Category: In Want of a Good Book

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

R: This set of chapters starts with the introduction of two new characters – the Miss Steeles. The elder Miss Steele and the younger sister Lucy Steele are relatives of Mrs. Jennings and come to visit at Barton. We also learn the names of the Middleton children – John, William and Annamaria – whom the Miss Steeles dote upon and spoil from the very beginning, ingratiating themselves to Lady Middleton, who hadn’t been particularly pleased at their being invited.

They try to do the same with the Miss Dashwoods, but Elinor at least sees them as rather vulgar. The elder Miss Steele is obsessed with beaux, and both are more than happy to listen to and comment on the juicy gossip about Marianne and Elinor’s supposed beaux. We are given the intelligence that Miss Steele is very well-acquainted with Edward Ferrars, but I think the reader is likely to be doubtful of how well she actually knows him. After the exaggeration by Mrs. Palmer in the previous chapters, I’m suspicious of anyone who says they know anything!

S: I’m certainly surprised at how spoiled the Middleton children are! I was under the impression from the previous chapters that Lady Middleton deeply cared for her children and thus was training them to be well-behaved members of society, unlike her mother, sister, and husband. It appears by coddling and spoiling them she’s training them to be just like the very people she appears to despise. 

The Steele sisters do appear just as silly and gossipy as Mrs. Jennings and Sir John, but at first glance I don’t mind them. Rather, I feel a tad sorry for them since neither are married and Anne is already thirty! I do find it rather amusing that, as much as Sir John is trying to ingratiate the Steele sisters to the Dashwood sisters, he seems to do just the opposite, though neither party will say so. Imagine being told how wonderful someone is over and over before you’ve even met them – it becomes rather a little annoying. 

R: Marianne doesn’t have any patience with the Miss Steeles either, but doesn’t handle those feelings nearly as well as Elinor. But poor Elinor! The hits just keep coming. Lucy has major revelations about Edward, which she conveys to Miss Dashwood as if she’s taking her into confidence. But the reader can see that she really does it to be cruel. Lucy’s been informed by others of Edward’s regard for Elinor, and she feels the need to mark her territory.

**I do have to make a correction from our last post. I thought Edward was the younger son, but he is actually the eldest.**

Elinor keeps her composure through Lucy’s revelation, ever hoping that Lucy’s Edward is not the same as hers, but Lucy offers several pieces of proof, which taken together are incontrovertible. One of those pieces of evidence is the ring with a lock of hair that Edward wore when he visited the Dashwoods. We learn that the hair belongs to Lucy, and was given to him, instead of being taken from Elinor by stealth as was supposed in the last chapter. 

It really makes me think less of Edward’s character. While he never lied to Elinor, by his silence, he allowed feelings to grow in both of them that he wasn’t at liberty to pursue. 

S: Something struck me in this chapter. Although Lucy is attempting to warn off Elinor, I honestly can’t blame her. She’s been secretly engaged to someone who will be a great catch for her family (if she is able to appeal one day to Mrs. Ferrars), so really she is the only hope for her family as far as monetary security since her sister is, by this time, considered an old maid. She has believed all this time that Edward has remained, and will remain, faithful, and then all of a sudden he begins talking of a new woman so much that she becomes scared. Then when she arrives praises pour from her hosts’ mouths of said woman. Granted, it may have all been a scheme from the start to meet Elinor and let her know (they happened to be in Exter and I’m sure they knew of Sir John’s and Mrs. Jennings’ reputation since they were family). I don’t particularly like the way in which Lucy did it, and I know Elinor, it appears, is our true heroine, but at the close of Chapter 22, I understand Lucy’s reasons. I have to say, however, that I appreciate Elinor’s statement: ‘I certainly did not seek your confidence….’ It’s the closest I’ve seen Elinor losing control of her tongue because of her feelings!

I agree with you that it makes me think less of Edward. I had, up until this point, considered him to be a man of virtue and trustworthiness. 

R: There’s not a lot to the next chapter. It seems more transitional than anything else. We get some of Elinor’s thoughts about Edward: concern for him more than herself, and her determination to keep Lucy’s revelation to herself, not only because it was given in confidence, but Elinor’s knowledge that her mother and sister would only make things worse by their sympathy.

