Sense & Sensibility Week - My Tag Question Answers

Sense and Sensibility Week has started at Miss Georgiana Darcy blog! Head on over to check out all of the interesting posts in celebration of S&S's 200th anniversary!
These are my answers to the S&S Week questions. Thank you Miss Georgiana for hosting this week!

1: When did you first read Sense and Sensibility? Have you reread it since?
I first read Sense and Sensibility (S&S) for literature in high school when my dad (my then teacher) assigned it. He knew I loved Jane Austen so he gave me Persuasion and then S&S to read. I loved every minute of it and have gone back to visit that world very often.

2: When did you first watch Sense and Sensibility? Which adaptation was it?
Sense & Sensibility 1995 was my first ever Jane Austen film. My parents went and saw it in the cinemas and came home saying they laughed and cried and it was one of the best films they'd ever seen! When it came out on VHS I was just about 10 years old and I just ate up that world of bonnets, carriages and witty remarks. My family has watched that version so often that we still, 15 years later, quote it randomly! :)

3: If you have watched/heard of more than one adaptation which one was your favorite? (Rants allowed)
I have a very hard time deciding which S&S adaptation is my favorite. I grew up watching the 1995 version so it will always have a very special place in my heart but it wasn't until I read the book for myself that I realized it was quite a condensed version and didn't tell the whole story. I saw the 1981 BBC version next and didn't enjoy it at first, now I actually quite like it, especially the Willoughby in that film fits more with my idea of the character. When the 2008 adaptation was being filmed I was so excited but also wary because of the reports of the startling first scene. When I watched it for the first time I couldn't help embracing it with open arms because they got so many things right! So I think I'm going to say the 2008 version is probably my favorite now but I watch all of the adaptations (even the silly and dramatic 1971 BBC version) with glee!

4: Which three S&S characters drive you crazy?
Few Jane Austen characters drive me really crazy. I appreciate most of them and love to laugh at their eccentricities. Even the sometimes unsympathetic Mrs. Jennings, the scoundrel John Willoughby and the selfish Fanny Dashwood are some of my favorite Austen characters. But there are a few in S&S than do make me want to rant a bit.

Lucy Steele has to be at the top of the list! She's absolutely the most sneakiest and almost villainous character with her designs and pretensions! She actually takes great delight in wounding Elinor once she picks up the scent of a liking between her and Edward. And then after all she has the gall to leave a man who has honorably pledged his heart and hand to marry his younger brother for money! Lucy really is infuriating!

Lady Middleton is probably next on my list. She's probably a good woman and mother (otherwise how could a charming man like Sir John marry her) but she's just the kind of simpering woman who is an indulgent mother and completely taken up with her children to the exclusion of all else. I don't really have much patience with her and her bad tempered son William. It's hard to see how such a woman could be the daughter of Mrs. Jennings who is such a jovial carefree person.

Probably the next character that annoys me most is Mrs. Ferrars. She does have some lines in the book and we find that she's a hard woman only concerned with people's position in society. She likes Fanny and Robert because they are like herself but she's not a loving enough mother to do the right thing by Edward who is the only one in the Ferrars family to act honorably! And the way she goes on about "Miss Mornton" in the book makes me, like Marianne, wish to say something quite harsh to her!




5: Which heroine are you most like: Elinor or Marianne?

I am definitely most like Elinor Dashwood. Like her I am quiet, sensible and introspective. Though I feel things deeply I try to govern those feelings with few emotions showing. It is not in my nature to feel half so passionate and whole-hearted towards life as Marianne does.
I always used to get Elinor as a result when I take a heroine personality test. Lately I've been getting Catherine Morland though... :)


6: Who would be most enjoyable: (or bearable) Mr. Palmer or Mrs. Palmer?
Mrs. Palmer I think. Mr. Palmer from the book would be quite boring, all politics and crooked roofs. Charlotte Palmer would be my choice because she's actually quite sweet in her way with some humorous remarks like her mother Mrs. Jennings.
But if I could have the Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie versions of the Palmers (from S&S 1995) then I'd be content to stay with them at Cleveland for

7: What would be your reaction if you saw a re-write of Sense and Sensibility where it was Elinor who married Colonel Brandon?
Frankly if it also contained Edward Ferrars I'd find the re-write quite disappointing. Elinor and Edward are meant to be together, and so are Colonel Brandon and Marianne. An Elinor & Col. Brandon match would be too cool, too calm, too level headed, not really that interesting to be honest. Elinor Dashwood and Colonel Brandon are good friends, we may even say that he is the caring brother she never had. And frankly I don't think that such a match could be likely, Elinor never thought of it until Mrs. Jennings mentioned it, and Colonel Brandon wouldn't marry where he did not love completely. They would make good business partners though perhaps in a modern retelling.

8: Where does Sense and Sensibility rank in your list of favorite Austen novels?
Currently it's at #4 on my favorites list but only because I've just recently fallen completely in love with Mansfield Park and it's almost taken over my love of Northanger Abbey (almost!). :)
In order of favorites mine are: Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Pride and Prejudice. But choosing between Jane Austen novels, for me, is like trying to choose a favorite type of ice cream or a favorite chocolate bar - I love them all so well that I could never hate any of them! :)

Very Truly Your's,