Sense and Sensibility

 

Sense and Sensibility

Author:  Jane Austen

Begun: Dec 16th 2024

Finished: Dec 18th 2024

Type: Audiobook on Libro.FM

Narrator: Karen Savage

Rating: 7/10

Every single male character but one is repulsive, disgusting, selfish, and abusive.  One is a paedophile.  And all the women are gaslit to be all, "Oh, it's ok, I still love you."

W the actual H.

To say this book is deeply DEEPLY shocking is an understatement.  It blows my mind that it's seen as a light little romance when it is NOTHING OF THE SORT.  It deals with the depths of selfishness and depravity.  Austen wrote it as a scathing indictment of men in general, I believe.  Check out this quote from Persuasion:

"But let me observe that all histories are against you - all stories, prose, and verse.  If I had such a memory as Benwick, I could bring you fifty quotations in a moment on my side the argument, and I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy.  Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness.  But perhaps you will say, these are all written by men."

And here we have a book, written by a woman, opining on man's inconstancy and fickleness ... as well as downright abuse.

I am so shocked by almost all the characters in the novel I'd like to go through them one by one.  Spoilers, obviously.

Mr. Dashwood:  What the hell kind of man makes no provision for his wife and children?  He ask his son to take care of them on his deathbed, but doesn't put it in legal writing.  He had over 20 years to do it...and he doesn't.  Faugh!  Their suffering is as much his fault as John's.  What is with men not taking care of their wives in a second marriage.  I've seen it happen in real life too, not just in novels.  A friend of ours was married to a man who promised faithfully that he would make sure she was ok after he died....and he did not...and her children didn't like her to the point where they didn't even mention her in his obituary...and she ended up dying young.  it was like a novel, except I knew her and watched it happen.

Mrs. Dashwood: Bit of a cardboard cutout really.  She loves her children, but isn't a helicopter parent almost to a fault.

Elinor Dashwood:  She, at least, has a Brin, has self-control, and cares for others.  What a relief her character is. 

Marianne Dashwood:  The only thing I like about her is how deeply she loves and how she is fiercely protective of those she loves and intensely loyal.  Other than that she needs a good kick in the butt.  Having said that, she's only...what...16??  And looking back on how I was at 16, she actually is ok. =D. I behaved just as inappropriately then. 

Margaret Dashwood: A cypher.

John Dashwood:  Self-absorbed liar.  Lies to his father. Lies to his mother.  Lies to his sisters.  Shockingly selfish.

Fanny Dashwood: Ice cold bitch.

Edward Ferrars:  W the actual H???  The dude secretly gets engaged to one girl, flirts so outrageously with another, almost gets engaged to a third, and is somehow considered honest, upright, and to have have integrity??  WHAT???? NO.  Just NO.  And THEN he's all, "I guess I'll forgive Colonel Brandon for offering me a job so I won't starve to death."  WHAT???  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???

Sir John Middleton:  A Sir Lucas character.  Austen must have come across quite a few of them to feature them so prominently in her books.  A nice man, but an extrovert.  A sore trial to introverts everywhere.

Lady Middleton:  A cardboard cut out used by Austen to throw shade on mothers.  Austen really didn't think much of mothers who actually care for and interact with their children.  And she really *really* didn't like children.  Had she lived she would have been one of those old victorian ladies who assert that children, along with not being heard, should't be seen either.

Colonel Brandon:  The only true, good man in this book.  I like him very much.  I am appalled at Marianne's treatment of him for most of the book.  The only fly in the ointment is that he's THIRTY-FIVE and Marianne is SIXTEEN.  My gosh, he was freaking 19 years old when she was born.  How does any 35 year old look at a 16 year old and fall in love?  That's just...weird.  OTOH he himself readily admits Marianne wouldn't pay any attention to him because of his age.

Mrs. Jennings:  Basically a Mrs. Bennett-type character.  She is depicted as annoying and somewhat coarse.  However, she has a heart of gold and is sincerely concerned for the welfare of her charges.  She has a kind word for almost everyone, and dedicates her life to helping others.  She has no problem letting John Dashwood know she is appalled at the Ferrars' family treatment of Edward, so she's not cowed by pomposity, wealth, or position.  I like her better than Austen did.

John Willoughby:  As repulsive a villain and paedophile as I've ever read...and the more disgusting in that he's not excluded from society.  He marries rich, and so therefore is not ostracized. But the the things he does!!! And his explanation to Elinor made my skin crawl.  The victim blaming made me want to vomit.  "I forgot I hadn't given her my address".  WHAT???  She was FIFTEEN and he left her pregnant.  I find Austen's treatment of him not only reprehensible, but indicative of how the society she lived in forgave men like this.  Disgusting!  

"...a man...united a disposition naturally open and honest, and a feeling, affectionate temper."  NO, Jane.  What the hell?  NO.

And then he is all, "it'll be bad enough when she marries...but if she marries Colonel Brandon it'll be just the *worst* because I can't forgive him."  WHAT??  *YOU* can't forgive *HIM*?!?  Absolutely mind-blowing.  

WHY does Austen want us to feel pity and forgiveness for him?  He is the worst Austen character I have ever read.  I think the worse of Austen for her efforts to make me forgive him.  He is irredeemable and deserves more, far more than he gets.

Mr. Palmer:  Rude, stuck up, but I surprised myself by finding him funny.  His short answers, while in real life would be shocking, in a made-up world are hilarious.  What a horrible, horrible man.  Why is he so funny?

Mrs. Palmer:  I tell you what, her husband doesn't deserve her.  Annoying she may be, but she doesn't take offence, and she doesn't complain.  She is happy and kind.

Anne Steele:  (Hermione voice). What. An. Idiot.

Lucy Steele:  Hideous. Scheming.  Sadistic.  Unkind.  Another character that made my skin crawl.  Most annoying she got out of it completely unpunished and was in fact rewarded for her hideous behaviour.

Robert Ferrars:  Stuck up narcissistic dick.

Mrs. Ferrars:  A dictatorial tyrant with no love for those whom she ought to love. A narcissist.