S: I laughed aloud at that part! Just the fact that Elinor spends time thinking it through and examining it from all the angles, as well as considering whether or not to engage in her own form of gossip makes Elinor seem more human. ‘….she wept for him more than for herself.’ This speaks volumes of her character that, even though she could reasonably be angry with the man who had deceived her, she nonetheless still cares for him. Elinor works through her emotions and looks at the situation not only from her point of view but also from Edward’s. 

R: It’s interesting to me that Elinor would want to know more about the situation from Lucy Steele, though we don’t get that conversation in this chapter. There is another glimpse of Lucy’s doting on the children and Lady Middleton taking advantage.

S: This surprised me as well. I wonder if it has something to do with her wanting to make absolutely certain of everything, since she probably will never be free to marry or really love Edward now; at least she can talk about him. Perhaps it’s her way of grieving and feeling pitiful much as Marianne’s is to go weeping and wailing and speaking rudely. 

I have to say, Lady Middleton is not someone I would want to be around or be dependent upon! I feel quite annoyed with her with her manipulation of Lucy. Although we learn earlier that Lucy is illiterate and had no formal education, she’s quick as a whip, so I’m sure she knows exactly what’s going on, but goodness – I probably would have just ignored Lady Middleton. (Then again, I suppose she realises she doesn’t have much choice but to do as she’s ‘bidden’.) 

Then, oh the conversation that takes place! After this chapter it’s easier to dislike Lucy and my esteem for Elinor rises. She knows how to play Lucy’s game and she’s going to let her know it. In fact, she essentially says, ‘Thou dost protest too much’ when Lucy continues to exclaim how much Edward loves her and how true he is to her. Her assertion toward Lucy that it’s not just about love but also about the money in Mrs. Ferrars’ possession that will hopefully go to Edward drives the point home that Elinor knows what Lucy’s doing, and Lucy knows it, too. For the rest of the chapter Lucy seems to try and one up Elinor, but Elinor’s calm reserve cannot be shaken. I think probably Elinor considers it a great triumph that Edward truly does love her, even if he goes on to marry Lucy, and that is what makes her more bold in her assertions. 

I very much am looking forward to the next five chapters! Chapter 25 left us with so many questions: Will Marianne meet up with Willoughby in London? Will Mrs. Jennings completely embarrass the Dashwoods? Will Elinor and/or Lucy somehow meet up with Edward? Will there be more confrontations? And the all-important question: Where is Colonel Brandon? (As an aside, it gives me a great deal of satisfaction that the Dashwoods are invited to go to London with Mrs. Jennings whilst the Steeles must wait until the Middletons choose to go!)

R: Chapter 25 is a pretty significant shift. Earlier in the book, Elinor was insisting that they (the Dashwoods) would never go into London for the season, but now she’s all but forced to go just to look out for Marianne, who would undoubtedly manage to get herself into some kind of major trouble if left to her own devices. 

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

S: The first part of this section made me laugh out loud – Marianne’s melancholic state is absolutely hilarious, and Mrs. Dashwood’s sympathy for her kind of makes me roll my eyes.

R: Austen describes this period as a ‘violence of affliction,’ which fits Marianne perfectly. She never does anything by half-measures. Everything that happens to her is the very worst or the very best. And the indulgence of Marianne’s emotions by their mother doesn’t help.

I do like how Austen introduces Edward Ferrars through Marianne’s lens. Any man who rode up during that time was likely to be mistaken for Willoughby. I love how Austen describes Marianne’s emotions when she realizes who it actually is: ‘He was the only person in the world who could at that moment be forgiven for not being Willoughby; the only one who could have gained a smile from her…’ Despite Marianne’s despair, Edward brings back a little of her joy. 

S: As I was reading the parts about Edward’s visit, I felt a little off put by his demeanour. In my mind from when we first met him he was shy, but after reading this section he seems to me more depressed than shy, so I’m not sure how to feel now. I almost think we’re supposed to feel just as confused as Elinor obviously feels. I do like, though, how he and Elinor tease Marianne; it’s rather cute.

R: Edward acts so oddly throughout this part. And there’s absolutely no hint as to why. With Colonel Brandon’s situation, there is the ‘insider’s perspective’ from Mrs. Jennings, but the only people at Barton who know Edward at all, are as confounded as the reader.

