I gotta tell you guys: I am having a Sense and Sensibility THING.
Do you all do this? A few years ago, I went through a phase where I re-read Pride and Prejudice, watched the Keira Knightley version, watched the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version, re-read Bridget Jones’s Diary, watched THAT movie a hundred million couple of times, sought out Bride and Prejudice…there are just a lot of Pride and Prejudice adaptations out there, and I watched and read a bunch of them, is what I’m saying. (I did not watch the 1980 BBC version, as this was before the days of this site and I didn’t know any better, but I want Mrs. Fitzpatrick to know that I hear her exasperation in my head retroactively.)
That was awhile back. Where this new Sense and Sensibility yen came from, I couldn’t say, but here we are.
Somewhat sacrilegiously, I think, I skipped the actual novel this time; I’ve read it relatively recently, and decided to opt for Netflix and instant gratification instead. And, okay, the pickings for Sense and Sensibility adaptations are slimmer than they are for Pride and Prejudice, but I think what Sense and Sensibility lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality: the modern adaptations of it are both excellent. (The other option here is From Prada to Nada, which I haven’t seen, but which has jumped up the Netflix queue in recent weeks.)
I don’t own a single adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which now strikes me as completely insane. Why don’t I keep the Emma Thompson version on hand? I love the Emma Thompson version! (Fun fact: I have a clear memory of seeing it in the theater, then promptly and enthusiastically re-creating the entire plot for a friend the next day. This is, of course, why I’m so great at parties.) Being from the mind and the pen of Thompson herself, it understandably does many many things well; despite the 90210-ing of several actors’ ages, she makes it work (mostly). Elinor’s freakout at the end, in particular, never fails to impress.
(Speaking of the aging-up of actors, both modern adaptations cast Colonel Brandon as significantly older than he is in the book—fifty-one for Alan Rickman and forty-four for David Morrissey—which I think makes cultural sense, considering the shift in life expectancies since the good old days. Otherwise, the old dude is, like, Ryan Gosling or something.)
I remember liking the 2008 version very much…and then never tracking it down again. I’m now about halfway through, and enjoying it completely—among other things, it’s from that post-Ruth Wilson Jane Eyre period where the BBC decided to get with the times, visually, and it’s both true to the novel (despite some dialogue modernization magic on Andrew Davies’s part) and modern enough to appeal to a wider audience. I’m particularly loving Janet McTeer as Mrs. Dashwood and the girl who plays Margaret—Lucy Boynton, IMDB tells me, and she is comic gold here—and I have to say that if anybody is going to make a better Edward Ferrars than a young Hugh Grant(!), I think it has to be a young and extremely floppy-haired Dan Stevens, playing to type in the best way possible. (Will Edward and Elinor ever be able to express their sweet selves properly and live happily ever after? Don’t tell me how it ends!) (Poor Marianne. I love her, but I’m such a fan of Elinor that I tend to overlook her a bit. Also, ever since Miss Osborne brought it up, I’ve been a little horrified that she ends up with only a nice, relatively happy marriage to the good Colonel.)
Since I took up this new, uh, interest, I’ve been thinking about what makes Sense and Sensibility such a crowd-pleaser. Why do I recommend it to so many new Austen readers? Why does it lend itself to such good adaptations? But also, why is it similar to Pride and Prejudice but always a little in its shadow? My current theories have to do with the simplicity of the story and the relatively small cast of characters (compared to, say, Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park); it’s a pleasant story with something for everybody, regardless of temperament; on the other hand, maybe neither Elinor nor Marianne carries as much sparkle as Elizabeth Bennet. I don’t know. So many thoughts! What do you think, readers?
austenacious 
I, too, love this book and Emma Thompson’s adaptation. Apparently it’s time to hunt down other adaptations. Unfortunately for me, I watched the movie first, so when I read the book I wasn’t prepared for just how EVIL Lucy Steele was, and I couldn’t pick the book up for 7 or 8 years after the first reading. She isn’t, in fact, more evil than any other Austen character, but because of my surprise she seemed moreso for quite some time. I shudder to think of the loss if I’d never given it another chance, because I now love this book…even if I’ll never love Lucy Steele.
