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Classical Stuff You Should Know
282: Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
01:09:40
Did you guys bring your dogs?
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- [00:10]
A
Hello, and welcome to Classical Stuff youf Should Know, a podcast about three guys talking about whatever we want to. My name is Thomas Magbee. I am joined, as always, by Mr. A.J. hanenberg. That's me. And Mr. Graham Donaldson.
- [00:22]
B
Hello.
- [00:23]
A
And today, Graham will be leading an episode on two things that we as a podcast. Lack of Sense and Sensibility.
- [00:30]
B
I think we have.
- [00:30]
A
I think they're pretty good.
- [00:32]
B
I think we have a lot of sensibility. Okay, good.
- [00:34]
A
I guess we'll find out.
- [00:36]
C
We're senseless but sensible.
- [00:37]
B
Okay.
- [00:38]
A
Interesting.
- [00:39]
B
It's more so. I think we use the words. Yeah, sense. No, Maybe we lack sense. So, anyway, we'll get there. This is so the reason we're doing this. So I've done an Emma episode.
- [00:50]
A
Yes.
- [00:51]
B
I don't know if we've done a Pride and Prejudice episode.
- [00:54]
C
Maybe I think we have a long time ago.
- [00:56]
B
But this is kind of like we're gonna do another one because I'm kind of doing this as a series. I'm gonna do an episode like this on every single Austin book. And there's five of them.
- [01:07]
A
I think we totally have done a Pride and prejudice back in 2021.
- [01:10]
B
Okay. Yeah. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield park and Northanger Abbey. There's five. Oh, Persuasion. Six.
- [01:18]
A
So when AJ Posts the episodes, he'll list the people in the episode. So, like the three of us, but he always changes the names. Do you remember that you do this? And so for this one.
- [01:28]
B
Yeah, I still do it.
- [01:30]
A
Clearly, I don't follow this. You only see it if you go to the website. Right. Like, you don't see it in the podcast feed.
- [01:35]
C
And then click on the little thing. Like, it's just that one little spot.
- [01:37]
A
It's very funny. So anyway, this one, the three participants are Collins, Wickham and Darcy. And then it says, AJ is Darcy. That's very good. Thank you, A.J.
- [01:46]
B
Very funny.
- [01:46]
A
That's very good.
- [01:47]
B
We're probably going to be redoing another one, because I'm sort of doing it with an eye for having this be a series. But what I'm going to do every. Single. So it's six. All six Jane Austen novels. Just sort of like, very similar to the episode where we're sort of going through the entirety of the novel and maybe drawing out a couple of themes so that people could use it if they're using it in schools, or they can just sort of for their own enjoyment as primers to the book. But then I've got. In the background. I'm also doing A lot of reading on Jane Austen's life herself. And I kind of have this, like, longer series in mind that I want to put together that's using Jane Austen as a takeoff point for talking about some other things. But that's, that's coming down the line. So anyway, just. Just as a. As a classical. Classical stuff, kind of like road map. That's why we're getting all these Austin books, because I'm reading them all and these are going to be used. These are just sort of like. So you can know the book. And then down the line I want to be doing something where we're using all of these books. But. But I've kind of got like a bigger. A bigger axe to grind, a bigger thesis that I'm working out. So anyway, that's why we're doing all these books.
- [02:49]
A
Are you teaching these books? Like, where did this start?
- [02:51]
B
No, no, I'm not teaching any of this stuff. It started because I taught Pride and Prejudice for years and then I pivoted to Emma. So just full disclosure, as of right now, I've read every Jane Austen book except Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. Haven't read those ones. I've read every other one and I love them. I think they're wonderful. But I also think the, like, Jane Austen industrial complex that exists in this world actually isn't helping a reading or understanding of her books. When Hannenberg and I were in Bath, you could go to the Jane Austen Museum. And I was like, oh, that sounds kind of cool. And I looked into it and it's. No, it's not cool. It was like it would. It was very much geared and tailored towards almost like more like fans of the movies than like the book. Maybe they talked about like her life and sort of stuff, but it felt more like a Jane Austen entertainment experience than it did like the history of her, like the real historical person, if that makes any sense.
- [03:57]
A
You all did not end up.
- [03:58]
B
So we didn't end up going. I think it was actually closed the day we. There. We did not end up going. But anyway, so today we're talking about Sense and Sensibility. So spoilers for this, you know, 200 year old book if you haven't. If you've ever read it before. But let's. Let's get into it. All right, so. And ultimately, I think the book is about, maybe not ultimately, but one of the main themes, at least. The thing that I've been thinking about as I read through it is like, what happens when men fail, like when males in Society and are big failures. Not in terms of, like, they tried something and they failed at it, but, like, they are moral failures. Because almost every male in this book is, like, a failure as a big moral failure. And the effect that that has on everybody around them, especially their wives or the women who are in love with them and that kind of stuff. So that's. Maybe this is like a dude's version, a dude's take on Sense and Sensibility, but that's fine. So, anyway. Okay, here's the book. So you had this family, the Dashwoods. And the Dashwoods lived in this big, beautiful estate, beautiful country house. They had some cash. And big Daddy Dashwood is dying. And father Dashwood, whose name I can't remember, had had two marriages. He had his. I'm sure. Okay. And he had his first marriage, and his wife died. And from that marriage, he had a son named John. And John Dashwood is his only son. And John Dashwood is set to inherit the entire major big ol estate. But Henry Dashwood, the dad who's dying, also had been married to another woman who she's known as just Mrs. Dashwood through the book. I'm sure she's got a first name, but I cannot remember it. And she and dad Dashwood had three daughters. Eleanor, Marianne and Margaret, who doesn't count. I'm sure Margaret counts, but she's not a big. She's not a big character in the story. You got Eleanor and Marianne, who are the big main characters of the story. Anyway, Father Dashwood is on his deathbed, and he brings John in, and he's like, john, you have to promise me that when I die, my estate's going to you, but you have to take care of your stepsisters. Take care of them. And John, like, deathbed, like, sweet. Like, swear it on your honor. And John's like, yeah, no, of course. I definitely, definitely will take care of it. Okay. If dad told you to do that, quote, unquote, take care of your sisters. Now, if we were in a mobster movie, that would mean. Yeah, I was just gonna say take care of them.
- [06:35]
C
Taking a dirt nap.
- [06:36]
B
If we were. If dad said take care of your sisters, how would you interpret that? What does that mean?
- [06:43]
A
There's, like, a certain amount of money they need, and, like, I need to give them that money.
- [06:46]
B
That's right.
- [06:46]
C
Yeah. Provide housing and, like, safety.
- [06:48]
B
I need to make sure. And this is initially how John takes it. John's like, I'm gonna set aside a set of my estate and I'm gonna take care of my sisters, okay? So initially, he's like, I'm gonna set aside enough money so that my sisters can have. Can live off of. I think the number was like £2,000 a year, which is not lavish, but it's enough that they could have a house and they could have, like, one or two servants and they wouldn't be destitute. The anxieties about money are through so many of Jane Austen's books. And so I did a little bit of research, just looking into, like, when they say, quote, 2000 a year, or when somebody marries somebody very wealthy, and they're like, oh, they've got 30,000 a year. I looked into, like, where that money comes from, and there's usually sort of two ways of it. One is rents from land. And that was. So you. You are a giant landowner. So Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, who gets 10,000 a year, gets that from. He gets people paying him rent every year to farm the land, and he lives off of that. And that was considered the more noble way of earning money as. As. As. As a landed gentry. If you were getting tenants money, that was a. You were sort of a good guy. You also had responsibilities that you sort of had to give back and take care and help this kind of stuff. But more or less, you just sort of were this landowner. The other way was through some sort of annuity, a bond that you had. 20,000. Pardon me, £20,000. And you had it in a bond that paid you 5% a year, and that was your 1,000 or whatever, right? And that was your. So you had this lump sum of money. And so there's this idea that John Dashwood is going to take, let's say, 20 to 40 grand of his estate, put it into some sort of bond, pay a government bond or some sort of annuity, give that to his sisters, and they would be able to live off of that if they got married. That money still goes with them. But this was sort of like a safety net. Dad says, promise me this. And John's like, I will. And then dad dies, and John's like, all right, gotta do this. All right. Unfortunately, John is married to a woman who has the unfortunate name of Fanny. So Fanny Dashwood, tough. She is very obsessed with money. She's very concerned about money. And they have a child who is essentially like a tiny troll. They have this little nasty little child who's not really a character in the book, but Fanny loves her little nasty child. And she slowly, throughout the course of many months, sort of asks questions of John of Like, what do you think your dad meant? Surely he didn't mean £40,000. You're really going to take that away from little, you know, Francis or whatever the kid's name is? Maybe it's also Henry, Probably Henry. Are you really going to take this money away from your own flesh and blood and give it to your sisters? Surely your father meant something else. And so it starts with. So she starts to whittle him down from like 2000 a year to a thousand a year to 500 a year. And eventually John is like, oh, no, you're so right, Fanny. You're so right. And eventually John settles Fanny through Fanny's guidance that I'm going to every once in a while give them gifts of £100.
