My Experience Of Studying Sense and sensibility

My Experience of Studying Sense and sensibility 

-Author :- Jane Austen

-First published :-  1811 (anonymously as "By a Lady")

-genre :- Novel of manners, Romantic fiction

-Setting:- England - Sussex and Devonshire

-Main Theme:-  Sense (Elinor - logic, restraint) vs Sensibility (Marianne - emotion, openness)

As a student of English Literature, when our professor first announced sense and sensibility as our next novel, I was not excited at all. The title itself sounded like a chapter from psychology, not a novel. I thought, "Another old 19th-century love story with no connection to our generation." But as I started studying it for my internal marks, my whole perspective was changed .

 My First perspective as a student 

The first week was very difficult for me. The language of Jane Austen is not easy. And also i didn't attend few lectures .Long sentences, formal English, and so many characters with similar names like Mrs. Dashwood, Mrs. John Dashwood, Mrs. Jennings. I had to watch YouTube summaries and make a character map in my notebook just to understand who is who. I was literally getting bored while our professor telling us the susummary because there are so many characters in this novel .

What i felt while studying sense and sensibility 

As a student, I started connecting more with the characters during my own exam stress. When Marianne was crying for Willoughby and couldn't study, eat, or talk properly, I remembered how we also get distracted by personal issues. And Elinor? She became my inspiration. Even though she was heartbroken about Edward and Lucy Steele, she still managed everything, attended social gatherings, and took care of her family.

Initially, I was Team Marianne. Because like many of us in college, I also believe in expressing everything openly, putting status, listening to sad songs. But slowly I understood, Elinor's 'sense' is more practical for real life. You can't survive in this world with only emotions.

Themes that i noticed as a student 

Two things hit me very hard as a student.

First Money matters . I always thought love is above money, but Austen shows the reality. Edward loses his money, so he can't marry. Willoughby leaves Marianne for Miss Grey because she is rich. It made me think - even today, family background, job, package matters a lot in relationships. Austen wrote it 200 years ago but it is still true from my small town to big cities.

Second  society and gossip. Characters like Mrs. Jennings and Lucy Steele are everywhere even today, in college groups, in WhatsApp groups. They gossip, they judge, they show fake sympathy. I could relate to it so much.

The part that stayed with me 

The part that stayed with me most is Marianne's illness at Cleveland. After reading Willoughby's cold letter, she almost dies. That scene taught me how dangerous it can be when we let emotions control us completely. I also loved Colonel Brandon's character. He doesn't show off, he just stays quietly and supports. As students, we all need a friend like Brandon.

 A quote which i like the most

One quotation I noted in my diary for my exam is, when Elinor says she has been trying to be calm. I have written it on my study table, because during exams and pressure, we also have to try to be calm.

How my understanding changed

Before studying, I thought the novel was just about two sisters.

 Who finding husbands. After studying it chapter by chapter, making notes, discussing in class, I understood it is about balance. A person needs both sense and sensibility. Too much logic makes you cold like Elinor sometimes seemed, and too much emotion makes you weak like Marianne. We need both.

 How this is still Relevant In 2026 

Now, if someone asks me, I will say _Sense and Sensibility_ is not boring at all. It is relevant even in 2026. Willoughby ghosting Marianne is like modern ghosting. Lucy Steele's manipulation, Mrs. Jennings's memes and gossip, and the struggle for financial security - we see it daily on Instagram and in real life.

What This novel taught me 

As a student, this novel taught me more than just a story. It taught me how to control emotions, how society works, and that real strength is not in shouting your feelings, but in handling them quietly. I started as a reluctant reader, but I ended up loving this novel. It will definitely help me not just in my exams, but in my own life.

Citation/ Acknowledgement 

 I used Meta AI for correcting grammar, structuring my blog, and finding meanings of difficult words. 

The personal experiences, opinions about characters, and all reflections mentioned in this blog are my own as a student studying the novel. 

Images created  By AI .