• Christine Stewart
  • Sample post from my Austen--Sense & Sensibility - related blog: Embarking On A Course of Study
Sample post from my Austen--Sense & Sensibility - related blog: Embarking On A Course of Study
Contributor
Written by
Christine Stewart
February 2010
Contributor
Written by
Christine Stewart
February 2010
Fall, 2009: Finished rereading S&S last night and can I just take a moment to talk about how hard it is to squeeze in all of this reading? I love reading, don't get me wrong. I have often wished someone would pay me for a year to just read, but having a (sort of) deadline for a year of study creates so much pressure. I won't have gotten nearly as far as I hope to by then, I'm discovering. Marianne was going to read 6 hours a day for a 'twelvemonth.' Six hours! I can barely manage two on a good night because of my various commitments. Sometimes one has to choose cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming the house and doing the laundry over Austen. Sad, but true. And there are really three of us involved in this project - me, Austen, and Marianne, and I feel each deserve their due of reading. Which means I really need to start using my sick days at work. Shhh. Don't tell. But back to Austen. I stayed up until 1 am to finish the book and read the introduction and figure out how I felt about Elinor and Marianne since it's been so many years since I read it. The study questions in the back of the book ask which would you like to have for a friend? I'm not sure I would want either one. Elinor doesn't 'share' enough, and Marianne shares too much. Both are exhausting because of (M's famous line) how much they both conceal - Elinor everything and Marianne nothing. I've had friends who rarely let you into their lives with any intimacy and those friendships never really get off the ground. And I've been Marianne in the past. Those friendships are oppressive. By the end of the novel, Marianne has swung to the opposite extreme of more reserve, and Elinor hasn't swung far enough. When she bursts into tears after finding out Edward is free, she does so only after running out of the room and putting a door firmly between herself and her family and Edward. Elinor does love her barriers and boundaries. And which would I/you like to be? Here's Austen's description of both - you decide: ELINOR: "possessed a strength of understanding and coolness of judgment, which qualified her, though only 19, to be the counsellor of her mother....She had an excellent heart, her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them." MARIANNE: "was sensible and clever, but eager in everything; her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous amiable, interesting; she was everything but prudent." Now, I would almost choose Marianne for that one word: interesting. Elinor is not interesting. Well, she is insofar as one tries to make her out and figure out the puzzle of what's going on with her, but after awhile, once you realize she won't give anything away, you have to give up. But beyond that? I would throw Marianne's questions about Willoughby back to you about Elinor - what are her interests? Her pursuits? What does she hope for beyond Edward and a peaceful, contented life in the country? She is a smart enough girl to know that one must be happy oneself before one can be happy with another. What makes her happy, just for herself? The security of her self-command or a day well spent in industrious, domestic activities? You admire and respect her; you wish to be like her in some ways; but be her friend? Probably not. Or only on the days when you're in the mood to sit quietly and read or sew, or have a very intelligent, reasoned conversation. If you want to raise hell, you call Marianne. As we all know, the book is clearly another debate (like P&P), here on the merits of reason vs. emotion (head vs. heart), and how this is a shift in attitude from the late 18th to early 19th century, which I'll post about next. In the meantime, I'd love to hear which you'd choose to be or have for a friend! Later P.S. (Obviously, I'm polarizing the two, the way Austen does. They each have wonderful qualities. I would rather be in the middle between them, as a person and in terms of having them as a friend. What do you think?)

Let's be friends

The Women Behind She Writes

519 articles
12 articles

Featured Members (7)

123 articles
392 articles
54 articles
60 articles

Featured Groups (7)

Trending Articles

Comments
No comments yet