- [10:05]
C
Brutal.
- [10:06]
B
Which he never does. Because when you say, I'm going to set up a thing that automatically pays, it's going to happen. And when you say every now and then, when the mood strikes or when I feel like it's necessary, I'm going to give £100 to my, my stepsisters. But of course, if you are married to somebody who's obsessed with money and you yourself are kind of obsessed with security, and you're kind of like, you're kind of a. Not the strongest. You know, you have, well, you have deference to your strong willed wife. You're not. You're gonna find an excuse to not give your £100 to your sisters whenever you can, right? And your stepmother. Anyway, so as this, it goes on. Meanwhile, he doesn't tell his sisters. So the sisters and mom are living in their house, that which was their house because their husband father just died. But now John has inherited it. And Fanny moves in and she's already like measuring the drapes and saying like, this is my room. And, and little, you know, Francis, this is gonna be your playroom. And it was like Marianne's room or whatever. So everybody is really upset with this. And Francis is like, oh, you guys can totally stay here as long as you want until you find out whatever your situation is coming up next. And everyone's kind of waiting to see, like, all right, so John, are you gonna get, like, what is the inheritance given? And John says, I'm gonna help you find the place. And every now and then, he doesn't even say, every now and then, I'm gonna give you money. He's just sort of like, I am. I'm here for you. Anyway, when are you guys leaving? Right? So they're now in their, their own family home, and mom is like, I can't live here. This used to be my house, and now I'm a guest in my own house. We gotta leave. All right, let's talk about the sisters. You have Eleanor, and you have Marianne, and you have Margaret, who doesn't count.
- [11:54]
A
Yeah, Tough.
- [11:55]
B
Eleanor and Marianne are sisters, and they are very, very different. Eleanor is sensible. She is rational. She is guarded in her emotions. She is very trustworthy. Everything that you. If you say something to Eleanor in confidence, it is going to stay in confidence forever. She is not letting her emotions run away with her. She is going to do the right thing, the logical thing. And then there's Marianne. And Marianne Dashwood is romantic, and Marianne is all sense, while her sister is sensible. She is all about emotions and feelings. Feelings. And, you know, when some. And she is more. Her mom is more like her. And mom and Marianne are like, we can't live in this house anymore. They stole our house. They're monsters. And so they're very much sort of reacting emotionally to what is an emotional situation. And Eleanor is like, we got. You know, that's fine, but we have nowhere to go. What should we do? We don't have any money. We got to sort of figure out what's going to happen. So we're like, we're gonna rent a house. So they all go out to. You know, they log on to Zillow, and they look around to see what's out there. And mom, who is a little flighty, and Marianne. Or a little emotional, and Marianne, who is very emotional, they find all sorts of houses, and they're like, oh, Eleanor, this place is perfect. It has an elevator and, like, 40 servants. And Eleanor's like, we can't afford this. We have to think lower. And they're rich people, but they came from fancy houses with servants and yards and fruit trees. And Marianne is, like, absolutely distraught that she's gonna, like, like, lose her favorite trees. And she's like, they're like, I can't bear them cutting my. Down my trees. And, you know. So Marianne is in a rough spot. Marianne being a rough spot is going to be a common theme. And Eleanor's like, we gotta lower our standards. And they're looking at all these places.
- [13:55]
C
In the words of Eminem, they gotta stop living up here.
- [13:57]
B
That's right.
- [13:57]
C
Start living down here.
- [13:58]
B
Meanwhile, while they're staying in this house, Fanny's brother shows up, and his name is Edward. So Fanny used to be Fanny Ferrars before she married Dashwood. And so Edward Ferrars shows up. Edward's an Interesting guy. He's from Fanny's family, is super wealthy. So Fanny married John Dashwood. Really rich, but always worried about.
- [14:20]
C
She's still worried about money.
- [14:21]
B
She's worried about money. Oh, yeah, Real piece of work, this. Well, because Fanny, she's not going to inherit because she's a lady. Edward comes in, he's the oldest brother, and he is going to inherit this vast, vast, vast fortune. And. And he has an overbearing mother. So much like how Fanny is kind of like has John wrapped around her finger. Mrs. Ferrars has Edward. She's overbearing. And she has said, edward, you are going to become a great man. You are going to become a member of parliament. You are going to be, you know, maybe prime minister one day. Like, you've got great things. And Edward does not want any of this. Edward's like, I won't read books. Edward is like, I want to be a dancer. No, he doesn't want to dance, but he doesn't want.
- [15:06]
C
Baking is my passion, Mommy.
- [15:07]
B
Exactly. He's like, I kind of like small town life. And everyone's like, meh, sucks for you because you're going to be a member of Parliament. And so he's like, this sucks. Anyway, he's hanging around the house with these beautiful now almost to be impoverished girls. And he's kind of shy and awkward. He doesn't really know how to talk to girls. And when he shows up, everyone's like, ooh, here comes big, big Richie Edward one day who's going to be so rich and great. And Marianne has no interest in him. And Eleanor is kind of like, he probably thinks he's so great because he's so rich. Turns out she was completely wrong. He's humble when they sort of talk about life. He's like, honestly, I kind of want a simple life. I want to live in a small town. When Eleanor says, oh, we're going to have to go move into like a cottage. We can't live in these great houses. He's like, honestly, that sounds kind of great. Like just living a simple life with like animals and food and being around like a small town. He's like, I wish that was me. And Eleanor's like, right, so. So she's so Edward and Eleanor hanging out all day and they're talking, but Edward's the kind of guy where it's like, is he does not know what he's saying or is this his attempt at flirting? We don't know because we don't. We suspect Edward himself doesn't realize what he's doing. Everyone sees Eleanor and Edward kind of like, talking in the garden all day. And Mrs. Dashwood, mom is like, yeah, boy. Like, she is. Yeah. She is like my girl. Because how can you can stick it to your stepson's wife? By being like, you know what? That, unfortunately, you're not inheriting. My daughter's gonna inherit it. You know, like, take that, Fanny. And so Fanny makes sure at breakfast that she saddles up to Mrs. Dashwood and be like, you know, my mother has greater things for Edward than. And then she sort of implies, like, you know, normal people marrying a normie. And so Mrs. Dashwood's like, I understand you completely. And Fanny's like, how long you guys think you're gonna stay around for anyway? Not a happy place to be involved in. And then Mom's like, we gotta go now. They have a big fight about, like, furniture. And Mom's like, we got to get out of here. All right.
- [17:31]
C
Wait, who fights about furniture?
- [17:33]
B
Mom, Dashwood and Fanny fighting about furniture? Anyway, Edward and Eleanor kind of seem to be hitting it off, but Edward is just not making the move. Then all of a sudden, they get a letter in the mail from Mom's cousin, Sir John Middleton, and he's like, hey, listen, cuz, I hear what happened. I hear you're not inheriting the house. That kind of sucks. I got a cottage. It's yours. Come move close to me. You're close to my estate. You can come over for dinner. The trouble is, it's kind of off in the boonies. It's often Devin and. And Eleanor takes a look at the paperwork, and she's like, mom, this is a really great idea. We can afford this. And Marianne's like, oh, yes, we can live by the ocean. We like. Marianne is so excited. And she's like, we can, like, trounce on the moors all day long. And she's got this whole romantic vision of what living by Devon would be like. And Eleanor's like, I actually think it's going to be kind of hard. It's windy, it's cold, but we can afford it. And Mom's like, I don't care. We're getting out of here. So Eleanor goes to Edward and is like, we're moving. And Edward is like, this is a tremendous sadness. And Eleanor is like, I agree. I wish we didn't have to leave. And Edwards like, yeah, well, bye. And Eleanor's like, what the heck, man? Like, are you not gonna. You know, like, she's sort of waiting for the proposal.
