Calleigh's Favourite Sense and Sensibility Quotes

Here are some of my favourite quotes from S&S:

Marianne would have thought herself very inexcusable had she been able to sleep at all the first night after parting from Willoughby.

“Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other.”- Edward

 “This is admiration of a very peculiar kind!—what is Miss Morton to us?—who knows, or who cares, for her?—it is Elinor of whom we think and speak.”  And so saying, she took the screens out of her sister-in-law’s hands, to admire them herself as they ought to be admired.  – Marianne

S&S has many memorable quotes, but these are definitely some of the best (at least I think so). 

- Calleigh

Sentences of Sentimentality

I have a total of three favorite quotes from the book Sense and Sensibility; they are recorded below.

"It is not every one," said Elinor, "who has your passion for dead leaves."

Ah, don't we love Marianne? She can become excited over the simplest of things! She still managed to find beauty even in an object that is often overlooked.

"Marianne, who had the knack of finding her way in every house to the library, however it might be avoided by the family in general, soon procured herself in a book."

I do believe it possible for myself to share this knack with her, should the average house today contain a library. *wistful sigh*

"Marianne could never love by halves; and her whole heart became, in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby."

The passion possessed by Marianne is perhaps the most obvious trait she carries. By this time in the book, her passion is no longer selfish in its essence, but instead, her ardor is redirected to that of Colonel Brandon; her husband, and now the man she loves. You have to give credit to the girl for this: she loves with her entire heart and everything she is.

Skyeler

Calleigh's Sense and Sensibility Project

Ok, so for Sense and Sensibility's blog project I wrote an essay on the villains of S&S.  It was fun (I'm weird and enjoy writing essays), and I guess I chose the most obvious of the villains. (I still think Edwards a wimp, sorry I just had to throw that in there :D)  Anyway, with out any further ado, my essay!

Sense and Sensibility’s Scoundrels

                Although there may not technically be a villain in the sense that we think of the word, Sense and Sensibility has many characters worth our disgust.  Number one on the list is Willoughby, the breaker of hearts and the seeker of wealth.  We pound Willoughby pretty hard for what he did to Marianne, but if you really think about it, what would you have done?  Would you have picked love or money?  I’m not excusing what he did, but how many of us would have done anything less?  His one redeeming quality is that he truly did love Marianne.  Although he chose to cast her aside, he did love her.

                Number two is Lucy Steele who, in my opinion, is just as conniving as Willoughby.  Once she discovers Eleanor’s attachment to Edward, she does everything she can to flaunt her own.  Then, once she finally has him, she dumps him for his now rich younger brother!  She is Willoughby in the female form.

                Jane Austen writes very believable villains.  Some that make you dislike them almost instinctively, and others that we must peel the mask off to discover what is really beneath it.   How many Lucy’s have you know?  How many Willoughby’s run loose in the world?  Without their villains books would be boring, but how we hate them!

- Calleigh

Skyeler's Sense and Sensibility Project

I chose to write a journal entry for my blog project. As you might have noticed by viewing the quiz results on the side, I can be very much like Marianne Dashwood. This being the case, I surprised most people, and wrote a journal entry from Elinor's point of view. It was quite an experience, trying to capture Elinor's emotions while not having too much of Marianne's drama, and still keeping the eloquent style of Jane Austen. Below is my entry; it was supposed to be written directly after Elinor learned from Lucy Steele of Edwards being engaged.

Late Evening

While visiting at Barton Park today, I met with the Miss Steeles. Lady Middleton had high praise of them, as both gave excessive attention to her children, and Sir John, as always, is fond of those who appreciate his camaraderie (however trivial it may be). Despite such commendation, I found their company considerably uncivil. Their manners were wanting, as was their intelligence. The younger Miss Steele, Lucy by name, spoke of Edward to me in the greatest confidence. Why do I write his name with any attention? He is engaged, as now I know.

Oh, why would he not tell me? How could he deduce that hiding such a relationship would become amiable in the slightest? I abhor such secrecy as it is meant to harm, and have not yet understood why he has chosen to use it against me. It is the nature of a woman to find offence in being an object of a man’s pleasure; a man presumed even as a gentleman!

And yet, perhaps Edward still remains a gentleman as I once presumed. I cannot believe he would use me for his own enjoyment; he is too respectable for such actions. Nay, he has done no wrong toward me! He was sworn to secrecy by Lucy, and trapped in his engagement. The circumstances being thus, how would he be able to reveal that information to me? He was not wrong in his dealings with me. Despite what I allowed my emotions to integrate, he never revealed his own as certain. He was an engaged man, and I perceived incorrectly. He will marry Lucy, as he should, and remain true to his honor. And I…I will be as if nothing ever existed between us.

And yet, even that is hard to believe. Though my mother and sister both possess rapid imaginations, even I believed him attached to myself. Despite his inability to pursue such an attachment, I would not have questioned that his attentions toward me implied a desire for a more intimate connection. Yes, I perceived him to be in love with me. I believe his love for me now! Oh, but now he is to be forced into an attachment with Lucy. How cruel! I admit to even feeling sorry for him; for Edward truly deserves better than that insipid, selfish girl. He will be bound by honor, and thus will he marry. Not for love, nor happiness, nor even wealth; but for honor. Such a gentleman does not warrant to be left to Lucy’s utilization.

