English Classics: Sense and Sensibility

I just finished reading Sense and Sensibility, the first novel by the English author Jane Austen, published in 1811 anonymously —with By A Lady appearing on the title page where the author's name might have been. This was the second of Austen's major works I have read after Persuasion, which I read three weeks ago. The novel is probably set between 1792 and 1797 and follows the three Dashwood sisters and their widowed mother as they are forced to leave the family estate in Sussex and move to a modest cottage on the property of a distant relative in Devon. There the two eldest girls, Elinor and Marianne, experience love and heartbreak that test their contrasting characters.

 

Interestingly, Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in epistolary form, perhaps as early as 1795 when she was about 19 years old (or 1797, at age 21). She is said to have given it the working title Elinor and Marianne. Later she changed the work's form to a narrative and its title to Sense and Sensibility, before its publication in 1811.

The dichotomy between "sense" and "sensibility" is the major lens through which this novel is most commonly appreciated. Austen wrote this novel around the turn of the eighteenth century, on the cusp between two cultural movements: Classicism and Romanticism, examining the social and moral implications of both classical reason and burgeoning romantic sensibilities. 

The novel has been adapted for film numerous times, including the 1995 version which was directed by my countryman Ang Lee, with its screenplay by Emma Thompson that won both the Academy Award and the the Golden Globe Award. Emma Thompson also starred as Elinor Dashwood in the film, while Kate Winslet played Elinor's younger sister Marianne. 

Apart from the antithesis of sense and sensibility, various themes and motifs are explored in the novel. The most obvious of them is the motif "wills and inheritance", as narrated right on the opening pages. According to the laws of male primogeniture in force in the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century, estates went to the closest male descendant of the original owner. The same concern is discussed repeatedly in the novel and largely dictates its plot development.

The second is the theme "marriage bound up with financial considerations". When reflecting on her sister's relationship with Willoughby, Elinor realizes that "marriage might not be immediately in (their) power." This preoccupation with money in relation to marriage was highly warranted in Austen's day; marriage was for life, and insurance and social security did not exist; a couple needed a guaranteed source of income before they could settle down together. As it turns out, Willoughby marries Sophia Grey, a wealthy heiress, because he needs her fortune after losing his own inheritance.

The third is the theme "appearance vs. reality", explored through character motivations and social interactions. Elinor consistently refrains from judging other characters on the basis of appearances alone, while other characters, represented by Mrs. Dashwood (Elinor's mother), base their judgments on looks and gestures they observe. Mrs. Dashwood draws conclusions based on appearances alone, while Elinor suspends judgment until these appearances are confirmed by words. This is yet another example of the dichotomy in the novel's title.

The fourth is the motif "road and journey". Roads are essential to the action of the novel because they facilitate the connections among characters. Austen structures the novel according to journeys, beginning with the Dashwoods' journey from Norland to Barton, followed by many others throughout the novel. This prevalence of journeys is significant: in Austen's day, improved roads linked parishes and towns to one another and to the nexus of all connections, London. Austen was thus highly aware of the changes roads could bring to people's lives. 

Last but not least is the theme "attachments vs. connections", around which the novel is built. The term "attachment" refers to the deeply individualized, subjective feeling of falling in love, a term closely linked to the novel's notion of "sensibility." The counterpart of this term is "connection," which refers to a public bond that also entails an emotional "attachment," and is closely linked to the notion of "sense." Marianne's relationship with Willoughby is described as an "attachment," whereas, when Elinor speaks of her relationship to Edward (her future husband), she points out the lack of any formal "connection" between them.

The novel's title refers to the duality of the Dashwood sisters. Elinor, age nineteen, is the heroine of the novel. Described as having a "strength of understanding" and "coolness of judgment", as well as the ability to govern and control her feelings, Elinor is composed but affectionate, both when she falls in love with Edward Ferrars and when she comforts and supports her younger sister Marianne. 

The seventeen-year-old Marianne longs for a man with taste, grace, spirit, and fire in his eyes. Given her spontaneity, excessive sensibility, and romantic idealism, she falls in love with the debauched John Willoughby, though he painfully spurns her, causing her to finally recognize her misjudgment of him. After this turn of heart, she ultimately marries her long-standing admirer, Colonel Brandon. 

John Willoughby is an attractive but deceitful young man who rescues Marianne during a storm. He soon wins Marianne's heart but then abandons her in favor of the wealthy Miss Sophia Grey (for her money). In the later part of the novel, Willoughby realizes that he has entered into a loveless marriage with a woman who will never be able to make him happy because his true love is Marianne. Learning about Marianne's severe illness, he rushes to see Elinor and asks about her sister's condition. He also confesses his misconduct and asks for forgiveness from the Dashwood family.

Colonel Brandon is a retired officer who falls in love with Marianne Dashwood. He acts kindly, honorably, and graciously towards the Dashwoods and is respected by nearly all other characters — except Marianne and Willoughby in the first half of the novel. Interestingly, some scholars have seen parallels between Colonel Brandon and Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India. Hastings had been rumoured to be the biological father of Eliza de Feuillide, who was Jane Austen's cousin.

I was thrilled to finish reading two of Austen's works, renowned English classics that I first heard of more than half a century ago but dared not try it, thanks to the free, AI-enabled online resources and study guides that really made my endeavors easier and more enjoyable. I look forward to exploring the remaining major works by Austen: Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), and Northanger Abbey (1817).