in choosing a sister!
In the final holdup of Rule's chaise, there is a younger man in the chaise with him, but it is not explained who he is... any ideas?
Do you think they had consummated the marriage? when was she going to produce this heir?
Going back to Mr Collins - I was convinced I'd heard someone was wrting a new novel from Charlotte's POV, and have tracked it down. Rachel Parris, Introducing Mrs Collins, to be published in Nov.
Also - another way Mr C is typical of a certain kind of annoying man: Jane is clearly out of his league in terms of attraction, as is Lizzy, but he doesn't let that trouble him at all.
I think Davies, despite his obvious skill as a screenwriter, is guilty (to a lesser degree) of Rickman's attitude toward the female-based Austen narratives. He made up scenes of Darcy's "journey" in the 1995 P-and-P which weren't needed by Austen (even if they delighted female viewers). Maybe it's just a belief of modern adapters that Austen has to be "sexed up" for today's audiences, who aren't accustomed to having to use their imaginations?
ReplyDeleteHaving watched a lot of Andrew Davies (Austen and non-Austen) lately, and read some interviews with him, I have a lot of time for him. I would say for certain he is doing what he wants, not trying to wonder second guess anyone else or make it sexily attractive. You might not like his ideas, but they are genuine ideas and I think he is a top-notch writer, who defends himself with skill and gives good reasons for what he does.
DeleteI would also say that all adaptations change and add - people sometimes think this is a modern thing, but it most certainly is not.
I still don't see the need for the added Darcy scenes, even though I enjoyed seeing more of Colin Firth! I realize that no adaptation will ever match the story in my head, but Austen's own subtle way of revealing Darcy's feelings was fine with me and didn't need improvements. If adapters have such great ideas, why don't they create something of their own instead of capitalizing on the cachet of other writers?
DeleteWell if huge numbers of people want to watch adaptations - which they do - why shouldn't they be made? The writers could easily say 'if you prefer the book - read the book.' 😊😊😊
DeleteBut also: on screen you have to find different ways of getting information over, or else you might as well have an audiobook. So the writers find ways to do that: which can mean added or subtracted scenes, dialogue which is not from the book, a sister disappearing. Exposition is a key issue.
Oh thank you for giving me the chance to vent here.
ReplyDeleteI have always found Edward Ferrars to be a complete waste of skin, and as slimy and deceptive as Willoughby and Wickham. Right from the start, he is making courting noises towards Elinor while secretly engaged to Lucy Steele.
When I first read the book, I knew that Elinor and Col Brandon were made for each other. As I got closer and closer to the end, I found myself thinking, Cutting it a bit fine, here, Jane... And then...Gobsmacked! What? Elinor throwing herself away on that...that... And Col Brandon making a fool of himself over a girl half his age? Oh Jane!
Even so, any time I reread S&S, or watch an adaptation, it is with the hope that I've misremembered how it turned out, and THIS time things will go right for Elinor and the Colonel.
Sigh.
Oh thank YOU for expressing that. I was exactly the same -they seem so right for each other. I am used to the idea now (kind of) but Edward Ferrars really is not good enough for Elinor.
DeleteI was excited to actually be able to view the article at the i newspaper. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI read Sense and Sensibility in 2022, five years after I read all the other Austen novels, and it was the only one I did not like. I disliked most of the characters, Marianne drove me crazy, and I could not understand the attraction of Edward Ferrars.
I did see the adaptation with Emma Thompson, but it was eons ago and I think I should see it again. Definitely sounds better than the book.
it's not my favourite of Austen's, but I liked it more on the recent re-read than previously.
DeleteIt makes for a good film - most enjoyable.
It's always been one of my favourites, as I like Elinor so much (I was the same age as her when I first read it, which may have helped). I don't think Edward is so very bad - I suppose he's in the position of someone who doesn't realise until a bit too late that his sixth form girlfriend isn't quite the person he thought she was (I never had boyfriends at school, but just thinking of some of the boys I fancied makes me wonder where I'd left my brain). The appalling thing is letting himself fall for Elinor without shedding Lucy first. I bet she'd have sued him for breach of promise, though!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great comparison - none of us should be stuck with the bad choices we make as teens!
DeleteBut he was definitely in the wrong not to sort the situation out earlier...
The publicity of a breach of promise suit might be risky if Lucy plans to marry into the gentry, though; best option for both her and Edward would have been a discreet financial settlement out of court, which his family would surely have gone along with if he’d just been able to summon up the resolve to put them in the picture. I was amused by the Wodehouse comparison up above - on at least two occasions Bertie Wooster himself is landed by his Aunt Agatha with the task of breaking up a relative’s romance by “buying off” the unsuitable fiancée.
DeleteSovay
They got themselves into a right mess, and none of the options must have looked good - lucky that Jane Austen sorted them out!
DeleteA slight comment on your choice of fashion plates: the one with the bonnets is a beautiful picture of one of the Costumes Parisiens, which illustrated the Journal des Dames et des Modes, the only fashion magazine allowed in France during the reign of Napoleon.
ReplyDeleteHowever the 1804 one has been re-etched in 1902 by Henri Boutet. He may have used original fashion plates as examples, but he put a lot of his own era in. Just look at that Belle Epoque coiffure.
Clare
Thanks Clare for the extra info - I didn't realize that when I picked it out...
DeleteI have always hoped for a modern, feminist, defense of Mrs. Bennett. Of course she is grasping and shrill and vulgar. She raised five girls, practically by herself, while her useless husband hid in his library. Even though the property is entailed, Mr. Bennett could have improved it to the benefit of his family. He could also have found some other means of income. I also found it interesting that as the girls get younger, they are less appealing. Almost as if Mrs. Bennett had poured her all mothering skills into Jane and Lizzie and by the time Lydia and the rest showed up she was worn out and gave up. Again, because she raised them alone basically. Like Charlotte, Lucas and Mr. Collins, I think there is more depth to her, and she has been ill treated by generations of readers and adaptations.
DeleteYes - I very much agree with you abut her life with Mr B. And I hadnt thought of that perception that she did less well with the younger girls - very interesting idea.
DeleteWould very much like to see a long defence...