Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Imagining Sense and Sensibility in Epistolary
Because of our past two reading experiences were works in the epistolary form, I found myself imaging how Sense and Sensibility would be different had Austen chosen to write it in letter form. Though, as many have noted in previous posts, she makes the characterizations of the Dashwood girls very obvious throughout the beginning of the novel, Austen could have potentially added depth to these characterizations by expressing them through the girls' own voices. This manner of presenting their personalities and tastes may have led the reader astray for some of the novel. The reader would have to question the characters' descriptions as was required in Lady Susan. The epistolary form would have revealed the extent to which Elinor understands her own sense and Marianne accepts her sensibility. It would be interesting if Austen perhaps began the novel in the third person omniscient narration (as she ended Lady Susan) giving an overview of the girls general dispositions and then switched to epistolary form. This would allow the reader to understand Elinor's and Marianne's more detailed personal feelings and insecurity. I would love to see two different accounts of the same instance through Elinor's and Marianne's differing interpretations through letters. We get a slight inclination about these differences, but through the one filter of the narrator. The epistolary form could also add depth to characters such as Margaret, Edward, and Willoughby.
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Switching to epistolary form halfway through would be really interesting! I'm imagining excerpts from Elinor and Marianne's diaries:
ReplyDeleteMarianne: "We left dear Norland today and my eyes flowed with tears, oh the happy hours of times past I shall cherish evermore."
Elinor: "We left at six in the morning and passed 30 kilometers of Sussex before resting at the Crowne Inn. I am not much fatigued."
I feel like Austen missed an amusing opportunity here haha.
I agree completely with Jane; and Carol I think your excerpts are dead-on! As I originally assumed the girls would stick to their generalized character sketches (not so true as I read the rest of the novel as many people noted), I think the idea of the juxtaposition of character sketches from a third person omniscient narrator with the epistolary form giving a real insight into the minds of the girls would have been an entertaining read, and full of questioning as I would not know which characters and letters to trust, or to trust the narrator. I wonder if viewing the correspondence from the male characters such as Colonel Brandon, Edward, and Willoughby would lead us to feel more or less sympathy for their characters, as for much of the novel we know very little of their intentions as they are focalized through the Elinor and Marianne’s (often biased) perspectives. I feel though with the letters of Edward and Willoughby revealed the suspense of the novel would dissipate, as we would no longer wonder why Willoughby had not replied, or to whom Edward’s admiration truly belongs.
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