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.