Sense and Sensibility  and the Bible: Part 1

by Brenda S. Cox

Note: Whether you’re interested in the Bible or not, Jane Austen was very familiar with it, and you may find some new insights into Austen’s stories in these posts!

“All great art contains elements of the true story: the story of the good creation, the fallen world, and the longing for redemption,” claims Professor Jerram Barrs  (Echoes of Eden, 79).

Jane Austen was a devout Christian. She knew well that the overall story of the Bible is about Adam and Eve in Paradise (the Garden of Eden); their “fall” into sin and misery when the devil, in the form of a snake, tempted them to eat the forbidden fruit, and they were evicted from Eden; and Christ’s redemption of repentant sinners through his sacrificial death and his resurrection. Can we find that arc of paradise, fall, and redemption in her wonderful novel, Sense and Sensibility? Or parallels with other stories and principles in the Bible?

I’ve been leading a discussion of Sense and Sensibility for the last seven weeks with a “Christianity and Literature” study group. I’ve learned so much from these insightful people. Last night, as we finished the book, I asked the group this question, from Karen Swallow Prior’s guide to the novel:

“Consider the parallel of the opening chapters [of Sense and Sensibility] to the story of the fall in Genesis: Fanny Dashwood is a kind of Eve who convinces her husband to violate his promise to his father, and the younger Dashwoods are expelled from the home. What are other aspects of the novel that reflect the arc of the creation/fall/redemption narrative?”

I’ll combine the group’s answers with my own.

Losing Paradise

I love Prior’s idea: Norland Park is the Dashwoods’ Paradise. Fanny Dashwood is Eve (or perhaps the devil) tempting Adam (her husband, John Dashwood) to choose money rather than honoring his father. John yields to the temptation. John’s family—his widowed mother and fatherless half-sisters—experience the curse of expulsion from their home and loss of most of their income.

Switching Bible stories, Elinor and Marianne now need a “kinsman-redeemer,” as in the biblical story of Ruth. Widowed Ruth lost her home and her country, following her mother-in-law Naomi and gleaning in the fields for food (the privilege of the fatherless and the widow, Deut. 24:19). Although he was not the closest relative and was older, Boaz became Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer by marrying her and restoring the fortunes of Ruth and Naomi.

In Sense and Sensibility, John, who is Elinor and Marianne’s brother, has promised their father that he will be their “kinsman-redeemer,” providing for his stepmother and half-sisters after their father dies. The Bible commands care for the widow and fatherless, especially of one’s own family (I Tim. 5:4). However, John selfishly fails to provide for them. His conscience bothers him, though, and he’s still anxious that someone else will take that place–as long as it costs him nothing.

Who will “redeem,” or provide a place for, the Dashwood women? A distant cousin, Sir John Middleton, acts as the first kinsman-redeemer, providing the Dashwood women with a home. But the girls, with minimal dowries, still need husbands. They are far from their “Eden.”

Marianne’s Story: Paradise

Willoughby comes along, and Marianne thinks he is “the one.” They experience a halcyon paradise for a time, and Marianne anticipates a “happily ever after.” Willoughby even literally carries her when she falls—he is her false redeemer, though, the snake in the grass.

Marianne’s Story: Her Fall from Paradise

We get a hint of Willoughby’s issues when he acts like the Prodigal Son. In the Bible, the Prodigal Son demands his inheritance while his father is still alive, essentially saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” Willoughby shows Marianne all around Mrs. Allen’s house, without introducing Marianne to her. He acts as if the house is his own, since he expects to inherit it someday. He is saying to Mrs. Allen (without her knowing it), “I wish you were dead,” as the Prodigal Son did to his father.

Willoughby has already fallen, seducing and abandoning Eliza Williams. That sin surfaces, as hidden sins tend to do. The consequences cause him to sin further, abandoning Marianne for a wealthy heiress. Everyone around them thinks Marianne and Willoughby are engaged, because they have been acting as if they are. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44)—his lies led Adam and Eve to sin and lose Eden. Willoughby is also a liar, and his nonverbal lies to Marianne, indicating he will marry her, damage her reputation and break her heart. She has lost her temporary Eden. For Marianne, her relationship with Willoughby—and her romantic ideals—have become an idol. When that idol falls, she collapses, with nowhere else to turn.

