Sense and Sensibility
#20 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
For the record, I will state that I understand the attention given to Pride and Prejudice. As a literary work, it's a gem. As characters, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy are pure art. Austen's style is unparallelled.
Having said that, I still prefer Sense and Sensibility. There are some problems that I feel the screen versions have worked out. In the novel, Margaret is barely there. In the Ang Lee and the recent PBS versions, she's a much more fleshed out character. The same goes for Mr Palmer. On the other hand, I'm not sure that the screen versions did as good a job as Austen in conveying the friendship between Elinor and Colonel Brandon. The novel also gives more weight to the character of Mrs Dashwood than either film version.
The novel is a treat. It's like the best chocolate cake you've ever had. You never want it to end. You just want to keep eating. Elinor and Marianne are us. All women and all people. We are both dreamy and practical. Goal driven and settling. Content and wanting. I wrote a long LJ entry some time ago about Colonel Brandon's status as my favorite Austen man. He just is. He's everything I'd ever want in a man. He's patient, kind, and he knows when to step in and when to back off. He's not looking for what HE wants, as much as to be of help to others. He's a bit older (at 35) than the rest of the main characters in Austen novels and he has more gravitas because of his age and life experience. He's simply a good man. It interests me that Austen describes both Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrars as not very handsome. I'm not sure what she means by that. Perhaps that the personal qualities outweigh the physical appearance and that is what should be important. On the other hand, she consistently says that Marianne is beautiful. I love how John Dashwood keeps describing her as less beautiful after her illness than she once was. That cracks me up because it goes to the shallow character of that man. But it does give me pause that her women are beautiful while the men are less than. It seems a bit of a double-standard. Then again, in P&P, we are told that Jane is much prettier than Elizabeth. The importance of beauty in Austen novels would be an interesting thesis topic.
And, after every miscommunication, misconception, bad step and illness, everyone lives happily ever after. Everyone gets the person they are most fit with. The dreamy Marianne gets the solid Colonel Brandon. The practical Elinor gets Edward, who wants nothing more than to be a minister. Willoughby gets what he deserves.
I'm not a romance lover. I don't care for the bodice-rippers or the Danielle Steele down-and-out-woman-builds-herself-up-and-falls-in-love formula. I'll read the occasional chick-lit because sometimes the dialogue cracks me up, but when it comes to Austen, she fits in her own category. She's often relegated to the romance pile, but she's so much more that that. Her satire of society and the climbers up the social ladder can't be beat. Her characters make mistakes with each other and manage to forgive and move on. Families love and help each other. The good people prevail and the bad get what comes to them. It's a world in it's own and the appeal doesn't end.