Book Review: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Summary. Quotes & Facts
Introduction of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Although "Sense and Sensibility" is Jane Austen's first novel, their writing skills are quite skilled.
Every plot in the story, though the author's ingenious conception, the apparent cause and effect relationship, and the essential cause hidden behind the scenes are natural and reasonable.
The heroine makes reasonable speculations and judgments based on superficial phenomena.
Although attentive readers have various doubts from time to time, their thoughts will naturally develop with good observation. When the final result appears, it is completely different from the superficial phenomenon, causing unexpected results. Unexpected comedic effect.
If you read it in reverse, you will find that the factors that lead to the inevitable result have long been seen between the lines.
The plot of the novel revolves around the mate selection activities of the two heroines and strives to reveal that in the British social trend at that time, marriage was used as a bad habit for women to seek economic security and improve their economic status, and the ugly fashion of focusing on the family regardless of women's feelings and rights as a human being.
The heroines in the novel all pursue equal communication and communication with men's thoughts and feelings, require equal rights in social status, and insist on the freedom of independent observation, analysis, and selection of men. In Britain at the time, it was almost a cry of resistance.
As reflected in the title of the book, the story focuses on the conflict between "reason" and "emotion". The characters represented by Marianne lack reason but have excess emotion; the characters represented by John Dashwood and his wife have excess reason but lack emotion, and the characters represented by Willoughby are very hypocritical in emotion.
He seems very emotional, but in fact, he is indifferent and downright selfish. In the story, the author praised those who cherished their feelings. Although he also satirized these people's lack of reason from time to time, he showed contempt for those who were only rational or hypocritical in their feelings.
The author ultimately admires the heroine, Eleanor, because she is both emotional and rational. This shows the author's ideal on this issue, that is, people cannot be without emotion, but emotion should be restricted by reason.
Book: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne as they come of age. --- Wikipedia
- Originally published: 1811
- Characters: Marianne Dashwood, Elinor Dashwood,
- Author: Jane Austen
- Followed by: Pride and Prejudice
- Genres: Novel, Romance novel, Fiction
About Sense and Sensibility Author
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon, near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. after his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother, in 1809 they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire.
Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until May 1817, when she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.
Jane Austen was extremely modest about her own genius, describing her work to her nephew, Edward, as 'the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory, on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labor. As a girl, she wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances.
Her works were published only after much revision, with four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility(1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship.
Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons.
At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.
She wrote most of the novel which took the daily life of the middle class in towns and villages as the theme and reflected the style of British society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries through conflicts in love and marriage.
The works often ridicule people's stupidity, selfishness, snobbery, blind self-confidence, and other despicable and ridiculous weaknesses through comic scenes.
Austen's novels appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, swept away the trend of false romanticism, inherited and developed the excellent British realism tradition in the 18th century, prepared for the climax of realist novels in the 19th century, and played a link between the past and the next important.
People Who Read "Jane Austen" Novel Also Like:
Quotes from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
"A woman of seven and twenty," said Marianne, after pausing a moment, "can never hope to feel or inspire affection again, and if her home is uncomfortable, or her fortune small, I can suppose that she might bring herself to submit to the offices of a nurse, for the sake of the provision and security of a wife. In his marrying such a woman therefore there would be nothing unsuitable. It would be a compact of convenience, and the world would be satisfied. In my eyes, it would be no marriage at all, but that would be nothing. To me, it would seem only a commercial exchange, in which each wished to be benefited at the expense of the other." --- quoted on page 28
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Summary
When love is impossible, are you Eleanor? Marianne? Or Brandon?
For those who suffer from love, reading this book is enough.
Not to mention how elegant and soothing Jane Austen's writing is, and not to mention that Jane Austen brings a consistent gentleman and lady demeanor, I would say that this work, for those who suffer from love and endure suffering, is a redemption.
