#the people who could help Elinor and Marianne really actually grow are each OTHER

[itspileofgoodthings]

I both like Marianne for her refusal to go along with the dictates of society and convention merely for the sake of appearance and ALSO I want to shake her by the shoulders for it because this outlook leads Marianne to practice rudeness that she never considers herself responsible for checking in any way, as if other people’s silliness vulgarity or vices absolve HER of treating them well.

Conversely, I love Elinor for her refusal to let her feelings get the better of her good manners and propriety and it’s especially iconic when wielded against Lucy Steele and sympathetic and understandable when she uses it to protect herself from her extravagantly emotional (and unhelpful) sister and mother. But also I kind of want to shake HER by the shoulders for the way in which she practices this restraint all the time even in the house of her own mind. Or—maybe that’s not exactly what bothers me because she does need to be able to cope! But there’s a sense in which on some level this is about her winning a battle against her own feelings and it’s like—but what if it wasn’t a battle all the time Elinor.

#and you know what’s interesting #neither girl ever really changes #the consequences of their respective worldviews play out really truthfully and both girls have to live THROUGH that #but neither really changes. and the men they end up with reinforce their natural tendencies/don’t require them to change #Marianne continues on her course of emotional excess until she breaks against the rock of willoughby’s caddishness #and then in a kind of exhaustion and defeat lets Colonel Brandon take care of her for the rest of her life #but she kind of never really grows out of that first worldview even though she ‘loves to contradict her favorite maxim by her own choices’ #And Elinor HAS her moment where her feelings burst out of her towards Marianne but then marries Edward #who you may be sure is never going to break down any of her emotional walls when she wants to have them up #And I don’t think this makes the book a failure in any way nor do I think Austen doesn’t know what she’s doing #I also don’t think she tells the story cruelly or judgmentally #But I do think that it isn’t an accident that the romances in here are not at all like the other romances #where personal change and growth is so tied to romance #the people who could help Elinor and Marianne really actually grow are each OTHER #and in a way they do and in a way they don’t! neither girl really wants to change #and I don’t think that makes it inherently a tragedy. Because I think the book is simply about telling the truth #about the way some people live and live with their choices #and what we do with that is up to us #anyway Emma Thompson kind of got around that with her casting choices and framing #she gives Edward more perception and sensitivity than he actually has sometimes #And Alan Rickman is insanely powerful obviously #But the happy ending is more inherently romantic and uplifting in the movie than in the book I think #(Though I’m excited to finish my rereading and have this confirmed) #anyway some thoughts #*lives to contradict her favorite maxim not loves #Marianne doesn’t actually love it!!!!

[empyreanwritings]

January Book Review

Every month I will be doing a minor review of all the books I have read so far in 2023. I'll always include the title, author, and overall rating! I hope you all find a gem on this list the way I have ❤️

Good Girl Complex - Elle Kennedy: First impression is DEAR GOD PLEASE WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE A BET. I was thrown back to circa 2012 when After was all the rage and questioned everything about my purchase. And while this book was a little cliche, I really enjoyed that, unlike After, the characters are actually loveable and there's so much more charm to it outside of the bet & it delves much deeper than just bad boy meets good college girl. I was hooked and read the whole thing in 5 hours because I needed to know how it was going to go. Overall rating: 8/10

Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade: My first impression is a refreshing one bc thank god I'm reading a book where both leads are plus-size. Media is so hellbent on only one person in the relationship being plus-sized that I actually was surprised to see them on the cover and know they'd still get the hot romance, smutty treatment other leads do. The overall story and smut were fantastic. I did enjoy seeing them grow and confess things they were afraid of as the story went on. That being said, the timing was weird. There were a lot of time skips, and in between each chapter, there were texts/interviews/fanfics that didn't coincide with the time of the story. So I was lost a lot, esp when they did a random 6-year skip without saying there was a skip at the beginning. Overall rating: 8.5/10

