Sense and Sensibility: The Movie Ending is Better

I read Sense and Sensibility (1811) for the first time when I was in high school and let me tell you, reading it again for my English class: I did not remember a single thing about it. However, I have seen the movie a TON of times (the one with Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman), and that is where the majority of my remembrance of the text comes from.

For the purpose of my class we read the book and then watch the movie and apply what we are learning to determine if we find it a good adaptation or not. We look at fidelity to the source text, what's changed, the characters, if it captures the 'feeling' and many other things. So, when reading it for a second time and finding all the things I missed between the movie and the book this time around was interesting.

Most people know that Jane Austen's novel follows a pair of sisters, that after the death of their father have to navigate a new kind of life and the relationships that come with it. There are vibrant characters, as well as 'drab' ones, but the Dashwood family - particularly Elinor and Marianne - are the central nucleus of the plot. And, of course, there is no lack of 18th Century dialogue, manners, romance and propriety, or lack there of, throughout the book which is what continues to draw book lovers to Austen.

After reading the book and watching the movie in succession, I have decided that the book makes you dislike Mr. Willoughby more than the movie does. There is a significant scene in the book, near the end, that the film leaves out and it is in this scene that Willoughby tries to justify his choices. As a reader and a viewer, I feel the movie leaves more room for sympathy towards him by not including it. 

The majority of the book is conversations between the characters and what those conversations reveal about the plot and the characters. Much of the dialogue is lengthy and very wordy, but that is how people talked in Auten's time. There is some internal development, which focuses entirely on Elinor's internal monologue. This threw me off because I found most of the book to be more about Marianne's character, her trial and tribulations, but not about her internally. It was strange to have a book written that way.

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There are four adaptations of Sense and Sensibility: three TV mini-series and one film from 1995, which is the one we watched. I have also seen the 2008 two-part series as well, but not the other two.

The cast in the film is exceptional: Winslet plays Marianne, Thompson is Elinor, Grant as Mr. Edward Ferrars and Rickman personifies Colonel Brandon. I love this movie. Aside from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, this is one of the movies in my collection that I go back to over and over again. I can NEVER get enough.

I wholeheartedly believe that Alan Rickman made the most quintessential Colonel Brandon there ever was. Loved him in the role. Disagree with me on the point? I will fight you. HA! No seriously though, in the book Colonel Brandon is reserved, troubled and 'drab' or 'dull'. I think Rickman brought some life to the roll and really rounded out the character more than the book ever gave him credit for. 

To top it all off, I have decided to do my term paper for my class on this adaptation. I'm specifically going to look at the change to the scenes surrounding Marianne's illness and how that effects the end of the movie. Who knows, maybe I will post snippets from my paper on here; sections that I'm particularly proud of perhaps.

I think I need to read more Austen...