Customer Reviews

Jane Austen's First Look at English Society - By: Donald Mitchell, 27 Oct 2007
Most people who have read Jane Austen will have read Pride & Prejudice. With a title like Sense & Sensibility, most readers will assume that the two books can be interpreted & enjoyedin the same way. Other than having three word titles that employ alliterationin the first & third words, the two novels are more different than similar.

While Pride & Prejudice is primarily about miscommunication, Sense & Sensibility is about the maturation of two sisters as they find themselves confronted by adversity. The former topic allows Ms. Austen more room to roam, but within the later topic she has plenty of opportunities to display her story telling & comic talents. While maturation is an important sub themein Pride & Prejudice, you see maturation better developedin Sense & Sensibility.

When their father dies, Elinor, Marianne & Margaret find themselvesin exile from their family home with their mother. The family estate had been left to their half brother whom their father exhorted to take care of them. But that promise is soon diluted into doing almost nothing through the selfishness of his wife & his vacillation. A relative kindly offers them a country cottage near his home & takes obvious pleasurein their company.

At this modest new home, Elinor found herself entertaining the welcome attentions of Edward Ferrars. Elinor's younger sister, Marianne, is all aflutter over John Willoughby who seems to be committed to her. In fact, everyone assumes that there will soon be wedding bells for Marianne & Willoughby.

All of these pleasant connections are, however, soon disrupted. Willoughby leaves & ignores Marianne. Elinor finds out an unexpected secret about Ferrars that puts her on her cautionin pursuing their relationship. As these complications develop, Marianne soon finds herself distraught despite having attracted another suitor, the reliable, but older, Colonel Brandon. Elinor steps into the breach to try to help her sister regain her equilibrium. Both learn what a broken heart can feel like & adjustin their own separate ways.

In vintage Jane Austen style, all bets are off near the end of the book as characters take unexpected steps that open up new possibilities. There's no one quite like Jane Austen for pulling great twistsin her romantic comedies. These twists will cause your jaw to drop.

Try not to compare this book to Pride & Prejudice. It's clearly a lesser work, but one that can certainly be enjoyedin its own right.