If you’re new to this Substack, one of the things I’m offering subscribers in 2023 is A Year with Jane. We’re reading through Austen’s six novels this year and Sense & Sensibility is our read for August and September.
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Meet the Dashwoods
Re-reading Sense & Sensibility is always a treat. And if you’re reading it for the first time, I’m jealous. This is a beautiful book.
In our reading this week you met the Dashwood sisters: Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. But most of the action centers around Elinor and Marianne. They are as different as two sisters can be. One is measured, thoughtful, reserved, and cautious. The other is impulsive, emotional, and wears her heart on her sleeve. They love each other, but their difference in temperament can make understanding each other difficult.
Marianne not only struggles to understand how Elinor could fall for someone like Edward, but also cannot understand why Elinor would hold back or consider the potential complications of a relationship with him. She mistakes such prudence for lack of feeling.
Like the Bennets of Pride & Prejudice, the Dashwood sisters have limited and dwindling finances. If the first chapter’s explanation was a little difficult to follow, the estate where the sisters grew up was bequeathed to their father by the wealthy uncle that the family lived with and cared for in his old age. But the uncle’s will did not allow Norland to be passed to Mrs. Dashwood and the girls after their father’s death. Instead it was given to Mr. Dashwood’s son by his first wife who had already inherited a valuable estate from his mother’s side of the family. Austen notes that this eldest son, John, was not a particularly bad sort but after marrying a selfish, greedy woman became more and more like his wife (one of Austen’s many examples of how influential one’s choice of a spouse is on the development of one’s character). Mr. Dashwood’s early death was not only tragic as the women faced the loss of a loved one, but also because it meant the end of financial security.
Mrs. Dashwood, who seems to have passed on her impulsive temperament to Marianne, is not well-prepared to accept living on a small income. Like Marianne, she gets swept away by her imagination and struggles to tether it to reality. Remember her extensive ideas for improving Barton Cottage despite the fact that they really can’t afford to make such renovations? Elinor’s practical nature is the anchor in a household of women who prefer to live in a romantic fantasy world.
In this week’s reading we also met Edmund Ferrars and noted his admiration of Elinor. And we met Mrs. Jennings, Sir John Middleton, Lady Middleton, and Colonel Brandon, the Dashwoods’ new neighbors.
There is speculation that Colonel Brandon is taken with Marianne, but she dismisses such gossip as absurd because the gentleman has reached the ancient age of 35. (At 37, I find this a bit rude, Marianne, but to be fair, it is quite the age gap. But Alan Rickman’s Colonel Brandon looks younger with every viewing. And while I married a Mr. Knightley, Colonel Brandon is a very close second as my favorite of Austen’s leading men.)
And of course, we also meet the Very Dashing Willoughby whose first meeting with Marianne was concocted in a lab to be exactly the sort of romantic encounter to meet her wildest expectations for falling in love. (Rescuing her! In the rain!)
My goodness. A lot happens in these first chapters!
Discussion Question: What do you make of Marianne and Elinor’s relationship? How is it different from Elizabeth and Jane Bennet’s? (Chime in by replying to this post.)
Reading schedule:
Week of August 5th:
Gather your books. There are many editions out there, so just grab what’s on your shelf or at the local library. And if you enjoy audiobooks, this is an excellent novel to enjoy with a great narrator. My favorite for this novel is Juliet Stevenson’s audiobook version. Grab Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life from Ave Maria Press (use STEWART20 for 20% off) or from Amazon.
If you didn’t start reading with us in January, you may want to catch up by reading the Introduction and Chapters 1-4 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life to set the stage.
Week of August 13th:
Chapters 1-11 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of August 20th:
Chapters 12-22 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of August 27th:
Chapters 23-29 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of September 3rd:
Chapters 30-36 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of September 10th:
Chapters 37-43 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of September 17th:
Chapters 44-50 of Sense & Sensibility
Week of September 24th:
Chapter 4 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life
Caveat:
On the reading schedule I have suggested reading the chapter about Mansfield Park after finishing the novel. This is because as a reader I hate spoilers. But if you’ve already read the novel or are familiar with the story and want a resource to help you dive deeper as you re-read it, feel free to read Chapter 5 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life first.
I’ll be sending out weekly reflections and discussion questions to consider as you read. If you want to read faster or slower, go for it. This is fun, not homework.
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Enjoy reading the next few chapters of Sense & Sensibility!
Haley
(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)
Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns
Haley’s Book on Jane Austen’s Novels
Haley’s Book about Radical Simplicity
To me, it seems that Jane and Elizabeth, like the Dashwoods, have differences in temperament, but they interact on more equal footing. Elizabeth is very witty and observant of people (although not always as observant as she thinks she is), while Jane is more forgiving and willing to reserve judgment, although she sometimes takes this too far. They sometimes offer reasonable corrections of each other’s behavior, but both have a very high respect for the other’s temperament and abilities. With Elinor and Marianne, however, the virtue and prudence is almost entirely on Elinor’s side, while Marianne’s temperament and choices lead her to disappointment and damage her reputation. Elinor and Marianne seem to have a relationship in which one sister can learn prudence and maturity from the other rather than one in which both people exhibit traits the other should try to emulate.
I think a key difference between the Bennet sisters and the Dashwood sisters is actually the fact that from the opening pages the Dashwoods are in a season of grief and loss. What is only a possibility for the Bennets js reality for Elinor and Marianne (and their mother). In such times our characters bend to extremes. Elinor has a natural bent toward protecting her family and does so at her own expense. (A natural tendency of many an eldest daughter, Jane shares this quality.) And Lizzy is not without her own rash intemperance, which is the driving force of her story.