- [18:58]
C
Tell Me. He gives her £100.
- [18:59]
B
So, like, no, tell me.
- [19:01]
C
I'm sorry. Here's £100.
- [19:03]
B
And he's like. He's like. He's. He is. He's like, parting from you is one of the great sadnesses of my life. And she's like, my friend zone. Like, what's going on? Like, tell me you love me. We can get married. And he's like, well, you know, ciao.
- [19:16]
A
He just doesn't realize.
- [19:17]
B
He doesn't realize it, or he realizes that, like, he did. Mom would, like, go to.
- [19:21]
C
Oh, boy. I was thinking John. No, no, not John. Okay.
- [19:25]
A
Edward.
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B
Going to.
- [19:26]
C
I thought she went to her brother. And she's like, I gotta go. And he's like, that's so sad. Here's a hundred.
- [19:30]
B
No, no. Exactly. So then they all go off to the country, and it is not what they expected to. Marianne's like, huh, okay. But to her credit, she's gonna make the best of it. Good. They're all gonna make the best of it. Mom has the hardest time with it. Margaret is like, this is, you know, little Margaret that no one cares about. She's like, this is awesome. She doesn't know any different. She's a kid. She's, like, running around the beach collecting shells.
- [19:53]
C
Sounds great.
- [19:54]
B
And Eleanor and Margaret, they're like, where are the servants? And Eleanor's. Where the servants. Now, they got, like, one guy that comes around and helps him with, like. Like, household stuff, but they've got to, like, cook and clean, and they're not used to it. But Eleanor's like, we can make the best of it. They go to this house, and they meet Sir John Middleton. Without getting too much into it, John Middleton is a fantastically fun character. He only cares about one thing in the. In this life, and that is hunting. He loves to hunt. Actually, two things. He loves hunting, and he loves inviting people to the house. He always wants to have people over, but he's kind of.
- [20:27]
C
What a great guy, this chap.
- [20:28]
B
He's kind of uncouth. He lives in a big old house. But he would be. But he's not very mannered. He tracks mud through his house. And he, like, probably gets into overly descriptive ways about hunting, especially around girls. And, like, we don't care.
- [20:42]
C
Then I ripped it from stem to stern.
- [20:44]
B
Exactly. De.
- [20:45]
C
Gutted it.
- [20:45]
B
And wolves. Yeah. Like. And they're, like, eating. You know, they're like little sorbet or whatever. And. And then he just loves having people over. And he is. He only remembers people based on what kinds of dogs they have. And he's like, oh, that's the guy that has that real great, like, hunting bitch. And like, he says this a lot. It's very, very funny. We can say that.
- [21:04]
C
Are we allowed to say that?
- [21:06]
B
We're talking about dogs anyway. That's a common phrase in the book, which is very humorous. That's how he remembers people. Like, oh, he's got that great dog. Okay.
- [21:14]
C
I was gonna say, is this person me?
- [21:16]
B
No.
- [21:16]
C
Remembering me by their dogs.
- [21:18]
B
I meet a lot of dogs anyway, so. But he's kind of like taxing and so the ladies don't always want to go over for dinner. And his wife is kind of cold and aloof and really likes fine fancy things. But she's like rich, but she lives in the country with like a. With a hunter husband. So they're not like fancy London, but they're rich and they're like rich country. Okay, so like, I don't know, like what's written, like, whatever. Like a southern wealthy family that loves hunting, but they're not very fancy. Like that kind of.
- [21:48]
C
Yeah, they're a ranch family.
- [21:50]
A
Yeah. Yes.
- [21:50]
B
Anyway, his mother in law is a Mrs. Jennings, and she's there and she loves to meddle. She's like, oh, Eleanor, Marianne, we are going to marry you off. We're gonna find you anybody. And Eleanor's like, wait, who's meddling? Her cousin John. Sir John Middleton. Hunter dad. Hunter guy. His mother in law loves to meddle.
- [22:13]
C
Got it.
- [22:14]
B
Okay, so Mrs. Jennings. So Mrs. Jennings loves to meddle. And they sort of hear that Eleanor had a thing with somebody whose last name begins with F. This is something that Mrs. Jennings loves to do. She doesn't want. She like, knows who people were flirting with, but she loves to leave these little hints. And Eleanor's like, oh, my goodness, he didn't propose. We didn't even exchange pleasantries, like. But she's not going to say anything. She's keeping it to herself. And everyone's making little jokes, like, any word from Mr. F? And Eleanor's like, you know, know, just trying to ignore it. Anyway, Edward had said he was going to visit. And in the quiet moments of the night, Marianne's like, do you think Edward's going to visit? And Eleanor's like, we didn't say anything. He didn't tell me anything. We're. We're not. We're not. We're just friends, as far as I know. He may visit, he may not. He keeps his counsel to himself. I can't hold out hope for Something that isn't there. And Marianne's like, oh, yeah, yeah. He's like. She's like, I'm a holdout, Hope. And Eleanor's like, that's not sensible. That's not smart. That's not wise. And Marianne's like, it's hot. Like, you know, it's cute. He's. It's like, what are we doing out here?
- [23:26]
C
What, are we gonna be wise all the time? What better do I have to do?
- [23:29]
B
Exactly.
- [23:29]
C
We're doing dishes.
- [23:30]
A
Let's be.
- [23:30]
C
Let's.
- [23:30]
B
Marianne's. So then, okay. And then another guy shows up, and his name is Colonel Brandon. And Colonel Brandon shows up, but he's older. He's, like, in his 30s. Oh, Colonel Brandon is very mysterious, and he's very sort of gruff, but he's. He's a colonel dude. Spent time in India. He's thrown down. There are stories about Colonel Brandon. They're pretty sure Colonel Brandon's, like, been in duels.
- [23:52]
C
Am I allowed to believe he dabbles in black magic?
- [23:54]
B
He doesn't dabble in black magic, but, like. But in one of the popular versions of the movie, he is played by Alan Rickman. He's played by Severus Snape himself.
- [24:04]
C
That's great.
- [24:05]
B
Anyway, Colonel Brandon shows up, and he's kind of, like, broody. He's very much like a Heathcliff, even though Austin doesn't write those kinds of characters. He's like, the closest to your, like, Byron. Lord Byron. Broody, you know, handsome man. And he's off there, like, you know, swirling his drink in the corner, living mysteriously. And everyone's like, that's Brandon. Brandon's cool.
- [24:29]
C
He owns land, we think.
- [24:30]
B
Yeah. And Eleanor's like, he seems nice, and they seem to have a good rapport, but he doesn't seem to take any interest in Eleanor, but he cannot take his eyes off Marianne. He's like, who is she? Marianne's very young. She's like, 17, and Brandon's 30. And everyone's like, that's not gonna work. He's like, maybe it could work in a pinch, but that's not gonna work. And Marianne is the life of the party, and she is beautiful, and she plays piano, and she is charming and laughs, and she is a ray of sunshine on the windy Devon coast. And Brandon's like, who is she? And he always can't take her eyes off of her. And everybody's beginning to notice. Eleanor goes to Marianne. Eleanor's like, listen, what do you think about Brandon? She's like, brandon, the dude's like an old man. He's, like, in his 30s. And Eleanor. Marianne says, no, there is no man in this world that I will love. Men. They just don't make good men anymore.
- [25:25]
A
Wow.
- [25:25]
B
She's like, there is no man who has the temperament. There's no man who wants to feel Eleanor. No man who cares about art and poetry and music and life. They just care about, like, hunting and sheep and money. And she's just like, there's no man for me. And Eleanor's like, all right, fine. Whatever. But Eleanor says, like, you know, money is a kind of a pretty awesome thing, and we would be better if we had some. And Marianne's like, oh, Eleanor, you're so. Like, blah. You're so lame. Money doesn't mean everything. And Eleanor's like, you would think differently if you were the one that's, like, in charge of.
- [26:01]
C
It means something.
- [26:02]
B
Yeah, it means something. Every month, we got to go buy groceries. And Marianne's like, no, we should live on passion. Anyway, so Marianne is. Is like, no man will ever marry me. And Brandon is like, I love her, but. But he's too old, and he knows it, and it's not gonna work. But there's always, like. And when Eleanor is like. They sort of talk about it, and he's like, who's that woman? He's like, that's my sister Marianne. He's like, she reminds me of somebody I knew before. And then he, like, trundles off. And Eleanor's like, that's weird. Pretty great.