Marianne’s Story: Repentance

Marianne almost dies. She says her illness was self-inflicted (suicide was considered a serious sin): “Had I died, it would have been self-destruction,” she says. Through “serious reflection” and “serious recollection”—meaning religious self-examination and prayer—Marianne recognizes her own sins, her own moral failures, and repents of them. She repents of her own selfishness, giving way to her feelings. She has not exerted herself to consider the feelings of others or even to take appropriate care of herself. She has not loved her neighbour, as Elinor has consistently done, or even taken care of herself. Her true repentance leads her to change, to stop being “insolent and unjust” to her neighbours and to show compassion to them and to her own family.

Marianne’s Story: Redemption

Austen gives Marianne a kinsman-redeemer: Colonel Brandon. He is older than Marianne, as Boaz in the Bible is older than Ruth. Brandon loves others sacrificially. He has already acted as a redeemer for his sister-in-law Eliza and for Eliza’s daughter, when they fell into sin and needed rescuing. For Marianne, he has shared his painful story to help her heal from Willoughby’s rejection. He brings her mother to her when Marianne appears to be dying. He offers Edward a living when Edward’s family has rejected him.

Brandon loves Marianne consistently, despite her initial rejection and disdain, and later pity, for him. He brings redemption to her, a second love she thought was impossible.

“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.”

Like other Austen characters, Marianne experiences a change of heart, repentance, we might even say conversion. “Marianne Dashwood was born to an extraordinary fate. She was born to discover . . . She was born to overcome . . .”. Through her suffering, she is redeemed from the lies she believed and the selfishness she practiced. She learns to practice even the “lesser duties of life, with gentleness and forbearance.”

Willoughby’s Story: Selfish “Repentance”

Sense and Sensibility is ultimately a story of selfishness and self-denial: sin vs. virtue. Repentance leads to salvation and redemption. Marianne’s repentance is sincere; Willoughby’s is selfish.

Willoughby expresses some remorse, but it is always self-centered. Even when he comes to Cleveland, thinking Marianne is dying, his thoughts are still for himself, worried about what Marianne and her family think of him. Rather than regretting how he has harmed her, he regrets harming himself by not choosing a wife who would have made him happier. He does not die of a broken heart because of his regrets, however. He is too self-centered for that, and Austen is realistic.

“Each faulty propensity in leading him to evil, had led him likewise to punishment. . . . That his repentance of misconduct, which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted”

—in other words, his sins led him to misery, and he was sincerely sorry for the consequences he suffered.

Redemption and Blessing

Willoughby does not fully repent as Marianne does, in a way that leads to a transformed life and brings happiness. Her life has changed, though, and her story will continue. She now has opportunities to serve and bless others as “the mistress of a family, and the patroness of a village.” She has learned to “love her neighbour” as she loves herself (Matt. 22:39).

Next week we’ll consider more biblical parallels with the story of Edward, Elinor, and Lucy Steele. What Bible stories or principles do you see in that part of the story?

With grateful acknowledgment to the amazing Christianity and Literature group of Intown Community Church in Atlanta, GA. for sharing their ideas and insights.

See also Sense and Sensibility and the Bible, Part 2, for a focus on Edward and Elinor’s story.

More Thoughts on Sense and Sensibility

Rules of Engagement: Honor and Shame in Sense and Sensibility

Marianne Dashwood’s Repentance, Willoughby’s “Repentance,” and The Book of Common Prayer (article)

Marianne Dashwood’s Repentance (blog post)

Faith Words in Sense and Sensibility: A Story of Selfishness and Self-Denial (article)

Jane Austen Faith Word: Exertion and Elinor Dashwood (blog post)

A Change of Heart

Sense and Sensibility and the Church: Part 1, Becoming a Clergyman (follow links at end to Parts 2-4 on Getting a Church Living, Livings for Sale, and The Clergyman’s Life)