Although the original title of the book was "Eleanor and Marion", the two sisters' very different personalities also fit the title "Sense and Sensibility", but Jane Austen's feeling in this work is not only It's enough to describe the different responses of people with different personalities when faced with a lovelorn,
but through comparison, let us learn from Eleanor and Brandon about reason and restraint, forgiveness and understanding, those virtues are victory The weapon of selfish lust is difficult to learn but necessary.
Many readers will like Marianne's candidness, and will feel that Eleanor is repressed to the point of repression - while enduring the pain of lovelorn, she has to put on another face to comfort Marianne's hysteria. This kind of character is too tattooed. Silk is not messy, too detached from human nature.
This pair of sisters showed completely different personalities when they first fell in love. Eleanor was quiet and wise, thoughtful and thoughtful about problems, and Marianne escaped self-will and showed unconcealed candor in her feelings. Men find Eleanor respectable and Marianne lovely.
But is Eleanor's rationality really too realistic a personality? If, as Marianne said, Howard has so many disappointments, Eleanor should not choose Howard because he is too rational. He has a sister who dislikes Eleanor.
He relies on his mother for support, and he is unemployed and unwilling to make progress. Eleanor's virtue was always defending Howard until one day Lucy told Howard that he was engaged to her.
The boundless pain, in Eleanor's case, did not turn into bitterness, did not turn into a grudge, for Howard, and for Lucy.
You might say that she's not as straightforward as Marianne, and she seems a little hypocritical, but after reading the whole work, Eleanor has not hurt anyone, whether or not someone brought her misfortune.
Facing Willoughby's abandonment and her notoriety being revealed, Marianne was never as strong as Eleanor. She slowly collapsed and collapsed. If it weren't for Eleanor and Brandon, I think Marianne will never get out of trouble so easily.
Facing the loss of love, Marianne is a weak person. She either makes her relatives and friends worry or hurts herself, while Eleanor is a veritable strong person who knows how to not pass the pain on to others when she is in pain. Eleanor didn't hurt anyone, and she didn't hurt herself either.
If it is said that unrequited love is a disease, it is really a disease that only one can cure. On the other hand, the party who was tortured and could not respond, always thought that the panacea was in the other's hands. In fact, maybe the etiology of the disease is not initiated by people, and the situation is different.
Maybe it is because of the habit of not being able to eat and sleep without the things that you like from childhood. She just likes the troubled taste of lovesickness and enjoys the pain of being abused; it may also be that for some people, no matter who the object is, love is only a stage of the disease that is used to recur like arthritis.
There are so many different kinds of emotions, in fact, indulging in unreachable emotions is a kind of disease, and none of them is shameful, but none of them are noble. When the disease comes, it needs only treatment.
But if those who can free themselves to follow Eleanor's path of self-healing and healing others, and those who harbor her compassion and compassion, may become noble, because of their impossibility, they are noble.
Otherwise, when A falls in love with B, B falls in love with C, and C falls in love with D, in such a strange cycle, if every character is Marianne, if there is no more pain like Eleanor and Brandon He who heals others, then who is left to save himself?
I have never been a very rational person, and I also developed a habit like Marianne when I was a child and has continued to this day, selfish, willful, indulging in something and ignoring the surroundings, reading "Sense and Sensibility", seeing Eleanor and Brandon Only then did we know that reason is not without emotion, but with compassionate consideration and redemption with one heart.
Those who suffer from love can learn from Eleanor and Brandon's minds, or read Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility".
Love that doesn't know how to help is just taking.
Love with additional redemption is compassion.
Jane Austen has built a stage for those who are trapped in love so that every past, present, and future struggling on both sides of the boundary between reason and sensibility finds their current position and should play a good role.
Book Review of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Jane Austen lived in the English countryside at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Most of her novels revolve around the marriage and love of decent people in the countryside. On the surface, this is a small pastoral world.
The small world that Steen is very familiar with shows us the subtle emotional world of women. Her novels have endured rounds of "interesting revolutions" in the UK because her writing can not only illuminate women but also reach the depths of universal humanity.