- [26:34]
A
That's great.
- [26:35]
B
Anyway, so. And then, of course, Mrs. Jennings is like, that could work. We could. But it's like, you know, people have gotten married those ages, and Marianne's like, not happening. Brandon is old. Okay. Then one day, Marianne and Margaret, who no one remembers, is going off. They're going off for a walk in. In the moors off of a walk on the beach. And Marianne. It's very funny. At the beginning of the walk, Marianne's like, it's a gorgeous day. And then, like, 20 minutes in, it starts pouring rain. And she's like, I love the rain. It's so refreshing and bracing. Right? And so she's off on the hills. I can just imagine poor Margaret. Be like, marianne, can we go home yet? And Marianne's just like, la, la, la. I'm a forest lady. And so she's.
- [27:20]
C
Margaret's the one that doesn't matter.
- [27:21]
B
Margaret doesn't matter. Yeah. Marianne is floating through the woods, and she's just like, I love the ocean. And she's like, Looking at the ocean. And she trips and she falls down the hill.
- [27:32]
A
Oh.
- [27:32]
B
And she rolls her ankle and she can't get up. And it's pouring rain.
- [27:36]
C
Oh, this is. This is a meet cute if I've ever heard of.
- [27:38]
B
And then she's laying on the ground, and she hears horse hooves coming up. And who comes up but this young, handsome, dashing man. And he picks her up in his arms, and he says, where do you live? I can take you home. And she's like, I live over there. And he, like, takes her on. He, like, carries her through the rain to her house. And she's just looking up at him, and he's carrying her in his arms, and he kicks down the door to the cottage, and he places Mary Ann by the fire. And he's like, this. She. She needs water. She needs medicine. And then Eleanor and Mom come in and take care of him. And then he's like, I'm so sorry to come in this way. And he's all handsome and wet, and all the ladies are like, oh, He's. She's. You know, she'll be. She's okay. And she's. And then Marianne tells a story, and then they look and they say, who are you? He says, oh, I'm so sorry. My name is Willoughby. And then Willoughby leaves. He's like, I'll check on you tomorrow. And then Willoughby sort of floats out the door, and mom and Marianne look at each other and go, oh. And Eleanor is like, who's this guy? And then Mom's like, did you see the way he was looking at you? And Marianne's like, I finally found a man. And Adonis, after knowing him for a couple of minutes, we carried her to the house. She's 17. Anyway, so Willoughby shows up the next day and, like, only has eyes for Marianne, and. And he comes and he, like, talks to her. Turns out he loves reading the poetry of Wordsworth and all of the Romantics. He loves music. And him and Marianne get real close real fast. John Middleton, the guy who loves to hunt, he knows Willoughby. He's like, oh, Willoughby's in town. Awesome. That's great. We should have him over. Does he still have that awesome dog?
- [29:27]
C
And I love this guy.
- [29:31]
B
And Brandon is here. Is it Willoughby's in town? They're like, you know? He's like, yeah, I know Willoughby. And they're like. And Eleanor detects.
- [29:38]
C
I know Willoughby from before.
- [29:39]
B
Exactly. That's exactly what happens. And Eleanor's, like, sums off their Brandon Willoughby. And when they meet each other, they're like, what's up, Brandon? He's like, what's up, Willoughby? And they're like, not cool about something. Something's up, not happy. Something between Brandon, Willoughby. We don't really know what. Okay, but Brandon's old, Willoughby's 24.
- [29:55]
C
Will, what's the name of the hunting guy again?
- [29:57]
B
John Middleton.
- [29:57]
C
So John's like, you guys bring your dogs?
- [29:59]
B
Yeah, exactly. He has them all over for dinner all the time. There's like, a little bit of coldness between Brandon and Willoughby. Whatever. Anyway, meanwhile, Willoughby keeps showing up. He brings Marianne. He buys her music to play on the little. He buys her a piano forte. He's like, this house needs a piano. He buys her a piano.
- [30:17]
C
There's a lot of buying of piano fortes in. In Jane Austen books.
- [30:20]
B
It's just cute. I don't know. It's like a way to flirt.
- [30:22]
A
Sign a love.
- [30:23]
B
You gotta do it, man.
- [30:24]
C
Like, it's a lot of. There's a lot of moving to flirt that way.
- [30:27]
B
That's right. So he buys her piano, she plays music. He. They do due duets in the foyer. And mom turns out that Willoughby is going to inherit, like, a stinking fortune. And. And meanwhile, everyone's like, is Edward ever gonna come visit us? Does he really like Eleanor? Maybe not. Maybe he was just flirting with her. But he was like, but it's like, Edward must have known he was leading Eleanor on. And Eleanor's like, but he wasn't. We can't hold that against him. And everyone's like, what a dink. But mom is really. Mom is really mean. Eleanor's like, you can't be mean to him because it's not like we exchanged anything. We didn't exchange vows. He is free to come and go as he pleases.
- [31:11]
C
And he might, like many men, just not realize when signals are coming.
- [31:14]
B
Exactly. Or clearly, he maybe just didn't value the friendship as much as I did, and I read it the wrong way. He was probably just being nice, and I thought he was flirting. Sometimes guys are idiots. And we don't know when we're flirting. Girls think we're flirting when we're not. We don't know as men, when we.
- [31:30]
C
Guys are bad at this.
- [31:31]
B
We have to. We are, like, trying. It is obvious when we're flirting, when we're not flirting and you think we're flirting, we're not flirting. We're just. We're just dumb. We're like, you like music. Like, we're not flirting.
- [31:42]
C
We're trying to think of something to say out of Our face. That doesn't sound exactly.
- [31:47]
B
Anyway, flirty's like, can I hold your hand? And like, that's flirting. But anyway, whatever. So Eleanor's like, what do you think of kissing? Yeah. And us?
- [31:55]
C
Do you like it? What if we did that?
- [31:57]
B
Yeah. That is. Yes. Anyway. But Edward is not doing that. All right. Meanwhile, Marianne and Willoughby are getting super close. And it's like, getting to the point where everybody realizes it, so much so that their engagement is an open secret. And if everyone's like, they're probably engaged. They are acting as if Willoughby has asked her to marry her and she has said yes. And everyone's like, hey, mom, has Willoughby said anything? Mom's like, no, I'm waiting. Any day now. And Eleanor is like, marianne, we need to talk.
- [32:27]
A
Yeah.
- [32:27]
B
Has Willoughby. Alarm bells. Has Willoughby said anything? And. And Maran's like, he doesn't have to say anything. And it's like, no, he does. He does have to say something. And she's like, how well do you know this man? And Marianne's like, I know him more than any. I know anybody on this world. He knows me perhaps even more than you do, Eleanor. We are of one soul. And Eleanor is like, hopefully not. It's not. You are. You know, hopefully you're not, like, of one soul in any other ways. And they. There's a time there's. So there's this. I'm going to get these details wrong, but there was gonna be this party that Brandon was gonna host because he's really rich. And Brandon's like, we're gonna have a party. But then they're all getting together to do this party. And then Brandon gets this letter in the mail, and he's like, I have to leave. We're like, can you leave after the party? He's like, I have to leave right now. It's a matter of life and death. And he gets on his horse and, like, rides off all, like, mysterious. And Willoughby's like, well, thank goodness Brandon's gone friggin hate that guy. And then, well, instead, Marianne, let's hang out together. There's rumors that Willoughby has shown Marianne the house that he is going to one day inherit. And everyone sort of interprets that as, like, he's showing the house that she will one day be lady of right. And people are like, they're getting married so much so that, like, people are saying to mom and Eleanor, so when's the wedding? When's the engagement? They're like, we have not had any formal engagement. And Marianne is like, I Don't need. Like, I don't need. I don't need your conventions. Like, we are of one spirit. And Eleanor's like, okay, this isn't good. This is not great. Anyway, after Colonel Brandon leaves and Willoughby. I can't remember if this is before Willoughby leaves or not. It doesn't matter. But Edward does show up. I think it's. Let's just. We'll say this. If I'm wrong, you can. We can give me classical stuff I got wrong. But one day, Willoughby says, marianne, I need to talk to you alone. And everyone's like, oh, here. It's coming. And so. So Mom's like, we're going for a walk. And so off they go. And when they come back from the walk, Marianne is bawling her eyes out upstairs. And Willoughby says, I need to leave. I got a letter from my, like, aunt patron who has all the money I'm inheriting. And she says, I need to leave and do business in London. I don't know when I'm coming back. Bye. And he leaves. And Eleanor's like, hey, Marianne, so what's going on? She's like, he's just left. Oh, we're gonna. He doesn't know when he's coming back, but there's no. They don't know if they're like. Eleanor's not asking if they're engaged or not or if he, like, gave a promise or anything, because she's like, it's none of my business. If Mary wants to tell me, Marianne will tell me. Marianne is, like, sad. So Marianne spends a bunch of time dopey sad. I think at this point, Colonel Brandon shows up and tries to cheer up by bringing her music, and she's like, colonel Brandon is the last person I want to see right now. So Marianne is kind of rude to people, and she's just sort of, like, wallowing in sadness, and she's kind of rude to everybody. Then Edward shows up, turns out. And Edward is like, hey, I came to visit. And Eleanor's like, this is awesome. Did you just come to see us? He's like, no, I had business in Devon.