The teasing is a fun bit; it gives us a different view of Edward. We also see that Edward not only seems to have stolen a bit of Elinor’s hair as a memento, but seems unwilling to discuss it even with her. And we learn about his preference for becoming a clergyman, which would be considered a rather significant step down for a nobleman, even a younger son, as Edward is.

I like how Edward explains it: ‘I always preferred the church, as I still do. But that was not smart enough for my family. They recommended the army. That was a great deal too smart for me. The law was allowed to be genteel enough […] But I had no inclination for the law […] As for the navy, it had fashion on its side, but I was too old when the subject was first started to enter it—and, at length, as there was no necessity for my having any profession at all, as I might be as dashing and expensive without a red coat on my back as with one, idleness was pronounced on the whole to be most advantageous and honourable, and a young man of eighteen is not in general so earnestly bent on being busy as to resist the solicitations of his friends to do nothing. I was therefore entered at Oxford and have been properly idle ever since.’

So, was Oxford the party school of the Georgian era?

S: Oh, that’s funny!

I feel as if I want to like Mrs. Palmer, even though she’s extremely flighty and somewhat pushy like her mother, Mrs. Jennings. 

R: I’m afraid my view of Mrs. Palmer is too colored by the movie version to be able to even think of liking her; she’s played by the actress who plays Professor Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies. But she is kind of sweet and quite ridiculous, never taking anything her husband says seriously.

S: One of my favourite lines from Chapter 20 regards Mrs. Palmer: ‘The studied indifference, insolence, and discontent of her husband gave her no pain; and when he scolded or abused her, she was highly diverted.’ My next favourite line regards Mr. Palmer: ‘…but the means, however they might succeed by establishing his superiority in ill-breeding, were not likely to attach any one to him, except his wife.’ Some people are just made for each other even though they seem like they shouldn’t be. I continue to be highly amused at the silly people the Dashwoods keep meeting.

R: Mr. Palmer is another favorite character. I’m curious if he was always so sarcastic or if his wife’s flightiness drove him to it. And Mrs. Palmer shows herself to be very much like her mother in reporting that she was told by Colonel Brandon about Marianne being engaged to Willoughby. We know from his earlier reticence with the whole party that this isn’t likely to be true, so we’re shown in this way that Mrs. Palmer is as big of a gossip as Mrs. Jennings, and just as factual, which is to say, not at all.

S: The question remains: What is happening with Edward, Willoughby, and Colonel Brandon? It seems we are no closer to a satisfying explanation by the end of this section.

R: All the mysteries! It leaves you wondering if any of these three will return; and if they do, under what circumstances? 

S: Here’s hoping we’ll find out a few answers in Chapters 21-25!

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

S: There is so much in these five chapters which endear me to certain characters and have me rolling my eyes at others. I find Marianne’s and Willoughby’s displays of affection rather annoying, sort of like those couples you see who are so in love they just make you want to gag. They seem to have no sense of how their behaviour appears to others, particularly when Willoughby takes Marianne to Allenham alone. They themselves gossip about others, so it comes as no surprise that their own behaviour is making its way down the grapevine. Further, their general heat of the moment decisions regarding practical things is also lacking (I’m thinking of the horse Willoughby wants to give Marianne). Then, Willoughby abruptly leaves without a reasonably good explanation as to why. Part of me is infuriated with him, and the other part of me is wondering what in the world is happening.

…when the romantic refinements of a young mind are obliged to give way, how frequently are they succeeded by such opinions as are but too common, and too dangerous!

~Colonel Brandon

R: Marianne is so reckless with her behavior with and about Willoughby. In a time when one’s reputation could be ruined by such indiscretions, she takes no care to protect herself. Elinor tries to talk sense into her sister, but Marianne only came around in part, turning down the horse, not because it was inappropriate, but because it would be a burden on her mother. That seems to be the only consequence that penetrates her haze of emotionalism. I definitely think it’s good that Willoughby left, even under mysterious circumstances.

S: Mrs. Dashwood’s lack of motherly rebuke of Marianne is disappointing, though, as we discussed earlier, she and Marianne are cut from the same cloth, so I suppose she just thinks it’s the way to go about things. Still, she really seems to favour Marianne against Elinor, perhaps because Elinor doesn’t allow her emotions to cloud her.