Austen's first published work, "Sense and Sensibility" also pinned Austen's femininity and ideals of love. This work mainly tells the story of the marriage and love of two sisters, Eleanor and Marianne.
Born in an English country squire family, the two sisters had to live with their mother on a frugal diet because their inheritance belonged to their half-brother after the death of their father. Due to the financial setback, Eleanor had to break up with like-minded lover Edward, and Marianne was also abandoned by Willoughby due to various changes.
When faced with emotional blows, the two sisters had very different character reactions. Sister Eleanor was good at controlling her emotions with reason, while Marianne was emotional and allowed her emotions to spread. Fortunately, after a painful experience, Austin ended with a "big reunion", so that the two sisters finally have a perfect marriage.
The storyline of this work is simple and easy to read, and the language style is also plain and simple, which does not seem to give us a tremor reading effect. However, the female consciousness and concern for women behind the characters it portrays have triggered a series of thoughts for me.
Female love dominated by patriarchy
The novel begins with the serene reading of the old manor's will: the estate must pass in its entirety to his son and his son's son, a four-year-old (John Dashwood's son). Such a will is undoubtedly grief-stricken for Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters, who have since lost a reliable source of income.
In the British society described by Austen, the value of people is based on property ownership, and the right to inherit property is handed over to men, and women are naturally in a subordinate position.
This financial subordination makes the women in the story expect happiness through a happy marriage, and the vivid characters in the novel show this situation: Mrs. Janis, who is happy to match young men and women; Mrs. Dashwood, who was happy and changed the face of the family; Fanny, who was shrewd in calculating her family property and spared her sisters; Lucy, who desperately wanted to win the favor of the Ferrers family and won love by any means; Deep, haggard Dashwood sisters.
These female characters usually do not have any career pursuits, but play the piano, read, chat, work as female workers, and have endless social gatherings. Their biggest sustenance is to harvest a happy love, and they can live a peaceful life without food and clothing.
Therefore, marriage has become the pillar that dominates the fate of women. For women, what is closely related to marriage is the evaluation of men, which leads to the emergence of male characters with different personalities in the novel: Colonel Brandon, who is stable and profound, and has a wealth of industry; Edward, who is determined and persistent; the brilliant Willoughby; wealthy or dependent, regardless of their background, the female characters of the novel expect their ideal mates to have a respectable background, wealth, and refined manners It can be seen that they attach great importance to men's social status, especially economic status because this status determines their happiness in the second half of their lives to some extent.
Even like the beautiful and refined Dashwood sisters, they value wealth and the comfort of life. They once debated wealth, prestige, and happiness. The naive Marianne claimed that wealth, prestige, and happiness had nothing to do with it, but Eleanor It is believed that wealth and happiness are closely related and that without money there is no comfort in life.
Marianne despised her sister's statement with a lofty attitude, but in the end, she still couldn't give up her requirements for the necessities of life. In this way, women tend to be passive in their choice of marriage and love.
A typical example is the emotional setbacks suffered by the two sisters: Marianne and Willoughby were originally in love, but Willoughby married a wealthy man because of his greed for money. Miss, but abandoned Marian, who was in the middle of the family. Eleanor is also embarrassed by the family property.
In a society dominated by patriarchy, women can only control their own happiness in the small world of marriage. This is undoubtedly very sad. The space for them to exert their freedom is so narrow, which also determines that women are largely unable to make their own decisions about their own happiness.
From Marianne to Eleanor's transformation
throughout the whole article, there is no doubt that Eleanor is the ideal woman that Austin wants to shape. She is generous and decent, acts prudently, has a clear mind, takes into account the overall situation, and is in the face of lovelorn. When in pain, be good at using reason to control your emotions.
Marianne, who is the exact opposite of her, is impulsive, warm and lovely, innocent, and unrestrained when she is sad and happy, especially when facing Willoughby's ruthless abandonment, she is immersed in painful emotions and cannot extricate herself. Nearly killed.