- [35:43]
A
Come on.
- [35:45]
B
He's like, I thought I'd swing by. And so for the first day, he's kind of, like, aloof and kind of cold. But as time goes on, he warms up, and he goes from being kind of, like, sad and mopey to being really happy again. And he's like, I freaking love you guys. He doesn't say that, but he's just like, you are a great Family, this is an enjoyable. Like this has done wonders to my heart.
- [36:07]
A
Bye.
- [36:08]
B
So. Bye. Ciao. Peace. And he's poor girls. So these poor girls are getting jerked around. Yes. All right. And so this sucks. Then these two girls show up named Anne and Lucy Steele. And Lucy Steele is somehow cousins to Mrs. Jennings. So Mrs. Jennings is the mother in law of Sir John Middleton. Who's the hunter anyway?
- [36:32]
C
These girls, she's the mom who always does the light.
- [36:33]
B
Yeah, she's the mom that's like, who's Mr. F? Right. She's the ones, like, trying to hook everybody up with everybody. These girls show up and they are like, rich, but they are vulgar. They just don't know how to talk in company. They sort of are. They kind of say rude things. They are not. They're not themselves like rude, but they're just sort of uncultured. And everyone's like, oh, they're lovely ladies. Eleanor and Marianne, you would love the Steel girls. And they do not get along because the Steel girls just love talking about their boy. They're like all the boys. They. And like, they call them their bows. The world is full of bows. Oh, maybe he could be my bow. And Anne is like, I'm going to wear pink because it's the. This. The color that the doctor in town loves the most. And he. Maybe he could be my bow. And Eleanor is like, I can't stand you people.
- [37:25]
C
They sound insufferable.
- [37:26]
B
Yes, they're insufferable. And Lucy sidles up to Eleanor and she's like, oh, Eleanor, I've heard so much about you. I've heard that I should be friends with you. And Eleanor's like, cool, that's great. And they tried. Eleanor tries to be friends, but Lucy is just so friggin annoying and whatever. Anyway, so they're not fun. The Steel girls are kicking around and they're. This life kind of sucks for the Dashwoods, right? These boys that they like, have been jerking them around. They've got no prospects. They're kind of living poor.
- [37:54]
C
Colonel Brandon's around, but nobody knows.
- [37:56]
B
Colonel Brandon is just like, you know, like, slipping in and out of shadows. Like, you know, it's just. What's going on?
- [38:01]
A
You sound super cool.
- [38:02]
B
Yeah, this is great. Okay. And then Mrs. Jennings is like, listen, we got to get some fun going. Let's go to London. You can stay in my house in London.
- [38:10]
A
Awesome.
- [38:10]
B
We'll see, people. Marianne's like, yes, but Willoughby's in London. Yes, we're going. And Eleanor.
- [38:16]
C
Oh, no, that feels bad.
- [38:17]
B
Eleanor's like, maybe I should stay. And everyone's like, no, no, no, no. You go to London. And then Mrs. Jennings, like, I think Mr. F. Is in London. And so it's like, fine, we're all going to London. John Dashwood, their brother in law, who gives them no money, is also in London. They all go there. They have dinner parties. And then there goes one big fancy part, this fancy ball. Meanwhile, Marianne's sending letters saying, like, willoughby, I'm there. Return to me. And she's not getting any letters in return. Every day she goes to the little porter. She's like, has a letter come? And he's like, yeah, letter came for me, right? No, sorry for Mrs. Jennings. And Marianne's like, what could happen? What could be going on? Maybe my letters are getting lost in the mail.
- [39:00]
C
That postmaster sounds like a. If a girl comes in, she said, has a letter come? I'm not gonna be like, yep, not for you, you dummy. Anyway, come on, man.
- [39:07]
B
There is a party. A little decorum. Willoughby's gonna be there. Marianne gets all, like, prettied up. They go to the party. Marianne there. People are, like, trying to introduce, you know, this is like a fancy ball where you're supposed to make these introductions and make these connections. Marianne don't care. Marian is blowing through the party. Willoughby. Willoughby, where are you? Like, she's looking for Willoughby. And meanwhile, Eleanor is, like, got a bad feeling about this. They see Willoughby. Willoughby clearly sees them, and, like, goes upstairs.
- [39:33]
A
Oh, no.
- [39:34]
B
And Marion's like, there he is. And so she follows him, and she's like, willoughby, girl. And he turns around, and he's with this other woman.
- [39:41]
C
Yeah.
- [39:42]
B
And he comes up, and he's like, oh, come on. Young Miss Dashwood. How delightful to see you. And she's like, willoughby, what's coming. Going on?
- [39:48]
A
Yeah.
- [39:48]
B
And he's like, whatever do you mean? And she's like, did you not get my letters? And he's like, oh, yes, I. I did receive your correspondence. And she's like, and. And he's like, I am so sorry if you. He sort of is like, misunderstood. Misunderstood anything. But this is clearly not happening. And he is now going to marry Miss Lady Gray, who has a vast fortune. And there she is, all cold and stern like an angry swan. And Miss Grey is like, who is this country girl? And I'm loving the voices.
- [40:26]
A
This is really spot on.
- [40:28]
C
I'm so engaged with this story.
- [40:30]
B
And Marianne is off. Marianne cannot stay for the party. Shane staying for dinner. Marianne bawls her eyes out and needs to go Home. And Eleanor takes her home.
- [40:39]
C
I feel like that boy needs to get slapped.
- [40:40]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Eleanor is not happy. And then when they go home, Eleanor sort of like, hey, Marianne, did you. Did you, like, promise yourself to. Did he, like, promise himself were you gonna get engaged? Did he do anything wrong where he's breaking his word? And she's like, no, he never proposed, but he did ask for a lock of my hair, which I gave, but he returns it in a letter. He's like, I think this is yours. And he sort of sends all of her letters back. And Marianne is heartbroken.
- [41:11]
A
Yeah.
- [41:11]
B
All right. One thing I forgot to mention is when Edward is at the house earlier, he's got this ring, and it's got a lock of hair in it. In it. And everyone's like, he's got a lot of hair in the ring. And it is. It looks exactly like Eleanor's hair. And Eleanor is like, I did not give a word to lock up my hair, but it's quite possible that Edward got a lock of my hair somehow. But it's still kind of weird, just.
- [41:38]
C
Creeping around scissors while she's leaving.
- [41:40]
B
And so Marianne's like, hey. When Marianne's there, she's like, hey, Edward. He's like, hey, Edward. Marianne thinks it's Eleanor's hair. She's like, hey, Edward, whose hair is that? He's like. He's clearly embarrassed. He's like, oh, it's my sister's. And they're like, your sister's blonde? And he's like, no, you know, it's changed in time, whatever. And everyone's like, he has a lock of your hair. And I was like, maybe it's also weird because I didn't give it to him. Meanwhile, Marianne gave to, like, she would have shaved her head for Willoughby.
- [42:09]
A
That's right.
- [42:10]
B
Anyway, Willoughby sends back the lock of her hair. Marianne is in trouble. She is, like, sick in bed. Meanwhile, Lucy Steele comes up to as the days go on, comes up to Eleanor and says, eleanor, I need to confide in you. And Eleanor's like, I really don't want you to. To can this, but, Lucy, I have a secret to tell you. I have been secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars for five years. What? And Eleanor's, like, heartbroken.