The Demon's Bargain - Katee Robert: If you didn't know by now, Katee Robert has me by the throat. I love all of her books sm so I was super excited for this one. It's a lot shorter than her other books in the A Deal with a Demon series - only about 120 pages, so I finished it in a few hours. There's not much plot development bc the story is focused on just a three day span then the epilogue shows what happened years later. This book has everything - revenge on shitty exes, non-binary demons, pegging, and a whole lotta bloody sex. If you want an in-depth, profound story then this one may not be for you. This is clearly just for demon-fuckers, and while I wished I could have had more of Lenora and Ramanu bc I really enjoyed them, I know we'll see them in other books so I'm okay with it. Overall rating: 10/10 bc I'm a simple horny bitch.

To Marry and To Meddle - Martha Waters: Martha Waters is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved To Have and To Hoax & To Love and To Loathe, so I looked forward to this one a lot. Emily and Julian were a really interesting story bc they weren't enemies to lovers, they weren't constantly quarreling over things to rekindle their love - they were just two people attracted to each other that entered into a marriage of convenience. Their conflict lied within the fact they weren't supposed to fall in love, and they were only supposed to help each other with their respective problems. I'm also a huge sucker for a rake with a soft center, who just wants to be loved and accepted by people; and that's who Julian is. It was spicy and funny and so tender at moments that I read it within a day. Overall rating: 12/10

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen: I will be honest and say I did not pick up this book because of personal preference. I am currently in a class that has a focus on Jane Austen, so this was the first book I read, and honestly, I loved it. It took me a few days to really get into it, but MAN the drama??? Jane Austen was the OG scandal writer in my eyes idc. I was listening to the audiobook and when I heard someone say that Edward was engaged I went "WHO?" out loud. I felt like I was listening to a reality tv show in that moment. Marianne is my fave character, but I did not want to see her end up with who she ended up with. Nor did I want Elinor to end with her husband because he made her seem like a second choice. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters. Overall rating: 9/10

Book Lovers - Emily Henry: The first Emily Henry book I read was The People We Meet on Vacation, and while I liked it, it wasn't something that made me go "WOW, I'd reread that!" But Book Lovers?? I absolutely would - and WILL - reread it. There was so much to unpack with the main character, Nora, and I absolutely loved that she did not have to change or lose herself at the end of the book because she found someone who understood her. If you are someone who roots for the woman that always gets left behind for the wholesome farm girl in cheesy Hallmark movies then this book is for you. Overall rating: 10/10

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen: I don't know if Jane Austen was the first to really write enemies to lovers, but she sure wrote the kind I thoroughly enjoy. There's not much I can say about this book that hasn't been said by others. It was good--dragged on a bit longer than I anticipated at some points--but its a classic for a reason. Ngl tho I think I enjoyed Pride & Prejudice & Zombies a lot more. Scandalous, I know. Overall Rating: 9.5/10

#book reviews #book recs #january 2023 books

[yennefers-geralt]

So I finished re-reading Sense and Sensibility and …. wow, a few years can do a lot for one’s perspective. 

Going into it again, I don’t think I had an opinion of Lucy Steele, the antagonist of the story, but I finished the novel this time really happy that she thoroughly and completely won. Seriously, she got the kind of ending that only the heroines get in most Austen novels. She began the story as poor and uneducated without resources of her own, yet through her own natural cunning she ended the novel with an independently wealthy husband who’s the heir to his mother’s fortune and she became beloved by her mother-in-law who was determined to hate her. Elinor, the actual protagonist, didn’t get nearly as good an ending. Sure, she got the man she loves (because Lucy ditched him for a better prospect), but it felt like the struggle would continue in other ways for her. I also don’t consider Marianne’s ending particularly happy since she seems to have been pressured into being the “reward” for a man who sees her as a replica of his lost love.

But back to Lucy. I know both Austen contemporaries and modern-day readers dislike her because she’s a gold digger, but I couldn’t help sympathizing with her situation. Her struggles are the same as most of Austen’s heroines outside of Emma Woodhouse. She’s a woman with even less money than any protagonist aside from Fanny Price and she had no access to the kind of education that every other heroine had. What’s more, the novel seems to treat her lack of education as one of her character flaws, even having Elinor and her love interest mock her behind her back over it. Add to that, as a woman, she can only improve her station in life through marriage, meaning any romantic relationship she has will essentially be at least halfway economically-focused. Despite this, Lucy is able to use her charm and cunning to advance herself. She isn’t able to be book-smart, but she’s people-smart, which turns out to be more important considering the people she’s dealing with. 

Using her people-smarts, Lucy is able to first gain a secret engagement with a man who might inherit a fortune. Then, she’s able to ingratiate herself with rich people who grow fond of her and bring her into their homes and social circles, giving her more access to individuals who can become useful to her. She’s also able to retain her engagement by using Edward and Elinor’s honor against them. When the secret engagement is outed and her fiance is disinherited, Lucy continues to try to use her contacts (amusingly including Elinor) to get him a job to secure their future. While doing this, she also cultivates a relationship with her fiance’s brother, the new heir and is able to actually marry him and secure a good financial future for herself. And she doesn’t stop there. Even though her engagement to Edward and marriage to Robert made Mrs. Ferrars hate her, Lucy is able to charm her until she became as beloved by her mother-in-law as though she were her actual daughter. Meanwhile, Edward remains with one foot in the doghouse for ever being engaged to her in the first place. 

Lucy starts out with absolutely nothing and ends up with everything, purely due to her own natural skills.

Yeah, but she’s a gold digger, most would say. But so what? No Austen heroine is trying to marry the chimney sweep or the stableboy. They’re all looking for husbands with financial security. Lucy is just more aggressive and less romantic about it. She’s dealing with her situation not in terms of love but in terms of how to advance in society and in finances. Since there aren’t jobs that would help women move up on her own, she has to use the tools her society allows her. In a different type of society, she might use different tools that could help her advance just as effectively.

If a true modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility were done, Lucy and Elinor wouldn’t be rivals over Edward. He’s not the point where Lucy is concerned. They would be rivals over something far more significant than a potential husband. They would more likely be workplace frenemies out for the same promotions, having to work on the same projects, and distrusting each other while being fake nice or passive aggressive. Or they would be college roommates with Elinor as the lower middle-class girl whose parents made too much for her to qualify for most scholarships and financial aid, yet didn’t make enough to help pay tuition while Lucy was the dirt poor girl who relied heavily on financial aid, did everything she could to hide her poverty while relying on wealthier friends for social gatherings, pursued any potential internship she could to beef up her resume, and researched any and every scholarship she might qualify for or might have to lie/embellish to qualify for. 

But I’ve always thought that about modern Austen fics/adaptations. Focusing on the romantic aspects of the novel misses most of the point. The novels focus heavily on gaining husbands because marriage was the vehicle through which women were allowed to advance themselves in Regency England. Thus, marriage was their main concern since that would dictate their future and the future of any children they would have. If the same characters were transported to the modern times when they would be able to advance themselves through higher education and work, their stories wouldn’t be as romance focused. Elinor would still fall in love with Edward, but he would be her supportive boyfriend/spouse while she has other struggles. Meanwhile, a modern Lucy wouldn’t necessarily be a gold digger. She would more likely be the woman ruthlessly clawing her way to the top while smiling and charming anyone she came across.

So anyway, long story short, Lucy Steele is amazing and extremely underrated. I’m glad Jane Austen gave her the happiest ending of any of her villains. 

#lucy steele #sense and sensibility #apparently i have a lot of feelings about this #if jane austen were alive today she would be writing tv show's like the office or seinfeld focusing on making fun of societal norms #anyway #on to pride and prejudice