According to my reading experience, the first half of the novel unfolds from two parallel perspectives, Eleanor and Marianne. Because of their very different personalities, their views on people and things are also quite different, especially on the issue of love.
First of all, they had disputes over the choice of a partner. Marianne only loves men who are attractive, passionate, and intelligent, so when Willoughby rides a horse on a hillside in the rain to save beauty, Marianne falls in love instantly, the kind of dramatic plot, romantic scene, and their artistic sympathy later in life convinced Marianne that Willoughby was her destined love.
This kind of strong and romantic fantasy is a typical girl's complex in love. This kind of complexity does not work for the rational Eleanor. Eleanor is deeply shy and introverted. Edward is not good at talking.
Attraction, that kind of attraction is a little dull and calm. From the appearance, it is hard to believe that it is the attraction of love.
No wonder Marianne questioned her sister strangely:
"The relationship between the two of them is always unpredictable. The last time they broke up, they were so cold and so calm. When they were together the night before, they spoke so plainly!"
In Marianne's view, this kind of plain and watery relationship is definitely not loving, but love should be passionate like fire Just as the composure and indifference shown by Edward in his lyrical poems puzzled Marianne, in Marianne's view, such a beautiful verse should be recited in an intoxicating and irresistible tone, an artistic one. How can a listless person have fiery love?
Eleanor did not think so, she knew Edward's heart deeply, she respected Edward's character and understood his situation when Edward fell into depression and had to be cold and silent with Eleanor because of the objection to the marriage contract and family,
Eleanor was still able to restrain her negative emotions and treat Edward with sympathy and tolerance. She knew very well Edward's kindness and firmness and also knew that Edward's situation was involuntary, so she could not let her emotions go.
Edward and Eleanor had a tacit understanding in their hearts. For Eleanor, a man with a noble personality, steadfastness, modesty, and restraint was far better than a brilliant but flashy playboy. Therefore, Eleanor naturally has a lot of criticism of Willoughby, which is clearly reflected in the difference between the two sisters in their love behavior.
After falling in love, the innocent and lovely Marianne disregarded basic etiquette. She and Willoughby were inseparable almost every day. Marianne put all her thoughts on Willoughby, and they never concealed themselves in public. , boldly expressed her intimacy with each other, even if others made fun of them as a topic, Marianne never took it to heart and still went her own way.
Eleanor obviously disliked their behavior, especially Willoughby's indiscretion, eloquence, and pushy show that Eleanor couldn't agree. She felt that Willoughby liked to judge on any occasion. It's too much like her sister, and this kind of contempt for the rules of etiquette is out of control.
Eleanor naturally incorporates moral constraints into the behavior of love. In her opinion, good love needs to be restrained by moral behavior, and temperance and rationality are the consistent virtues of women in love.
She made no secret of her admiration for Colonel Brandon: "My darling you said is a reasonable person, and the reason is always attractive to me... He has seen a lot of the world and has been abroad, reading After reading books, he is willing to use his brain. I found that he can teach me a lot on various issues; he always answered my questions calmly, showing both culture and patience."
Colonel Brandon Marianne's unassuming love has always been admired by Eleanor, and his unrequited concern for their families moved Eleanor, and his low-key, introverted, well-educated temperament made Eleanor much admired.
Marianne, on the other hand, was deeply disgusted by the shameless submission of reason to vulgar ideas. Although she had great respect for Colonel Brandon, she did not like his gloomy old age and lack of vitality, even laughing at a thirty-five-year-old man's love of dressing. The blue velvet vest must be the cause of rheumatic pain.
Willoughby's treachery and the appearance of Edward's first love, Lucy, are the turning points of the novel, and the narrative after that is more developed from Eleanor's point of view. From the time Willoughby left to the lack of news, and then to the marriage of the rich lady, it is no secret that this series of events brought a heavy blow to Marianne.