- [42:41]
A
Yeah, it's terrible.
- [42:41]
B
Which means that the entire time that she met New Edwards, he was secretly engaged to Lucy. And she doesn't really know the story. For sake of our episode, I'm just going to tell you what the story was. She finds it out as the book kind of Goes on in bits and pieces. Edward goes off to school as a 19 year old with an overbearing mom. And he goes, and he lives at this house of this tutor. And Lucy is like, fortune, fortune, fortune. She sees Edward and she's like, he rich. And so she's basically the first girl that's ever nice to him and is the first girl that's like, what's up, Edward? You kind of cute. And he's like, I. Let's get married. And she's like, yep, done. And so Edward, as being like a dopey 19 year old, the first girl that ever said I love you, he proposes to. Okay. And he grew and you know, is regretting it, but he's honor bound to do it.
- [43:28]
A
Got it.
- [43:29]
B
So when he was in Devon to go see, and he's like, I was gonna go. I was in Devon. That's why before I came to see you, he was going to see Lucy to be like, hey, are we still. He's like, I gave you my word. And she's like, yeah, we're still getting married. And it's the first time he's seen her in like four years. And he's like, okay, cool. She gives him a lock. A lock of her hair.
- [43:46]
A
That's where it is.
- [43:47]
B
Anyway. Yes, Eleanor. Lucy says to Eleanor, don't tell anybody I'm in town to try to win his cold hearted, angry mother to my side. And Eleanor's like, no, you're secret safe with me. And she is just absolutely crushed. She can't tell Marianne because she just said, your secret's safe with me. Meanwhile, Marianne is in absolute hysterics over Willoughby and everybody knows it. And everybody is doting on Marianne. Mrs. Jennings is like bringing her special meals and she's laying in bed and she's weeping and wailing and crying. She's like really leaning on the emotional support of Eleanor. And meanwhile, Eleanor is going through her own private heartbreak that she can't let anybody know about. And Eleanor is just taking it. She's just like suffering it in silence. There's this really wonderful scene where Mrs. Jennings is going to bring Marianne a glass of really like, really nice wine. She's like, I open this bottle of wine because it's really nice and I bet Marianne would like it because she's so sad about Willoughby. And they're going up to give it to Marianne. They open the door and Marianne's asleep and. And Eleanor is like, you know what? I'll have the glass of wine instead. And Mar. And Elanor gets this sort of private moment where she gets to enjoy the wine. Her. The wine that was supposed to, like, help Marianne in her heartbreak. She gets to drink the wine herself for her own heartbreak. And she kind of has this private moment where she gets to enjoy. Even though it wasn't intended for her to sort of alleviate her suffering, she gets. She sort of sees it as a way to alleviate her suffering by taking the wine, but it's her own private moment, so. Poor Eleanor. Anyway, all right. Marianne is absolutely beside herself and she is sad about this. Lucy Steele tried. Tries to ingratiate herself to Mrs. Ferrars, cold blooded Mrs. Ferrars, and doesn't go very well because she is an uncouth, vulgar child from the country. And my son is going to marry, is going to be a member of Parliament. So whatever Lucy is going to. How. You know, going to the house and being. And she's just basically like, praising everything. And Mrs. Ferrars is like, whatever, all right, is this dinner party done yet? Her sister Anne is like, it's working like a charm. She loves Lucy and accidentally lets it slip that Lucy and Edward are engaged. Mom freaks out and says, if you marry Lucy, you are disinherited from your fortune. And Edward says, I made a promise and I'm going to see that promise through. And Mom's like, fine, you. You're dead to me. Your fortune's now going to your kid brother. Bye. And Edward is disinherited and kicked out. And he goes to Lucy and he's like, listen, Lucy, we're gonna get married. I promise myself to you.
- [46:44]
C
Is she gonna turn him down? Because he's.
- [46:45]
B
I promise myself to you, but I don't have any money anymore. And she's like, okay, all right, well, okay, we'll see. See what goes on. We can figure out what's gonna happen. Meanwhile, Colonel Brandon hears about this and he's like, edward Ferrars, you're a man. He's like, that is so cool that you're, like, holding to your principles. I have an open vacancy in my. My, you know, parish that needs a. Needs a priest, needs a parson, needs an Anglican minister. And Edward is like, I want to be in. Yes, I would love to go into the church. And so Colonel Brand's like, all right, you go get ordained. I've got a house. I've got. I've only got like £700 a year for you, but at least it's a living. You can live the simple country life you always wanted, and you and Lucy can live in the country. And Brandon and. And Edward's like, okay, now, Colonel Brandon is going to tell Edward this, but he asks Eleanor to deliver the news to Edward on his behalf because he has to go out of town.
- [47:47]
C
Oh, good heaven.
- [47:48]
B
And she. He has no idea. No one has any idea.
- [47:50]
A
Yeah.
- [47:50]
B
So Eleanor. So Edward shows up. Basically, Eleanor sends for. Edward says, can you come to the house? I have to tell you something. And Edwards like, okay. And he shows up, and he's like. He comes in. He's like, eleanor, I feel like. He's like, I just. There's so many things I want to tell you. And she's like. And then she says this thing that, you know, Colonel Brandon is giving you this kind of stuff. And Edwards like, oh. Oh, that's what you wanted to talk to me about, right? He's like, oh, well, thank you so much. That's really. I'm glad to hear it. There's another scene where, like, Lucy and Eleanor are together, and Edward breaks in. Edward comes in, like, wants to talk to Eleanor, but sees Lucy there, and he's like, oh, actually, I have to go. And so there's times where Edward seems to want to tell Eleanor things. Anyway, Eleanor gives us news. And Edwards like, oh, that's great news. And Eleanor's like, so now you can have a life, and you're not going to be destitute. He's like, all right, well, I can marry Miss Steele after all. And Eleanor's like, yep, guess so. And Edward's like, all right, well, better go get ordained. And off he goes. And Eleanor is, secondly, heartbroken. All right. Meanwhile, Willoughby marries Miss gray and. And Mrs. Jennings, like, I think it's time to get out of London. And Elle and. And Marianne's like, yes, take me home. I don't want to be in London anymore. This place is terrible. I want to go back to the ocean. And so, fine. So they're going to go off, but in the meantime, they're going to stay at this estate, this little estate in the country, because it's a long way back to Devon. And as they go back to this estate, Marianne's working through all this sadness. And Marianne gets sick, very sick. She gets a cold and a fever. And at the estate, it's like Mrs. Jennings and her daughter or cousin, whose estate it is, and Eleanor. And Colonel Brandon's there for some reason, just because he's always around. And Marianne is sick, and it seems like Marianne's gonna die. And Marianne is on death's door, and Brandon is, like, really upset about this whole thing. And he goes back, and they're like, we should probably get mom here because Marianne might die. And Brandon's like, we don't have time for that. And so he gets on his horse, and he rides off to go get Mom. He's like, I'll bring her. And so he rides off into the rain is the night on his horse to go get Mom. And, you know, he's so dashing.
- [50:23]
A
I like this guy.
- [50:25]
B
And meanwhile, is it at nighttime I.
- [50:27]
C
Always manage him in shadow?
- [50:28]
B
Yeah, he's in the shadow. And Eleanor is sitting at night. And Marianne keeps getting worse and keeps getting better and keeps getting worse, and she thinks she's going to die. Okay, I realize I missed a key part, so let me just bracket Marianne's illness for a second. Before they left London, Colonel Brandon reveals to Eleanor why he left that day. And he's like. And he's actually. He says, I have something to tell you about Willoughby and why he's bad news, and you should be happy that Marianne is not marrying him. He says. Colonel Brandon says, but this story reflects badly on me, too. So Brandon's like, when I was young, I grew up the same age. I grew up with this girl, and I loved her, and she. And she was like Marianne, full of life and romantic, and I loved her, and I wanted to marry her. And we were of the same age, and we grew up together, but I. But my parents were never going to have me marry her. She married my older brother, who was a jerk, and he mistreated her, and he was cruel to her and beat her, and she, like. He, like, sucked the joy out of her life. And then he died. And we decided we were going to run away together and go get married in Scotland. And as we. And then we. We were going to. And then something. I can't remember the details. They don't get married. And then she goes off, and she's kind of destitute and alone. And I think she gets, like, seduced by somebody and has a child out of wedlock, and she dies. And on her DeathBed, she's like, Colonel Brandon, take care of my child. And Brandon's like, I will take care of your child. Child forever. So Colonel Brandon has a ward, this little child, and of his dead lover. They were never lovers, but this woman that he loved who reminded him of Marianne, who he loved. And he takes care of this child and who's. Who's, like, maybe, you know, five or six years younger than the girls and mar. Eleanor and Marianne.
