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