Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I'm sorry I've been rather absent recently but I just haven't had enough time to read!!! But I'm back and with a review of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I thought I would do an overview of each of the main sections of the book before I go into my review so here they are (it's a rather long synopsis!!!). There are also a few spoilers so if you haven't read it, then I would do so first. But you can skip straight down to where I share my thoughts on the novel.

Introduction

The first main section of this edition of the novel was an introduction, giving us an overview of the story and the characters as well as the historical and political background of the novel. This was interesting to read especially as it was Jane Austen's first novel and because I don't actually know that much about this story, it was good to have an introduction as it meant I wasn't going into the story blind.

Volume I

In the first section of this story, we get to know the main characters and how they are all linked to one another. We meet the Dashwood family and discover than Mr Henry Dashwood has recently passed and has given all his money to his first wife's son John Dashwood which leaves his second wife and daughters with very little and no permanent home. Mrs Dashwood and the girls go to live with their distant relatives, the Middletons, but this leaves the girls sad, especially Elinor who has become rather attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her half brother John. Marianne, the other daughter finds herself becoming attached to a young man called Mr Willoughby, who helps Marianne after she twists her ankle. But soon after this, Mr Willoughby informs Marianne that he will be soon leaving for London which leaves Marianne lovesick. Not too long after this, two young girls, Lucy and Anne Steele arrive at the residence, Barton Park, They are relatives of Lady Middleton's mother, Mrs Jennings. Elinor soon discovers that Lucy has been secretly engaged to her beloved Edward Ferrars which comes as a huge shock to Elinor and leaves her feeling betrayed.

Volume II

In the second section of the story we follow Elinor and Marianne as they travel to London with Mrs Jennings. Elinor is informed that everyone is talking about the engagement of Marianne and Willoughby, even though Marianne has not discussed anything of the sort with her family. When Marianne and Willoughby reunite at a party after Willoughby's departure to London, Marianne is upset to find that Willoughby doesn't want to engage in any conversation with her. To make things even worse, Willoughby writes Marianne a letter stating he never had feelings for her in the first place. Elinor finds out about Willoughby's history and they soon discover that Willoughby is to be engaged to someone else, leaving Marianne heartbroken. 

Volume III

Lucy's older sister reveals Edward and Lucy's secret engagement to the family which leaves them shocked and angered. The Dashwood sisters meet up with family friends on their way home from London but while there, Marianne falls ill. After Willoughby hears of Marianne's illness, he comes to visit to explain himself in hope of forgiveness. Elinor tells Marianne what Willoughby has said and Marianne realises her behaviour towards him was unacceptable but does not think she would have been happy with him anyway. Once Mrs Dashwood and Colonel Brandon arrive, they hear of Marianne's slow recovery. When the Dashwood's return home, they find out about Lucy and Mr Ferrars engagement. They assume that it's Edward Ferrars but soon find out that it is in fact Edward's little brother Robert Ferrars that Lucy is to marry. Edward finally decides to propose to Elinor and Marianne and Colonel Brandon also get engaged. 

Appendix: Original Penguin Classics Introduction by Tony Tanner

In this section of the book we get to read more about why the characters in Sense and Sensibility acted like they did and made the decisions they did and we get to read about Jane Austen's reasoning behind some of her decisions. I really enjoyed reading this section of the book as I started to understand more about the characters whereas when I was reading it, I sometimes got confused as to why a character was acting in a certain way or why a specific event happened.

My Thoughts

I did enjoy reading this book but I found that I kept getting lost in the story. I liked some of the characters but I wouldn't say I got attached to any of them. I actually feel like more of the characters annoyed me than anything else. Although some of the characters that I think I was meant to like annoyed me, after reading the section by Tony Tanner, I did start to understand a bit more as the why certain things were happening or why the characters were behaving like they were. 

The ending for me was ok but I thought Marianne could have had a better ending. I feel that she was just partnered up for the sake of everyone being partnered up. Although I do like who she was partnered up with, I think there should have been more about this throughout the book and not just in the last few chapters.

I liked Elinor and although she was someone who bottled up her feelings, you could still feel the emotions she was going through with Edward and her sister Marianne. I think if I had to choose a favourite character from this novel it would be Elinor as although she was going through so much herself, she always made sure Marianne was ok and looked after her constantly when she fell ill.

Overall I like this novel but I wouldn't say it's a favourite classic of mine. I thought the writing throughout this story was written beautifully, like all the classics seem to be, but for me it wasn't a favourite read.

Rating /5

3

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx