Sense and Sensibility, Week 4

Welcome to the final Online Book Club discussion of Sense and Sensibility.

Did you enjoy the ending of the book? Do you feel like the ending was satisfying? I was glad that the characters ended up happy, but I thought the ending, particularly with Marianne's story, was a little disappointing. I felt like we spent the whole book hearing about Marianne and her thoughts and troubles, and then her ending was explained quickly and casually in the last two pages. Did you feel like the last bits of the story were wrapped up too quickly? 

Edward goes through a lot of change in this last section. He starts off the section being engaged to Lucy Steele, then he's disowned by his mother and decides to join the clergy, then he becomes engaged to Elinor, then gets reinstated with his mother and is given 10,000 pounds. That's a lot to happen to one character in just a few chapters! Why do you think Jane Austen decided to have all of those things happen to Edward at the end of the book? I was glad when he was released from his relationship to Lucy--it didn't seem like she was the best match for him, and she definitely shows that at the end of the book when she quickly marries his brother. I thought the fact that Robert and Lucy got married was very surprising. I thought it was good that Edward learned to stand up to his mother a little bit, and it wad nice that she didn't stay angry at him forever. What do you think it would be like to have Mrs. Ferrars as a mother-in-law? I can't imagine she's terribly easy to get along with. 

What did you think about the fact that Willoughby came to apologize? I thought it was good that he tried to apologize for his actions, but I was really surprised by the fact that Elinor was to taken by his apology. She really seemed to forgive him completely and was able to look at him with fondness. What did you think of Willoughby's explanation of the beginning of his relationship with Marianne? I think he did develop true feelings for Marianne, but I didn't like how it felt like he was blaming Marianne for the predicament they found themselves in. He didn't plan on falling in love with her, and it was almost her fault that he did because no man would have been able to resist the tenderness and kindess that she showed him. What did you think of the fact that he sent Marianne the rejection letter that his fiancee dictated to him? That shows what kind of man he really was that he was willing to hurt Marianne so deeply to save himself. I was glad in the last pages how it said that he always looked at Marianne with regret. I think that's what he deserved for his actions. But, I definitely think Marianne ended up with the better man. 

Do you think Marianne and Colonel Brandon will have a happy life together? It seems like they grow to love each other, even though we don't see that play out on the page. He was a really good man, and I'm glad Marianne finally gave him a chance. I do think their age difference is a little concerning, but I bet it wasn't as odd in the time period in which they lived. 

I always think it's so interesting to read about marriages in this time period because it doesn't seem like any of the couples really spent that much time together. I think Edward and Elinor were around each other for only a couple of weeks before deciding to marry. Dating and courtship have definitely changed a lot since Jane Austen's time! Do you ever wish you had lived during Jane Austen's life time? If you'd like to pretend you lived during that time, you could always travel to England and participate in the Jane Austen Festival! Don't forget to pack your Regency costumes!

Did you enjoy the book as a whole? Do you think you would tell other people to read it? Do you want to read more books by Jane Austen after reading this one? 

Did you know that Emma Thompson won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her screenplay adaptation of this movie? Check out her acceptance speech for the Golden Globes below if you'd like to see how she incorporated Jane Austen into her speech!

If you enjoyed this book and would like to read and watch similar titles, check out this list I created. Please make sure to let me know if you check out anything on the list!

Thanks so much for following along this month! I hope you'll leave your thoughts about Sense and Sensibility in the comments below. Finally, I hope you'll join us again next month as we read Absolute Power by David Baldacci.