Yes, I believe his honor to be one of his greatest attributions. But I must detain my hope for a life with him. How little I knew I ever desired it until now? I must let him keep to his nobility, and I will, somehow, be content.

Elinor Dashwood

I enjoyed writing this tremendously! Recording emotions into a journal is something I do rather frequently, and this gave me a good perspective on what it might be like to see through another's eyes; not only what they do, but what they feel. ~ Skyeler

Victoria's Sense and Sensibility Project

For my project, I decided to make a chart to visually portray all of the characters in Sense and Sensibility and exactly how they are connected to one another.

I used a little color to add a bit more information to my chart as well as to make it prettier. :)
I had a lot of fun compiling this project!

-Tori

Elizabeth's S&S Project: Elinor and Marianne's Songs

Behind the Scenes By Francesca Battistelli,
Elinor's Song

You may think,
I'm just fine,
How could anything ever be out of line?
I take my time,
To set the stage,
Make sure everything, is all in place.
And even though I've got the line rehearsed,
A picture only paints a thousand words.

(Chorus)



Things aren't always what they seem,
Your only seeing part of me,
There's so much more that's going on,
Behind the scenes.
I'm incomplete an I'm undone,
But I suppose like everyone,
There's so much more that's going on
Behind the scenes.

Sometimes I can't see anything,
Through the dark,
Surronding me,
And at times I'm unsure,
About the ground,
Beneath my feet,
If it's safe and sound,
When it's hard to find hope in the unseen,
I have peace in knowing it will find me.

(Chorus)

You may think,
I'm just fine,
How could anything
Ever be out of line?

(Chorus)




When Love Takes You In By Steven Curtis Chapman
Marianne's Song

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

(Chorus)

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

(Chorus)

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

(Chorus)

Elizabeth*~

First Look at "Sense & Sensibility"

Our first Conversations with Jane meeting took place at our house. I broke out my real china that had been sitting in my cupboard for more years than I care to admit and searched for some real Regency era recipes to make for our tea time. Since Jane Austen is very British, we all felt that the occasion called for tea. I slaved, I mean, cooked in the kitchen all morning making Tea Cakes with Earl Grey tea icing (Dan was nice enough to help me with this) and Lemon Syllabub. Now I don't think that the Tea Cakes fit the Regency era profile, but they are unbelievably yummy and just made to go with the tea. The Lemon Syllabub recipe, however, was found here . Don't worry, we didn't use white wine, it was lemon juice all the way! After tea and dessert, we sat down to discuss our first novel, Sense & Sensibility.

And discuss we did! The girls had plenty to say and a few pages of notes! Three hours was hardly enough time to discuss the merits of Elinor's "sense" or Marianne's "sensibility," or just how much we hate Lucy Steele and Fanny Dashwood. I had an activity planned for the day, however, we only got to the first half of it. The girls read aloud from Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman. It is poetry meant to be read both separately and together by two readers. It proved to be quite a challenge and the girls enjoyed giving it a go, though Calleigh thought reading about insects was a bit odd (and dare I say, unromantic). :) The second half of the activity is to pair up and compose a poem for two voices for Elinor and Marianne, and that will have to wait till our next meeting.


The girls having tea and dessert. Starting at the left and going around the table we have Sarah, Aly, Tori, Calleigh, Skyeler, and Elizabeth. Hadley wasn't able to be there.

Look at all those books, papers, and notebooks! The girls were prepared for some heavy discussion. Tori even had her blanket :)

Pairing up to read Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Angel

A Journey Begins

Welcome to "The Austen Sisters!" We are so pleased that you have paused to take a look at our little corner here. Our wish is that you find it everything that is amiable.

My own journey into Jane Austen's novels began with my parent's discovery of BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1995). After viewing the mini-series, I was curious to read the novel. I had thought myself to be a widely read person, but somehow I had missed Jane Austen. The love of Jane Austen's work has been evolving ever since, through the novels I have read and the movie adaptations I have watched.

Skyeler (and even Aly) has come to share my love of Jane. Really, I'm not sure that she had much of a choice. Our circle of friends here, both moms and girls, have their own love of all things Austen. Somehow Jane has made her way into our everyday lives. Whether we are discussing the merits of Colin Firth as the ultimate Mr. Darcy, which one of us is more of an "Elinor" or "Marianne," or just slipping our favorite Jane Austen quotes into any and every conversation, Jane is near by.

With all of this Austen-ness floating around, I thought it only appropriate that one of Skyeler's high school electives this year be a literature study focused on the works of Jane Austen. Skyeler had yet to read all of her works and after some internet research, I could see the whole study coming together. We invited Sharon, Tori, and Elizabeth - Robin, Hadley, and Calleigh - and Beverly and Sarah to join us and Conversations with Jane was born.

As the school year progresses, we will make our way through all of Jane Austen's published novels, as well as some of her unpublished works. Conversations with Jane will encompass the reading of the novels, discussion, a Regency inspired activity, and a blog project. The year will culminate with the girls attending a Regency Ball in a Regency gown that they are even now working on sewing themselves.

For each novel we read, the girls will be required to complete a project to be posted here on the blog. This will also be the place for them to share their favorite quotes and any other thoughts they may have. I will also be sharing pictures and anecdotes from our Conversations with Jane meetings.

So we invite you to join "The Austen Sisters," as the girls have so named themselves and the blog, each month and share in our journey. We hope you find it all that is amiable and agreeable.

Angel