Book of the Week #57 "Sense and Sensibility"

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen

In this classic novel by the beloved Jane Austen, two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are quite different. Elinor, reserved and levelheaded, represents sense. Marianne, given to dramatics and unafraid to show her emotions, represents sensibility. When their father passes, their half-brother, from their father's first marriage, is left the cottage at Norland. As they, along with their mother, move to Barton cottage, they are introduced to a new circle of friends. Both sisters come to love separate men, Elinor falls for Edward Ferrars, and Marianne for Willoughby. Elinor later finds that Edward has been secretly engaged to a woman named Lucy for four years. Marianne is devastated when Willoughby, after showing interest in her, doesn't return her letters and is pronounced to be engaged to another woman. Both are devastated by their findings, yet handle their feelings in different ways. Elinor, being sensible and having promised Edward's fiancée Lucy that she wouldn't speak of their relationship, keeps her feelings to herself. Yet Marianne, having more sensibility, falls apart as her broken heart threatens to take her life.

I have to admit, sometimes, Marianne rather annoyed me. I know that a broken heart is painful, but wow, she took it to a whole new level. That said, I do realize that things were very different during the time this book takes place. So much depended upon a person's status in society, and when a woman couldn't get married, it changed things. It just makes me thankful that things in this respect are different in this day and age.

Aside from that, I think this one is my favorite Jane Austen novels, so far. Am I crazy to say I like it better than Pride and Prejudice? Perhaps, though it has been a while since I've read P&P. I don't know why, but there's just something about Sense and Sensibility that I like, despite the little things that annoyed me. I like seeing the sister relationship in this book and how they relate one another, yet are so different, and I think that's what made me enjoy it as much as I did. I also liked Edward Ferrars as a hero. I like that he was more reserved than Jane Austen's heroes tend to be. I did not like Willoughby, but every book needs a villain. And of course, that trademark Austen wit, only to be found in her novels.

All in all, even though there were a few little things that I didn't care for, the good outweighed the bad and I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility. As with any Jane Austen novel, it was an interesting look into the past that anyone could learn from.

I give this book a 5 out of 5.