If I had wanted your opinion I would have asked for it, Jane

From Elise’s Post: Austen soon dissipates this need only six pages into the novel the narrator gives character sketches of the two main characters Elinor and Marianne. 

Like Kate, I too have read this book multiple times prior to this current reading and prior to my cracking the pages of the Broadview edition for a third time I looked forward to diving deep into the text and formulating opinions that I had not the opportunity create previously. From the outset, however, I found myself quite annoyed by the descriptions Austen gave. While I certainly remember, and furthermore am not bothered by, the character descriptions given by Austen, what strikes me as annoying is her constant insertion of her feelings on the characters’ actions and circumstances. In a paper I wrote for another class on Sense and Sensibility, I asserted that it was admirable and refreshing to have an author with an agenda; that is, I liked how Austen told me that “Sir John Middleton was a good looking man about forty”. (67) Furthermore, I like that Austen tells me Marianne is quite sensible and emotional at the beginning of the novel and then goes on to write three volumes to prove her claim. Examples like these, character opinions, certainly have their place in novels such as Sense and Sensibility and contribute to my overall positive view of Austen.

                  What bothers me is when Austen gives her opinion on certain situations not critical to the storyline. An example of this can be found in her description of Barton Cottage. On the topic of the Dashwoods’ desire to remodel their new abode, Austen says “they were wise enough to be contented with the house as it was” due to their financial situation. What bothers me about this statement is that the character description of Mrs. Dashwood is not consistent with this notion of being “wise enough”. Rather, I feel Austen is acting as an external god figure and imposing her will and knowledge of what she, and admittedly I, knows upon the actions of Mrs. Dashwood. In the same chapter, Austen ends by telling the readers that a child ought to be in every party because the members of a discussion can spend all their time doting upon him. This seems very superfluous and external to the storyline. Doting upon Lady Middleton’s son is exactly what the Dashwoods did and so it seems unnecessary to assert an opinion, one which is given in general terms rather than in the specific context of the story, which has just been demonstrated. Perhaps I am being too harsh on Austen as I love reading Sense and Sensibility but I think, after my third reading, she is far too present within the lives of the Dashwoods and Middletons.