Miss Georgiana Darcy hosted some questions on S&S this week. Here are my answers.
1: When did you first read Sense and Sensibility? About four years ago, when I was fourteen. Have you read it since? Yes, I've listened to it as an unabridged audiobook several times and reread it this year for the bicentennial.
2: When did you first watch Sense and Sensibility? I'd seen the trailer for the movie on the A Man for All Seasons DVD and that interested me. I watched the film soon after reading the novel.
Which adaptation was it? Emma Thompson's.
3: If you have watched/heard of more than one adaptation which one was your favorite? (Rants allowed) I've watched the 1981 BBC miniseries, Emma Thompson's film, and Andrew Davies' miniseries. Emma Thompson's version remains my favorite, partially because she is my favorite actress and I've seen this one the most. But my reviews of each version will be posted soon to explain my opinions at greater length.
4: Which three S&S characters drive you crazy? Obviously this answer implies no disrespect to Jane. It's the glory of her craft that her characters can be so real that they drive you crazy.
First and foremost: “Uncle” Dashwood who was so charmed by “such attractions as are by no means unusual in children of two or three years old- an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way, many cunning tricks, and a great deal of noise -” as to entail Norland away from our heroines.
Obviously Lucifer... Viz. Lucy (Steele) Ferrars who “may be held forth as a most encouraging instance of what an earnest, an unceasing attention to self-interest, however its progress may be apparently obstructed, will do in securing every advantage of fortune, with no other sacrifice than that of time and conscience.”
It's a little too hard to fill in the third place. Robert Ferrars or Fanny Dashwood could easily fill it. But there are moments when Edward Ferrars or Marianne Dashwood are driving those around them crazy too.
5: Which heroine are you most like: Elinor or Marianne? I used to prefer Elinor (thanks to Emma Thompson playing her) and yet think I was more like Marianne. Reading and Romantic poetry has guided my love of nature, so that I would ask, “'Is there any felicity in the world superior' to a wild storm?” I'm passionate about music and sympathize with Marianne in the desire Edward attributes to her of wanting to buy up all her favorite books and music, that they might not fall into unworthy hands. I'm also very idealistic about relationships. But, like Elinor I'm very reserved about my feelings – I don't easily communicate them even to the people closest to me. And partly due to being a Janeite, I'm highly ironic, I'm easily disgusted by helplessness and emotional self-indulgence and value character over charm and “romantic” qualities.
6: Who would be most enjoyable: (or bearable) Mr. Palmer or Mrs. Palmer? Well, if we're talking about Hugh Laurie and Imelda Staunton as the actors, they're really too perfect together to separate. However, Mr Palmer's continual presence would be merely disconcerting, while, like Emma with Miss Bates, I'd probably eventually descend to mocking Mrs Palmer in public.
7: What would be your reaction if you saw a re-write of Sense and Sensibility where it was Elinor who married Colonel Brandon? The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced of Jane Austen's almost incomparable wisdom and that she can do no wrong. In her other novels she matches her characters perfectly, so that their relationships will develop their characters. (Who can imagine Emma, Anne, Catherine or Fanny ever suiting Mr Darcy so well as Elizabeth?) Elinor and Colonel Brandon are probably too much alike to develop a marriage relationship after Austen's ideal. They both help to balance the less steady minds of the spouses they eventually marry.
8: Where does Sense and Sensibility rank in your list of favorite Austen novels?
That's simply too hard a question. All that I ever know about ranking my favorites is that Emma is always my book of books, except when I'm reading Persuasion.
Sense and Sensibility Questions
1981 BBC Sense and Sensibility
I've been too busy and too distracted to keep up with blogging for the S&S bicentennial. However, I did watch three S&S adaptations and recorded some of my reactions. So here are some thoughts on the 1981 BBC miniseries starring Irene Richard as Elinor and Tracey Childs as Marianne.
The opening credits start by showing Marianne and Elinor gently rocking on a teeter totter. This probably seemed to the director like a good metaphor for the balance needed between the sisters' conflicting personalities, but it appears, as one review wrote, that they are sleeping. Modern audiences are accustomed to greater energy or creativity in opening credits.
The script of this film, partially because of its greater time allowance, conforms most closely of all adaptations to the dialog of the novel. However, when the script does diverge from the novel it does no credit to the writer, who seemed to understand neither Austen's language, nor her philosophy. Added lines are trite and inadvertently funny.
I consider it a mistake to make Marianne an admirer of gothic novels, rather than Romantic poetry. Speaking of such novels, Tracey Childs as Marianne says, “The heroines are brought to a swoon by heroes who are ruthless, powerful and ready to call upon the devil if need be.” This reminds me of Sir Edward Denham's determined misreading of Richardson's novels in Sanditon.
In fact, in S&S, wickedness is never seen as attractive, even to Marianne. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the sensibility of the era, which declared that ungovernable feeling was an evidence of moral empathy and depth.(Ultimately, though never used in Austen, quoting Wordsworth, in Davies' adaptation, conforms most to this view. Though Cowper, quoted in Emma Thompson's adaptation, was the poet Jane Austen mentioned in S&S and Mansfield Park.)
I hate to confess that I'm unsure how much of my prejudice about this adaptation arises from the natural disadvantages of its age. The set for Norland is certainly less opulent than Davies' grandly intimidating one, or Thompson's casually luxurious one. And unlike the rich euphony of these other films, the music of this is tinny and strained.
Irene Childs as Elinor appears stoic, yet has more of Elinor's sharp lines than Emma Thompson retained.
Tracey Childs, delivers her lines in a manner which seems condescending and affected to me. Yet Marianne's goal is to be the opposite of affected - to always speak her feelings. It is this trait in the character (and in other film portrayals of the character) that leads us to be charmed by the "amiable prejudices" of her young mind.
Although the characters of Colonial Brandon and Edward Ferrars are not fleshed-out in this film version, this is also true of the male characters in the book. Emma Thompson has called Edward Ferrars "rice-puddingy" and this Edward Ferrars is true to the novel merely through not being charismatic.
The acting quality of the "minor" characters varies. It would be an insult to Imelda Staunton to compare her performance as Charlotte Palmer with the one in this film. My personal favorite was the portrayal of John Dashwood.
He is highly funny, yet not entirely unsympathetic. One of the drollest moments is as he delightedly lifts his glass of wine to his lips.
I can't call this a favorite adaptation, but its the best opportunity I'll ever get to hear a discussion comparing the heights of the little Dashwood and Middleton boys. Perhaps someday this portrayal of Marianne's progression from an admirer of gothic novels to an admirer of "the majestic Milton" will lead me to revisit and reanalyze it.