R: I wonder if Mrs. Dashwood was always like this, or if her grief over the loss of her husband and home have made her more lax than she would have been otherwise. She might also be feeling guilty over removing her daughters from the home they’d always known. I’m not sure we’re given enough information about her before she became a widow to know for sure.

S: You know, that’s true – I was also wondering if Mrs. Dashwood had changed after her husband’s death, or if she had always been like that. The idea of her feeling guilty is a good point – I hadn’t thought of that, and it makes me a little less irritated with her if that is the case. 

S: Elinor, reminds me more and more of myself. Although I can be quite emotional, I can also be rather too practical. Her conversation with her mother regarding Willoughby’s abrupt exit was interesting. The way Mrs. Dashwood speaks to her and rebukes her musings is similar to what has happened to me a few times with different people, usually close friends. It’s hurtful when you’re trying to talk out something in a logical manner and the other person is so emotional that everything you say makes them feel attacked. In the end, both people end up hurt.

R: I’m the same way – far too practical in some things and far too emotional in others. I think that disconnect can sometimes happen both ways, too. If you’re emotional and want to just talk something out, but the other person is trying to offer logical solutions to whatever the problem is, it can be just as difficult. I’ve been on both sides of that one. The fact that Mrs. Dashwood continually pushes aside Elinor’s concerns about Willoughby and Marianne’s behavior doesn’t bode well. She has to know that Elinor has a good head on her shoulders and wouldn’t be saying anything unless she was sure of herself.

S: True – it sends up a red flag. Then there is the mystery surrounding Colonel Brandon, who appears to have a romantic side, but from his short conversation with Elinor seems to have traded it for wistful rememberings. We find he has a daughter (we can always count on Mrs. Jennings to know what she’s talking about in such matters). We also are reminded that the Colonel wants others to be happy and so notices when someone needs a bit of encouragement or a pick-me-up, such as talking with Elinor at the party. 

R: Ooh, this one is so hard not to give spoilers on. Colonel Brandon is probably my favorite character in the whole book, and it’s moments like his conversation with Elinor that really make him stand out to me. 

S: I’m really liking him more now! I also like Lady Middleton more than I did, even though she still seems rather ‘above it all’, and Sir John doesn’t get on my nerves as much as he did. Mrs. Jennings, however – yeesh. She’s probably supposed to be the comic relief, but land’s sake is she nosy! (Poor Margaret, too, not quite understanding when to hold her tongue!)

R: I think this is one of my least favorite moments with Mrs. Jennings. She’s nosy beyond politeness or tolerance and is far more annoying than funny. Margaret wants to be part of the adult conversations, and she probably hasn’t really been allowed to participate before. But, as you said, she doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut and feeds Mrs. Jennings’ rumor mill with just enough info to thoroughly embarrass poor Elinor. And poor Elinor is stuck in the middle, trying to manage Marianne and stay out of the center of attention herself.

S: The end of this section leaves me with more questions and suspicions and I’m excited to read on!

R: Two big mysteries – Why did Colonel Brandon really have to leave? (Do you think Mrs. Jennings is right?) And why did Willoughby suddenly take off when he had shown every sign of serious attachment to Marianne? 

S: I know we have a lot more to read, but I’m hoping we’ll find out at least some answers in Chapters 16-20!

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

S: Hello, again! I have to say, as I’ve been saying to myself and anyone who’ll listen over the past few weeks, ‘Why, oh why did it take me so long to read the beauty that is Jane Austen?!’ I feel with this book as I felt after I had finally read Anne of Green Gables – my growing up missed out on so much. I mean, better late than never, but still!

R: Greetings! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book. It’s a lot of fun to share this with you. Anne of Green Gables is another favorite of mine. We might have to add it to the list of books for the blog.

Chapter 6 gives us a major tone shift within the very first sentence. The story goes from the melancholy of loss to the excitement of new experiences.

S: I agree – this chapter is like a breath of fresh air, as though the story can finally ‘start’.

Still, I thought it was rather presumptuous of Mrs. Dashwood to assume she would be able to change up the cottage (although, I rather liked how Austen stated she was ‘…a woman who had never saved in her life…’ It reminds the reader that they really have been thrown out of their element.

