Sense and Sensibility
Review:
A Charming Jane Austen
Classic
Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood after their father’s death leaves their family in a difficult financial position. While Elinor is practical, reserved, and constantly thinking about everyone else’s feelings, Marianne is passionate, romantic, and much less interested in hiding what she thinks. Naturally, putting the two of them together makes for a pretty entertaining combination.
As the sisters navigate love, heartbreak, family drama, and the expectations placed on women, they each have to figure out what they actually want–and whether love is enough to get them there.
Elinor Dashwood
I really liked Elinor. She’s probably the character I wanted to talk to through the pages the m the most, but I also understood why she kept so much to herself. She spends so much of the book worrying about everyone else’s feelings that she barely gives herself permission to have any. I loved watching her slowly learn that being sensible doesn’t mean she has to completely ignore what she wants.
Marianne Dashwood
Marianne is dramatic, emotional, and occasionally frustrating, but I loved her anyway. She feels everything so intensely, and I think that made her such a fun character to read. I especially liked seeing how her idea of love changes throughout the story. She starts off believing that love has to be passionate and all-consuming, but eventually begins to understand that love can look very different from what she originally imagined.
John Willoughby
Okay. I was rooting for Willoughby. I really was. I liked him, I liked him and Marianne together, and I was completely ready to defend this man.
And then that moment happened. I genuinely felt betrayed, which is probably a sign that Austen did her job extremely well. What I liked about Willoughby’s storyline is that it made the book’s ideas about love much more complicated. He isn’t just a random villain who appears to ruin Marianne’s life. There are real reasons behind his choices, even if I absolutely did not appreciate them.
Edward Ferrars
Edward was sweet, although I definitely spent a good portion of the book wondering what exactly was going on with him. His relationship with Elinor is much quieter than Marianne and Willoughby’s, but I actually liked that contrast. Their relationship feels much more based on understanding and genuine affection than dramatic declarations of love.
My Honest Review
I really, really liked this book.
I’ve already read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, so I went into Sense and Sensibility knowing that I generally enjoy Austen, but I wasn’t expecting this one to become one of my favorites. And I think it might actually be my favorite of the three (although I can’t say most favorite because Captain Wickham has my heart and soul – if you know, you know).
What I loved most was the relationship between Elinor and Marianne. The romance is obviously a huge part of the book, but the sisterly love was what stood out to me the most. They are so different from each other, and they don’t always understand each other’s choices, but underneath all of that, they genuinely care about one another. Even when they frustrate each other, they are there for each other. I loved that Austen gave their relationship so much importance instead of making the story entirely about who each sister would end up marrying.
And then there is Willoughby. I was completely on his side for most of the book. I thought Marianne had finally found someone who understood her, and I was invested in them. Which made the moment when everything fell apart so much worse. I honestly did not see myself becoming that emotionally invested in a character just to end up being so angry with him.
I also loved how the book plays with the idea of “sense” versus “sensibility” (who could’ve thought). At first, it is tempting to pick a side. Elinor is sensible, Marianne is emotional, and surely one of them must have the better approach. But by the end, I think Austen makes it clear that neither extreme is enough. You need both.
Overall, Sense and Sensibility was funny, romantic, frustrating, and surprisingly emotional. I loved the sisters, I loved the drama, and I was personally victimized by Willoughby.
Happy reading, and a lesson learned through all Austen novels, stay away from gambling.