LikeLike
Ooh, interesting! Lucy Steele as uber-villain. I like it.
(The Emma Thompson version is, of course, excellent–as Sophie says below, “because, Emma Thompson”–and I get the impulse not to need another. But the most recent BBC one is also really good.)
LikeLike
I’m currently re-watching the 2008 S&S with my period drama buddies at university. We’re all second year English Lit students and our rooms are next to one another, so we often spend evenings together watching either Downton Abbey or adaptations of our favourite books. I first watched this version of Sense and Sensibility on TV when it first came out, then downloaded it this summer and watched it again, and now I’m seeing it for the third time. Last year we watched the film version together, which neither of my friends had seen and which I basically know off by heart, so that was a fun experience. We’ve watched the first episode and are waiting until we all have some free time so that we can watch the rest. It’s so good! It may never displace the film from the place it occupies in my heart (because, Emma Thompson), but it’s beautifully done and the cast is closer in age to the characters of the novel. Besides, the film reduces the already small number of characters by doing away with Lady Middleton, Mrs Ferrars and Lucy Steele’s older sister, which is a real shame because they’re all great. And of course there’s the Dan Stevens factor.
I think Sense and Sensibility is a really good introduction to Austen, precisely because it has a relatively small scope. I admit that I find Marianne (and her constant drama) quite difficult to love at times, but Elinor is one of my favourite Austen heroines. And right now I just want to read the novel for the umpteenth time, even though I should actually be writing an essay about Middle English debate poetry. So, yeah. I’ll get back to that now. Thank you for this post, though – it made me smile!
LikeLike
Hmmm, I think you’re spot-on with the comment about scale. S&S always seems oddly manageable to me…in a good way.
the Dan Stevens factor
My new band name, obviously.
LikeLike
That would be a great band name! I actually think he does the whole Hugh Grant floppy-haired posh boy thing better than Hugh Grant, which is weird but also excellent.
LikeLike
I agree with your idea on why it’s never been as popular as P&P: the heroines (and I’d go so far as to say pretty much everyone) are never quite as . . . zazzy as those in P&P. Neither Elinor nor Marianne is as clever and witty and pretty and charismatic as Lizzie; neither Brandon nor Edward is as rich and handsome and brooding as Darcy; Mrs. and Margaret Dashwood aren’t as manic and funny and facepalm-worthy as Mrs. and Lydia Bennet—you see where I’m going here. I actually like Elinor and Brandon better than I do Lizzie and Darcy (don’t judge me but I’ve never liked Edward), but their characters require you to dig a little to see what about them is awesome, while Lizzie and Darcy seem more immediately accessibly cool, you know?
And don’t judge me again, but I prefer the 2008 version to the Emma Thompson one. Emma and Alan are brilliant—come to think of it, maybe that’s why I’ve always loved Elinor and Brandon best—and Kate is fine but I’ve never liked Hugh’s Edward. In the new one, I adore Edward and Marianne so I can cheer for my favorite characters ending up with them, and having the actors be the right ages just works a lot better for me, and the 2008 Willoughby is so much more horridly villainous and their little cottage is just so jaw-droppingly beautiful. In fact most of the locations and shots are beautiful. And like Sophie, I like having those side characters included. The older Miss Steele, in particular, is the funniest person ever. However, the scene with Marianne and Willoughby in his aunt’s house always weirds me out. I don’t know what it is, but the slow-mo and the dim lighting and the weird string music . . . I think it’s supposed to be sexy or something, but instead something about it just always puts me on edge. Is that just me?
LikeLike
Haha, I think I know what you mean. And while we’re on the subject of uncomfortably sexy scenes… what do you make of the opening scene of episode 1? I remember the first time I saw it on TV I was convinced that I had the wrong channel because it just didn’t feel very Austen, even if I can see why the director might want to show Willoughby and Beth together at the beginning rather than springing it on us much later in the series.
LikeLike
YES. Uncomfortably sexy is right! I get the impulse to try to convince the audience that this is New Sexy Austen, but it’s just…too much too soon. Or maybe too much just generally.