R: The description of the ‘cottage’ is interesting, too. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a cottage, it’s something small and cute, maybe on a beach or something like that. This place is huge! Four bedrooms, two sitting rooms, and probably several rooms for servants. Their small living sounds pretty nice.

S: I did enjoy the cottage description – it makes me want to go visit! 

I’m not quite sure what to think about Lady Middleton. Is she shy? Is she aloof? Is she annoyed with her husband for renting out their cottage, even though it was for a good cause and to their extended family?

R: I’m not sure, either. She’s certainly not as gregarious as her husband, and quite a bit younger. You’d think that would give her a little more in common with the Misses Dashwood, even though she’s still nearly ten years their senior, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. She has nothing really to contribute except for her children. We meet the oldest one in chapter six, though he’s not named. 

Sir John arrives at the cottage almost as soon as the ladies do. He’s described as being around forty and good-looking, as well as being friendly. He brings invitations to dine with his family and offers of carrying their mail and food and game from his own stores.

S: I was almost put off by Sir John’s insistence about them dining with his family often, so I suppose that’s something to be aware of – will he rub the Dashwood’s the wrong way after a while, or is it simply because he truly wants to help them and make them feel that they are not alone?

R: I think he really is just that friendly, but Austen writes of him: ‘…though his entreaties were carried to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they could not give offence.’ I’m not sure I can agree with that entirely. I’ve actually had people be so overly solicitous that I just wanted to tell them, ‘I’ll ask for help if I need it! Stop asking me!’ But maybe that’s just me.

Austin’s comparison of Sir John and his wife is interesting: ‘…however dissimilar in temper and outward behavior, they strongly resembled each other in that total want of talent and taste which confined their employments…’ Their primary enjoyments were hunting and mothering respectively. They did both like having lots of people around, but for different reasons. It allowed Lady Middleton to show off her elegance, and Sir John to surround himself with young people. 

S: The fact that Lady Middleton is absolutely unaware of anything but her children almost reminds me of Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (although I hope she’s isn’t nearly as nasty). When we find out in Chapter 7 that Sir John and Mrs. Jennings appear to have the same sense of humour (Mrs. Jennings being the ‘vulgar’ one), it cracked me up – it sort of makes the reader go, ‘Oh, that’s how Lady Middleton ended up with Sir John!’ 

R: Oh, my goodness, yes! On both of these points. Both Lady Middleton and Mrs. Jennings are cringeworthy in their own way. Lady Middleton cares for nothing but her children and showing of her elegance, but her children are beastly and her mother is the type of person whose jokes make you want to hide in a corner if they’re directed at you. Poor Elinor! And then Marianne makes it worse by calling more attention to Elinor’s situation.

S: There are so many hilarious moments! I love that Austen makes fun of teenage girls (because, really, it’s quite easy to do so, especially when you’ve lived through it!). 

And then we have Colonel Brandon introduced! – oh, the feels. By the way, regarding Colonel Brandon, I’m already rather taken with his character. It is a bit difficult to forget the storyline, since I’ve seen the movie countless times, but I’m really trying to read it as though it’s completely new to me, and even from this chapter I want to get to know this character better.

R: Ah, Colonel Brandon. Sigh. It’s hard to separate the character between the novel and the adaptation played by Alan Rickman. The colonel and Sir John are good friends, but he stands in contrast to Sir John and Mrs. Jennings’ ridiculous behavior. According to Marianne, Colonel Brandon is far too old to be interesting. In fact, he’s only five years younger than her mother.

S: When I read that I was so surprised! I can see how Marianne would feel shocked at the idea, but she has a nearly hysterical reaction toward everything, so it’s difficult to take her seriously. The character reads as though she has decided she’s a woman whilst her words remind everyone she’s still not quite grown up. Austen so well captures the feelings of being a seventeen-year-old girl bent toward the romantic. She has opinions formed only by ideas, not real life. 

R: Marianne’s romanticism is shown through her musical inclination; she is quite gifted at singing and playing the pianoforte. Colonel Brandon is the only person who listens to her attentively, a contrast to the chaos caused by everyone else. It raises Marianne’s opinion of the colonel, slightly, but at thirty-five, she still considers him to be in an ‘advanced state of life.’ Wow, that makes me feel old, and it continues with Elinor and her mother defending the poor colonel against Marianne’s aspersions against his person. It doesn’t help that Mrs. Jennings has noticed that Colonel Brandon seems to like Marianne very much and has set about trying to matchmake them.