- [52:21]
C
And it's Willoughby.
- [52:22]
B
Willoughby. No, Willoughby seduced the ward. The ward. Oh.
- [52:28]
C
I thought she was going to be, like, the woman that he loved.
- [52:29]
B
Okay. No, Willoughby seduced. Because Willoughby's young, right. Willoughby seduced Colonel Brandon's, like, ward, and left her destitute. Slept with her. I think it's actually hard to tell. Basically promised himself to her and left her destitute and, quote, stole her honor. So I think he actually did sleep with her. And Willoughby's like. But that's what being a libertine is all about. And Colonel Brandon actually fights a duel with Willoughby, and he's going to kill him, and, like, you know, wins the duel, has a sword over him, and he's like, you're not worth it, Willoughby. And Willoughby, like, survives the duel. Okay. That's why they don't like each other.
- [53:06]
C
He is. I like this Brandon more and more.
- [53:08]
B
And the reason why Brandon had to rush off that day is because his. The. The ward had been found.
- [53:13]
A
Oh.
- [53:14]
B
She had, like, gone off into some, you know, like, home for, you know, deflowered girls or whatever. And so it's Victoria in England.
- [53:23]
A
Yeah, sure.
- [53:24]
B
Or it's Edwardian England. And so he finds her, and he, like, decides he's gonna, like, pay for her and take care of or whatever. And he's like, willoughby, I freaking hate you. And so Willoughby. And he's like, this is why you should be happy that Marion. He's like, this is Willoughby's calling card. Turns out the reason why Willoughby left Marianne that day is his aunt found out about all this and disinherited him. And so now he's got to go marry some fancy lady for money.
- [53:46]
A
Yeah.
- [53:46]
B
So he goes off and he marries Lady Gray, and he's, like, all handsome and cute, and Lady Gray's like, I want a bad boy. And so she marries Willoughby. Okay. And that's why he ditches Marianne. Okay? So Eleanor is super happy. So, okay, fast forward. Marianne is dying in this house, and she is super sick. And Eleanor is like, I just want mom to be here. If mom can come here, she can help take care of. Of Marianne. I just wish mom and Brandon to come back. And she hears the door open, and she's like, finally. And she runs downstairs, and who does she see dripping wet and looking concerned, but Willoughby. And Willoughby's like, eleanor, I'm probably the last person you want to see. She's like, you got that right.
- [54:28]
A
Yeah.
- [54:28]
B
And he's like, but I'm here to explain myself. I hear that Marianne's sick, and she's like, you should not care. You are a married man. You should not be here. And you. And he's like, listen, when I met Marianne, I just loved the fact that she paid attention to me and flirted with me because I like being flirted with. Who doesn't? He's like, I just love the attention. But I actually grew really fond of Marianne, and I would have married her, but you're so unfortunately poor. So I didn't. And I married Lady Gray. But I came here to tell you I feel bad about it. And Eleanor's like, I do not care.
- [55:05]
A
Get out of here.
- [55:06]
B
Yeah, who is this guy?
- [55:07]
C
Why are you here?
- [55:08]
B
He's like, I, I, I hope this makes a difference to know that I feel bad about it. He's like, listen, my marriage sucks. And she's like, I should not hear this. And he's like, lady Gray is not great. She, she does not love me, and I do not love her. And I just think about Marianne all the time. And Eleanor was like, I am not saying any of this garbage to Marianne. Right?
- [55:28]
C
Like, well, then what, what's this going to do to Marianne if she, like, yeah, exactly. Loves her?
- [55:31]
B
And he's like, but I just wanted you to know that this is really hard for me.
- [55:36]
C
I hate this guy.
- [55:38]
A
He's terrible.
- [55:40]
B
And Eleanor, she's like, but to Eleanor's credit, she does feel sympathy for him, cuz she's like, he's now rich. He got all his money. But he's like, in a miserable marriage. He's like, the rest of my life sucks. And she's like, yeah, but you got your money. And he's like, yeah, money's great. But I do have that. I do have that. But I, I feel bad about this whole thing. And I just want you to know that I'm, I, I feel bad about the way this went down. And Eleanor's like, yeah, if only there was a way to have not had it gone down this way. Anyway, so he's like, well, I gotta go. And he leaves to go be sad. I can't remember if. No, Eleanor does tell Marianne this later. All right? Marianne recovers in the night, and she comes out of the fever and she survives. Mom comes, Brandon comes, and everyone is so pleased that Marianne's alive. And Marianne goes by having this near death experience. Marianne has this, like, change of character. And this is what I want to read. So Marianne has this change of character where she sort of realizes she finally finds out about the whole thing that, that Eleanor had been carrying, that Eleanor knew that Lucy was engaged to Edward and couldn't tell anybody. And Marianne is like, oh, my goodness. He. Here I am throwing the whole Willoughby thing in your face and everybody is doting over me. And you are having the exact same heartbreak. Eleanor, I feel so terrible. And you, you didn't break this. You didn't cry, you didn't moan, you didn't say, woe is me. You didn't throw a pit fit. She's like, you are a better version. Like you had the exact same situation and you bore this better than me. And Eleanor is like, don't. Don't worry about it. Don't mention it. Eleanor has been keeping all of this emotion to herself and she hasn't been able to let it out. And it's really been affecting her. Anyway, so they have this wonderful conversation. I kind of want to read it because it's Marianne's realizing. It's Marianne's moral formation. It's the every. I don't know if every Jane Austen book has this, but most Jane Austen, all the ones that I've read, the main characters realize that they need to adopt a higher form of virtue before it's too late. And for Willoughby, it was too late, but for Marianne it's not. And so she realizes this alright. So how then, said Eleanor. Would you account for his behavior? I would suppose him. Oh, how gladly would I suppose him. Only fickle. Very, very fickle. Eleanor said no more. She was debating within herself on the eligibility of beginning her story directly or postponing it till Marion was in stronger health. Oh, telling the story about that. That Willoughby showed up. And they crept on for a few minutes in silence. I am not wishing him too much. Good, said Marianne at last, with a sigh. When I wish his secret reflections may be no more unpleasant than my own, he will suffer enough in them. Do you compare his conduct with his? No. I compare it with what it ought to have been. I compare it with yours. Our situations have borne little resemblance. They have been. They have borne more than our conduct. Do not, my dearest Eleanor, let your kindness defend when I know your judgment must censor. My illness has made me think. It had given me leisure and calmness for serious recollection long before I was enough recovered to talk. I was perfectly able to reflect. I considered the past I saw in my own behavior since the beginning of our acquaintance with him last autumn, nothing but a series of imprudence towards myself and want of kindness to others. She was doing that like no one has ever been in love. And I'm the only one that knows what it's like to be in love. You normies don't know love, right? She was that kind of person.
- [59:15]
A
Yes.