She who is very affectionate lost herself in an instant like countless little girls who have lost love. The ideal space woven by the girl's fantasy used to be filled with Willoughby, and once Willoughby left, this space quickly collapsed. She can't accept such a fatal blow, she can only be immersed in her past memories and let her emotions run wild, so as to temporarily relieve the pain of lovelorn.
At the same time, when Eleanor confronts Lucy's true identity, she suffers no less than Marianne, and she also begins to question Edward's loyalty and feelings for her, but in rational contemplation and calm After the analysis, Eleanor could still suppress the pain and pressure in her heart.
She quickly abandoned the shadows of Edward and Lucy's past, forgives Edward's mistakes with understanding and sympathy, and still trusts Edward's present wholeheartedness toward her. Once such a belief has been established, neither Lucy's malicious attacks nor jealousy will shake Eleanor.
The nobility of Eleanor's heart is most prominently shown: when she knew that Edward would fulfill the promise of the engagement to marry Lucy and had to be abandoned by the family when she realized that her love with Edward was almost hopeless, she still sympathized with Edward's situation and did her best. Helping them if possible and wishing them a happy life is heartwarming.
Suffering can stimulate growth, especially the pain of lovelorn. Marianne struggled to escape from a long period of negative emotions and eventually faced both physical and mental collapse. After a serious illness, she survived and suffering made her stronger.
And wisdom, what she said to Eleanor after her illness was thought-provoking, she regretted her former impulses and ego, and she knew that emotional laissez-faire led directly to her suffering, even to those who loved her.
The same suffering, after that, she chose to repay and control her feelings, she believed that her conscience and reason could guide her happiness, this kind of transformation has made me see Eleanor's shadow, after experiencing inner struggle and entanglement, a naive innocent girl grows into a wise and wise woman, and Marianne is destined to abandon her seventeen-year-old girlish feelings and love someone more worthy of her love with conviction.
Through this strong contrast, Austin has hinted at the majority of women through Eleanor's "ideal paradigm": in a male-dominated society, if you want to autonomously determine your own happiness, you must be good at using reason to control your emotions.
The Conflict Facing the Perfect View of Happiness
Through the comparison of the two sisters, it is not difficult to see that Eleanor starts from the "other" more, and her behavior in love always follows a certain strict morality.
In terms of concept, she has to consider the feelings of her mother and sister, take into account the situation of Edward and his family, and worry about housework and housework. Under the leadership of this strong sense of responsibility, she consciously let go of the emotions that belonged to herself.
Marianne starts from the feeling of "self". She is unwilling to succumb to the external concept and go against the true will of the heart. She dares to think and act, has clear love and hate, and is frank and candid. hurt the feelings of others.
That is to say, on the surface, Marian is more aware of the conflict between self and other than Eleanor, so does Austen's story tell us that Eleanor will not face inner conflict, she will be happier than Marianne? I don't think so.
The principle of rationality that Eleanor upholds is rationality with the label of morality. Her actions always conform to the standards of moral concepts. Such a rational conception always guides her to behave appropriately.
This solid belief can be both Let her resolutely pull away from negative emotions when she encounters difficulties, but will also let her suppress her true emotions and choose forbearance.
When this kind of forbearance and restraint will eventually erupts, the most obvious manifestation is when Edward told Eleanor that Lucy didn't marry him and that he was willing to resume the relationship with Eleanor, Eleanor could no longer be calm, she ran out of the room, changed the attitude of a lady in the past, her tumultuous emotions Expressed in tears.
At that moment, we finally understood that no matter how rational a woman is, she cannot escape the sentimental side of a woman. Women are inherently emotional animals, they are used to acting on their emotions, especially for love, women instinctively regard love as their entire career, and they will spend all their energy on love.
Men are different. Men have many things to pursue besides love. When encountering emotional difficulties, they will make more rational and realistic considerations.