S: So, at the time I’m reading this, I’m also reading Anne of Green Gables, and Mrs. Jennings almost reminds me of Mrs. Rachel Lynde (except that Mrs. Jennings has a very, erm, established sense of humour, and ‘…she had now therefore nothing to do but to marry all the rest of the world…’).

R: While Mrs. Jennings is trying to marry off the Misses Dashwood, Marianne is mostly worried that Edward still hasn’t come to visit, though it’s only been two weeks since they moved into the cottage.

S: We are also left wondering if he truly does think of Elinor as a sister. At least Mrs. Dashwood understands what is happening and tries to gently nudge Marianne that way.

So, the events in Chapters 9 and 10 happen so fast it almost gives the reader mental whiplash. We go from feeling like life has settled down for everyone and they are enjoying getting to know their new surroundings, when we are suddenly introduced to a new possible admirer – Mr. Willoughby. 

R: Willoughby has a dramatic entrance because of Marianne’s accident, and he and Marianne fall into each other’s confidence very quickly.

S: My first impressions of him are that he seems gallant and everything Marianne could ever want, but he almost seems – unreal, perhaps? He listens and responds to everything Marianne says and disagrees with her about very little, but is that because he truly agrees with her, or because he’s more of a people pleaser and he’s riding the wave of emotion? I just don’t know how much I should be allowed to like him, especially since we now know that Colonel Brandon is smitten with Marianne. 

Then, I start to like Willoughby less and less. Austen seems to be saying through observation that he and Marianne, though they share the same interests, stoke the fire of unkindness and selfishness in each other, particularly toward Colonel Brandon. Elinor even observes that Willoughby has little decorum and will say whatever he wants whenever he wants, even if it hurts someone’s feelings. I am tending to trust Elinor’s observations more than Mrs. Dashwood’s or Marianne’s. 

R: It’s hard to not let prior knowledge of Willoughby color my opinion of him. At this point, I think we’re supposed to think he’s a viable suitor for Marianne, but the reader can quickly see that he is yet another sharp contrast to Colonel Brandon. We get an opportunity to see more of Elinor’s apparent good sense, and even more of Marianne’s silliness in these last couple of chapters.

S: Overall, I was really pleased with this section, because Austen, rather than telling us, shows us how each person behaves. We even have a small glimpse of Margaret’s character earlier on, and it makes me wonder if she will end up closer to Marianne’s exuberance or Elinor’s quiet decorum. I’m excited to read Chapters 11-15!

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

R: Greetings! Welcome to the inaugural post of our new blog, In Want of a Good Book, as we read through Jane Austen’s first printed novel, Sense and Sensibility. It was originally published in three volumes, anonymously, in 1811 (1). I’m excited to read one of my favorite books with one of my best friends and look forward to our discussion. Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors, and I’m so excited to share that love.

S: Great introduction, friend! I am an avid reader but have, alas, never read Jane Austen’s works. I have attempted to read them but (I laugh at myself now) didn’t understand they were full of wit. I tend to read things rather severely, stoically even, and have only in the past few years understood that most of the great British literary works are extremely witty. 

R: I think one of the first questions to address is: what did Jane Austen mean by the word ‘sensibility’? It’s not one we use much today, so I think some clarification is in order.

S: Etymology and definition are so useful in understanding a classic work. Two of the definitions the Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives for ‘sensibility’ is an “awareness of and responsiveness toward something (such as emotion in another)” and “refined or excessive sensitiveness in emotion and taste with especial responsiveness to the pathetic” (2).

R: And isn’t that exactly how Austen portrays Marianne almost from the first page? It brings to mind my favorite quote from the first few chapters:

“‘I do not attempt to deny,’ said she (Elinor), ‘that I think very highly of him—that I greatly esteem him, that I like him.”

Marianne here burst forth with indignation–

‘Esteem him! Like him! Cold-hearted Elinor! Oh! Worse than cold-hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those words again, and I will leave the room this moment’.”

S: Indeed! It makes me wonder how Mrs. Henry Dashwood met her husband since Austen tells us that she and Marianne are very much alike. I want to read that story!

