Sense and Sensibility / Jane Austen

 

4.5 stars!

How did I completely miss Jane Austen's fiction while growing up? Baffling but true. It means that I got to enjoy this delightful novel as my Dead Writers Society birthday book for December. I hope that I won't wait until next December to pick up another Austen book.

Jane Austen turns a very clear eye on the stratum of society to which she belongs. This story compares two sisters, Elinor (sense) and Marianne (sensibility). Elinor is a woman after my own heart. Keep your cards close to your chest, don't give others too much latitude to manipulate you, and never let everyone know how deeply you feel. Marianne is one of those let-it-all-hang-out types, feeling the need to dramatically share her every thought and mood. Setbacks are met with drama, requiring her to act out her emotions according to her exaggerated standards. 

I think we all know people in both of these camps. The drama llamas always think that the reserved people are “not being truthful" because they refuse to act out their emotions. The reserved think that the dramatists are being immoderate and giving others ammunition with which to hurt them. I have both kinds of folk on my Facebook feed and I am consistently horrified by the “loud and proud" contingent. My own view is that the less I say, the less I will have to regret later. Sometimes, it is more important to be kind than to be right. 

Perhaps because I am a member of the reserved, I think that Elinor comes out in the best situation at book's end. All the way along, I kept thinking, “Yes, that's what I would have done.” She must manage the emotions of Marianne and their mother in addition to her own. Boy, do I relate to that! Many times I have parsed my words carefully to prevent the emotional friend from charging away half-cocked to bugger up their own life. My favourite question: “What result do you want?” I admit it sometimes feels somewhat manipulative. I prefer to think of it as outcome planning and emotional management. And I often get what I want, so it's working for me.

But back to Jane. We tend to look back and think, “How awful that their marriages are based completely on money.” I wonder how much things have actually changed? Money is one of the major causes of divorces today. How much of courtship is determining whether the couple is financially compatible? Today we would call these people seeking rich spouses gold diggers. And anyone who critiques arranged marriages should be required to read a couple of Austen novels to see that it's an old English tradition too.