This difference is not only determined by the innate physiological and psychological structure but also caused by the social structure and system. If we deliberately ask women to suppress the emotional side and use the ability that men are better at - rationality, This easily hides the feminine and lovely side of women.
In my opinion, Eleanor's tearful scene is the most lovely part of her in the whole book, because all the moral armor is disarmed, and she restores the pure and sexual side of a woman.
This formed a huge tension with her previous empathy, magnanimity, and decent words and deeds in social situations. Her temperance and tolerance often made her go against her heart. Sometimes she tried to please Mrs. Janis and Middleton.
The lady would say something welcome, although the act of avoiding embarrassment was decent. Even after she was hit by a love affair, she had to quietly eat with her family to avoid suspicion.
In this way, Eleanor will often face inner entanglements, and conflicts between herself and others, but she swallows these conflicts in her heart, making these conflicts more hidden.
If it is said that the root of civilization lies in repressing one's own heart and putting on the cloak of moral hypocrisy, such "goodness" needs to be considered. If women need to suppress their own sensibility and innocence to exercise rational power in order to obtain happiness in love, then Such "happiness" is also worth examining.
The "good" that Eleanor seeks is a moral life of the highest good, a bland and lasting satisfaction that transcends fleeting, sensual pleasures. If we need to achieve this kind of transcendence in the secular world, especially in love, we must rely on the support of some external concept (moral law, religion, etc.), Eleanor chose the moral concept, her practice of "goodness" Reflected in the "altruistic" code of conduct.
However, if the motive of doing good is only aimed at the ultimate goal, but the purity of doing good itself is lost, then the "good" in the cloak of morality is not the real "good".
When it comes to "goodness" and "happiness," a happy life is not necessarily "good," and "altruism" isn't the only behavioral pattern to achieve happiness.
We still go back to Marianne, a girl who is accustomed to starting from "self", excited, informal, fanciful, and eager. After experiencing the pain of the lovelorn, she is a little more rational and stable, and also a little more like Eleanor's shadow. Civilization and time have made people more and more similar but also smoothed out her personality and characteristics.
I think Eleanor and Marianne live in the heart of every woman at the same time. Do we really have to use Eleanor to suppress Marianne? Not really, Marianne also has her own happiness, her innocent, Passionate, lovely, and indulgence in fantasy are more attractive to men.
Although she will not be hit when faced with hardships in the world, suffering will also make her stronger and more aware of herself.
As Colonel Blanton had enduring faith in her purity of heart: "If that girl of good nature had been supported by stronger men, or had been happier in her marriage, she would have been the other one you will see The destiny is exactly the same."
That is to say, in love, a "self" person needs the support of a stronger "other", and once this support is established, happiness can also be achieved.
This point of view reveals to some extent the nature of the harmony of yin and yang, the harmony of hardness and softness in love. Therefore, Marianne does not need to suppress her own heart to visualize external concepts, she has her own way of behavior to achieve happiness.
If women deliberately pursue the universal essence of human nature while ignoring their own characteristics in the process of practicing happiness, such happiness will gradually drift away from their original hearts.
Eleanor is the "ideal paradigm" of this novel, but it is by no means the only mode of happiness, and you will surely find your own position when you are smart.
Reading Notes: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
When I first read this book, I saw a sentence that made me feel very emotional. Marianne said to her mother, "The more I see in the world, the more I feel that I will never see a man I will truly love in my life."
Maybe That's it, as I get older, people become more mature, and I see things more comprehensively, but I would rather keep a girlish heart and look for pure love with girlish feelings, regardless of material things. There is always some hope in life, isn't it?
"The world is a comedy to understand by reason and a tragedy to understand by emotion." --H. Walpole could not understand the meaning of this sentence. "People can't be emotional, and their emotions must be restricted by reason."
In Jane Otins's opinion, emotional people may seem very funny, but as long as they are kind-hearted and warm-hearted, they are always better than the powerful people who are exhausted by the authorities. many. Dialogue is the essence of characterization in Jane Austen's novels.