R: It would be interesting, for sure. The reader doesn’t get any real idea of what sort of man Mr. Henry Dashwood was, except perhaps that he wasn’t too good with the finances. 

S: True! I feel rather sad for Mr. Henry Dashwood – Austen implies that he really wanted to provide for his second wife and daughters, but his health quickly declined. I mean, although Austen factually explains the situation in which the ladies Dashwood have found themselves, the reader can almost hear her laughing aloud at the absurdity of the oldest-son-inherits law. She really does not paint Mr. John Dashwood in a good light and this rather surprised me, although I suppose it shouldn’t, considering his sisters are his half-sisters. The way his character is described reminds me of what the Apostle Paul says regarding love (or charity as Austen would have read it) in 1 Corinthians 13. 

R: Mr. John Dashwood certainly seemed to have the desire, or perhaps inclination is a better word, to be charitable to his family, but he was so easily swayed from it that I think the reader can conclude that he is of weak moral fiber. His wife, Fanny, is in control of the purse strings, and she has no interest in loosening them to help anyone beyond her own immediate family. 

The ladies Dashwood are grieving, worried about what they’re going to do, and this woman just moves into their home, making them feel unwelcome in the time they have left there. They know they have to leave, but Fanny makes their remaining time unbearable. Even if Mr. John had managed to stir himself to offer to allow them to stay, I don’t think they would have.

S: Ah, indeed. I can just feel the smarminess coming off him, and the prideful, snobby, entitled attitude of his wife. Too, I just love how Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood rationalize themselves out of being generous family members! Isn’t that how we humans are? Seriously, I can rationalize myself out of anything.

And then you have Sir John. As a reader I feel like we have just been waiting for a kind soul to come along and help the family. It also feels like a weight has been lifted from everyone, including the reader, as the dark past six months have finally come to an end. There is light at the end of the tunnel. 

R: Sir John is a great character! We only get a very brief hint of him here – that he’s a relative of Mrs. Henry Dashwood and he’s offered her and her daughters a home on very affordable terms, exactly as one might expect a generous family member to do. We’ll learn a great deal more of him as we go on. It’s also of note that the situation suited Elinor’s desire to be well out of the area of their home of Norland, which was located in Sussex, along the southeast part of England. Devonshire was in the southwest of England, several counties away. It wouldn’t take long to travel the distance today, but in Austen’s time, such a journey would have been quite long. 

S: If I can just say a few more things about the characters to which we’ve been introduced: I already love Elinor – Jane describes her beautifully. And then there’s Margaret who, at least at the moment, is just kind of ‘there’. And isn’t that how it can sometimes be for children? They understand more than most people give them credit for, but they are also not the ones making the big decisions – they typically trust adults to do that and are able to engage their imaginations for just a little longer, sometimes oblivious to the tension around them. 

I laughed out loud when I read Mrs. Ferrars’ and Mrs. John Dashwood’s desires concerning Edward Ferrars. After Austen talks about all the things they wanted him to do in life she humorously states, “Fortunately he had a younger brother who was more promising.” Austen’s turn of phrase is wonderful! I also enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Henry Dashwood better. She obviously has opinions and feels deeply, but she tries hard to save face in front of John’s wife and desires her children to be well cared for.

In Chapter 4, I feel like Austen captures a sixteen year old’s imagination and surprise when that imagination has been made to run away. I also enjoy that in so few paragraphs we find out so much about each Dashwood woman and a little more about Edward Ferrars. 

Finally, as I came to the end of the first five chapters I was struck by two things. One, although this is a short chapter, it gives so much information and kind of makes you feel that sense of ‘time flies’ once a period of waiting is over. Two, why, oh why did I wait so long to read Austen’s work?!

R: Austen really makes her characters come alive. I find her description of Edward Ferrars and his place in his family hilarious. His mother and sister seem to have quite a lot of control of his life, and Fanny is quick to step in when she sees the budding romance between him and Elinor. Besides the fact that they’ll be out of her home, Fanny must be incredibly grateful to see the backs of the Misses Dashwood for the safety of her brother. Phew! No low-brow marriage for him!

I’m so excited to be sharing this journey with one of my best friends and eager to join the Dashwoods on the trip to their new home.

S: Me, too! I’m looking forward to reading Chapters 6-10.

Sources:

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sense-and-Sensibility
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensibility