Sense and Sensibility

So today I watched Sense and Sensibility, the movie based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. It really struck me, which is interesting because this isn't the first time I've seen this movie. In fact, I actually read the book a few years back as well. So I got to wondering why I would be so impressed with it this time?

The truth is that while it was a decent read, I was never that struck on the book (I was much more into Pride and Prejudice!) and the first time I watched the movie it obviously didn't make much of an impression because I actually forgot that I had seen it until about 20 minutes into the show.

When I think back to the last time I read the book or saw the movie, I can't remember what was going on in my life and I don't even know how long of a gap there was between the viewings but I do know that a lot has happened since then. I've loved and lost --in retrospect, this is a good thing--as well as met loads of new people and in general grown up a lot.

The first time that I read the book, I remember thinking that Marianne, the younger heroine of the story, was weak and overemotional but tonight when I watched it I saw something else. I guess she sort of repressented that phase in life that everyone goes through: that first real love and the first really tragic heartbreak where it feels like you're never going to feel properly again. I also found Elenor to be sort of cold and overly reserved when I was younger but she was simply wary of being too public with what she felt which again I can somewhat relate to now that I'm a bit more experienced and less naive myself.

I think that both Marianne and Elenor's situations at the end of the story show a few things I've found to be true. The first that you can't really understand love until you've been wounded by it, as well as the fact that it can often take someone else (perhaps someone better?) to fully recover from it. Lastly, not being a romantic or one of those "artistic souls" doesn't doom you to boring passionless relationships.

I suppose the reason why I felt such a pull to this movie is that I see parts of myself in both Elenor and Marianne; maybe thats why I found the story so moving this time around.

So as I sit here tonight, I wonder if Jane Austen wrote this story with the knowledge that her characters demonstrated how many of us mature in our romantic relationships or if the story was just a random fancy brought to life by her imagination. Did she herself go though this change too? Perhaps I'm looking to much into it. I won't ever know what she was thinking, but I'm thankful that she wrote it down.


In a side note, I think this is the closest I have ever come to a real blog post. Yay me? Im not sure! hehe!