LikeLike
Have you seen Kandukondain Kandukondain — the Tamil version of Sense & Sensibility? It’s more or less Bollywood. For a modern-day version, it’s pretty solid. It’s not as Westernized as Bride and Prejudice, so I would say a person needs to have a nodding acquaintance with foreign, subtitled films to enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot and have watched it more than once!! The same actress from Bride and Prejudice plays the Marianne character, and she’s great. It’s (legally) available on YouTube.
LikeLike
You know, I think I HAVE seen it, but I can’t think when or where.
(Miss O and Mrs. F, confirm or deny? Am I making this up?)
Either way…I love the idea.
LikeLike
I remember we talked about it, but we never did see it – would love to!
LikeLike
I am going to go out on a limb when I say, P&P is not one of my top three favorite Jane Austen novels… I don’t know why. I think it is because I read S&S first…? Or because I only have one sister and a single, very un-‘Miss Bennett’ mother? I don’t know… Don’t get me wrong, I like it all the same, I just don’t get why it is the most popular. S&S is not just my most favorite Jane Austen novel, and my most favorite novel ever. I have a younger sister who reminds me so much of Marianne, she even had a Willoughby-type-guy for a boyfriend (well to me he was…). I had to restrain myself from going “She can never be more lost to you then she is now…” on him, even though I know every line in that scene by heart… Anyway, I told my sister to read it, and she said I reminded her of Elinor, which I took as a compliment, but that isn’t what she meant by it. Elinor has always been the most true heroine to me, she speaks to me the most, followed by Fanny, and Anne Elliot as a close third.
I am not saying I would pick Edward over Darcy, that’s just Austenite suicide… But Dan Stevens vs. Colin Firth and/or Matthew McFayden, sorry, but it’s no contest, I won’t take it back even if I lose a limb… And this may be the young-ness of me, but I prefer the 2008 S&S way more than Emma’s version, because Elinor is such an important character to me, and Emma just… didn’t capture it for me… there goes another limb…
LikeLike
Personally, when it comes to ranking my love and admiration for Jane’s novels,Sense and Sensibility has always fallen somewhere right in the middle. P&P comes clichedly first, then Emma and Northanger Abbey are tied and then comes S&S — it isn’t that I like S&S less, but that I love the aforementioned three more (I’m not sure if that line was paraphrased from one of the six holy books (i.e. the Austen canon), but it feels like it was… A little help ladies?).
But, of course, I do love S&S (because it did come from Jane’s pen) and I do have thoughts on the movies. For some reason, for me, they’re both just… good. But the Colin Firth adaptation of P&P raised my expectations of JA adaptations a little to high, so good just isn’t quite good enough. I think they’re very similar in a lot of way and for some reason whenever I try to compare them they just smush and mingle in my brain, creating one ultimate movie with the best of each, so then when I watch either, I’m disappointed that a favourite part from the one I’m not watching is missing… On the whole I think I like the 2008 one better. I (gasp, sorry, don’t hack off my limbs too) prefer all the actors to those in the Emma Thompson one. Like Miss Ryan it may be my youth, but I feel so much more comfortable to Elinor and Marianne being closer to their ages in the book. I think they girl who plays Marianne is just perfect — myself being a girl who relates so much more to her and more aspires to be like lovely, practical Elinor. And I also prefer the guys who play the heros to those in the earlier version.
To be quite, quite honest, I think that half the reason S&S doesn’t earn as much of my love as it should is (this is pathetic) I’m not so ardently in love with the heros. Darcy, Knightly and Tilney are what do it for me, I’m just not really feeling it with Brandon or Ferrars…
And yes, I completely agree about the weirdness of the opening “sex-scene” (if you would even call it that) and the scene at Willoughby’s aunt’s house. They’re just too awkward and melodramatic (and not even satirically so), and completely the wrong tone for Austen (and for the movie which is mostly maintains the right tone.)
LikeLike
Oh my gosh, I spelled Knightley completely wrong! I am sooo sorry. I’ll never do it again!
LikeLike