- [59:17]
B
I saw that my own feelings had prepared my sufferings and that my want of fortitude under them had almost led me to the grave. My illness, I well knew, had been entirely brought on by myself, by such negligence of my own health as I had felt even at the time to be wrong. Had I died, it would have been self destruction. I did not know my danger till the danger was removed. But with such feelings as these reflections gave me, I wonder at my recovery, wondered that the very eagerness of my desire to live, to have time for atonement to my God and to you all, did not kill me at once. She goes on to say, I, and only I, knew your heart and its sorrows. Yet what did it influence me? Not to any compassion that could benefit you or myself. Your example was before me. But to what avail? And so she basically says, like, you have been the better version. You have been and carried yourself in the way that I ought to have carried myself. You have been heartbroken, but you had the double heartache of not being able to tell the ones you loved to share the burdens. And here I was having everybody play nursemaid to poor, heartbroken, jolted Marianne, and I didn't bear it. I actually made it. Made myself so sick with my own emotions that I could have died. And you have been burying it and also keeping the family going and keeping me going. You had to be put in that position where you, like, told Edward about his job so he could now marry this, like, troll of a girl. Like, you are a model of endurance and fortitude. And Eleanor. And she's like, and I want to be like you, Eleanor. And Eleanor's like, that is very kind. I love you, like, yes, but let's. Let's go home. Let's go to mother, and I will bear the sadness. So if they go home, then a little man comes in one day, he's like, I was at the market the other day, and you know who I saw? I saw Mrs. Ferrars. And they're like, oh, you mean. You mean the mother? She's like, no, Lucy. That Lucy girl. She's now Lucy Ferrars and Eleanor. This was finally the moment. Eleanor had been holding out hope that maybe Edward was going to marry her and this was going to happen. But now the die is cast. Lucy is Lucy Ferrars. And this is at this moment, the dam breaks for Eleanor. Or. No, actually, no, I should keep that back the dam doesn't break. She finds. She says, okay, I can move on. It's happened. The thing I feared is here. Now that it's here, it's not so bad. I can put all of those feelings to bed. Marianne, you lost your Willoughby. I have lost my Edward. We move on in fortitude. And everyone's like, eleanor, I'm so sorry. She's like, he never promised himself to me. I'm okay. It's okay. Everyone's like, all right. Meanwhile, they've been spending. Colonel Brandon, who's brought mom, has been making. She's like, how's Marianne doing? Can I ask that? Edward have a brother Edward? Yeah, Edward, the younger brother who inherited the fortune. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway.
- [62:23]
A
Oh.
- [62:23]
B
Anyway, let's keep going.
- [62:24]
A
Okay.
- [62:26]
B
Meanwhile, Colonel Brandon's in town. He keeps coming around. He's like, how's Marianne doing? And he invites them over to his fancy estate. And. And. And Marianne. Here. Here's the whole story about Brandon. And she's like, wait. Colonel Brandon had, like, a secret romantic love affair as a young man. How interesting. And she's like, he fought a duel with Willoughby. That's hot. And. And he's kind of like. He, like, rides his horse really, like, pretty proudly, and he loves good music, and he has, like. He's got, like, an estate that's got really nice fruit trees. Marianne loves fruit.
- [63:11]
C
She loves her fruit trees. I remember that.
- [63:12]
B
And. And Brandon is kind of. Everyone's sort of like, so you're gonna marry Brandon? And Marion's like, I'm not saying no.
- [63:21]
A
Oh.
- [63:23]
B
Anyway, so this whole thing is percolating in the background, and then it looks like it's gonna happen now. And maybe in the imagery, we can talk about, like, how we should think about, like, a 36 year old marrying, like, now a 20 year old, and how weird that is. Or if that's weird, but we can talk about that later. But meanwhile, they're back at the estate, and Marianne's kind of being like, Marianne had said, I'm never gonna love again. You only get one great love in your life, and mine was Willoughby, so I'm just gonna be, like a spinstress. But now Marianne's like, the sun is shining. No, she is a happy girl again because she's kind of flirting with the idea of Brandon. And they see someone coming down the road, and it's Edward. And Edward is coming to the house, and they're like, is he with his wife? Is he with Lucy? And he's just by himself, and he comes in the house and he's all awkward there, and he's, like, standing in the foy. He's like, hey, guys. And Eleanor is there, and she's like, how is Mrs. Ferrars? And he's like, oh, Mrs. Ferrari. She's fine. She's great. And they're like, oh, are you settling in well? He's like, settling in with my mom. No, my mom kicked me out. She's like, no, no, no. I don't mean. Marianne is talking. She's like, I don't mean, how is your mother. I mean, how is Lucy Ferrars? And he says, oh, she is. Well, she married my brother. And at this moment. At this moment, Eleanor's emotional dam breaks, and she is so overcome with the emotion that she's been walling up inside for so long, she leaves the room and runs into the kitchen and just weeps and weeps and weeps with joy. I'm even getting emotional thinking about it. With joy and with sadness over the whole situation. The situation has finally. It's like the very thing that she hoped for, that she thought was gone forever has finally come. Turns out that as soon as Lucy found out there was no fortune, she's like, your brother's cute. And she goes. And. And she goes to the brother, and she's like, edward, I'm not marrying you. Or, yeah, Edward, I'm not marrying you. And she flirts with the brother, and the brother is, like, dopey enough and rich enough that as soon as somebody compliments him, he's like, I think I love you. And so they get married, and so now she's rich.
- [65:31]
C
Wait, another mom was cool with it, though, because she.
- [65:34]
B
The mom's cool with it. The mom, she's not super cool with it, but she. But the thing is, Lucy is so complimentary and flattery. She's such a flatterer. The mom's like, maybe she's cool. She seems to recognize my worth. Oh.
- [65:48]
C
So it took a little while.
- [65:49]
B
Yeah, it took a little while. Lucy's flattery works. Yeah. And Edward has come, and he. And he's like, I'm here to propose to you and, Eleanor, I have loved you forever. He's like, I've been an idiot. When I. I was. I had been engaged to Lucy, and we sent all these letters, and she was always, like, lukewarm to me, but I had given my word. And then. But now that it's off, this was the first place I came to. And as soon as that dissolved, I got on my horse, and I came to you, and he's like, can you ever love me? And Eleanor's like, yes. And they get married, and they move into the little house, and they have their simple country life. And Brandon and Marianne get married, and Marianne gets her.
- [66:28]
C
She's loaded.
- [66:28]
B
Yeah. Marianne gets her, like, broody, romantic, with cool guy with this interesting past who's a colonel who's got, like, cool stories from India. And Colonel Brandon gets his, like, beautiful flower that he gets to cultivate, and he gets to, like, feed her peaches and play piano and, like, get her. Make her all fat and happy in the country because he just broods over her and, like, dotes over her forever. And both women get their. Get their. Their. The loves of their life. So that. So, man, that was, like, the long synopsis of the story. How much time we got left?
- [66:59]
C
We are overtime. We are, like, definitely past where we should.
- [67:03]
B
So we're gonna end it there at least 10 minutes over.
- [67:06]
C
Yeah, we got a quick.
- [67:07]
B
Also.
- [67:07]
C
I can't upload it, so.
- [67:08]
B
Fine. So very, very quickly. And let me just say, like, the. The two major sort of things that if people are going to be reading this or studying this or thinking about this, the relationship between the life of emotion and feeling in the life of. Of duty, honor, and in many cases, suppressing your emotion, those are characterized in Eleanor and Marianne. And of course, Eleanor is keyed up as being the better of the two. It is better to do your duty and to hold your emotions close. But there is a perniciousness to that as well that could have undone Eleanor if she didn't have the amount of fortitude that she did. So there's that theme going on. And the other theme is that every single man in the story has been. Has had some sort of moral failing as a younger person. And the. And the. The consequences that that has on the women in his life, and in many cases, the more vulnerable people in his life. The Ward not getting the money from John at the beginning of the book, Willoughby being a jerk, Edward just not manning up and, like, saying what he wants. And there's something to be said about that, but I guess we're super over. So maybe we can talk about more of this in the. In between or these.
- [68:17]
C
Or the second episode.
- [68:18]
B
Maybe a second episode. But these are. The thing is, I wanted to do primers of the book so that everybody has all of the plots of the book. So when I do a bigger Jane Austen analysis that they can kind of use, go back to these books, and they've got the stories. So maybe that analysis comes with a bigger analysis that I'm wanting to do later. Okay.
- [68:36]
C
Yeah, fair enough.
- [68:37]
B
So anyway, so think of this as like, this is the.
- [68:39]
A
Just the plot.
- [68:40]
C
Spark notes.
- [68:41]
B
Yeah. This is. This is the preamble to a bigger series that I want to do later. So you now know Sense and Sensibility, the story.
- [68:48]
A
What a delight. That was wonderful.
- [68:49]
B
Yeah.
- [68:50]
C
Now I don't want to read the book.
- [68:51]
B
You should wait.
- [68:52]
A
Hold on.
- [68:52]
B
Go read the book.
- [68:53]
C
Because I won't have Donaldson's, you know.
- [68:55]
A
Voices do an audiobook. It's got to be public domain, right? This has been Classical Stuff. You should know. You can find us online@patreon patreon.com classicalstuff. You can find us on X@classical stuff. C L, S S C A L Stuff. You can email us@theguyslassicalstuff.net or also online@classical stuff.net. thank you all so much for listening and we will talk to you again soon. Bye.
- [69:20]
B
Bye. Ciao.