The Official Jane Austen Book Club discussion

Currently in the middle of re-reading Sense and Sensibility (just started volume two, for reference), and I am so surprised I could possibly forget what made Lucy Steele so unlikeable!! With her bragging to Eleanor about Edward (and I do think it was bragging; despite her lack of education, she's described as having a sharpness to her that's hard to ignore), she reminds me all too much of a girl I had a falling-out with myself.

My question to all of you is, have you ever known a Lucy Steele of your own? Has it changed your perspective on that scene in the books in any way? Because it has certainly affected my view on Lucy's character to be able to relate to Eleanor so painfully well.

I do not think so. But I find her sister hilarious.

Yes, I have known some Lucy Steeles in my time! All fake sweetness covering up a selfish agenda.

Jan wrote: "I do not think so. But I find her sister hilarious."

Agreed!! Anne definitely is one of the goofier characters in the book, an absolute delight to read about 😂

One thing I like about the later adaptation from 2008 is that they kept the character of Lucy's sister in. She was a perfect comic counterpoint to Lucy's venom.

Yes! That adaptation keeps growing on me, though I find a few moments heavy-handed. The actress playing Anne Steele plays her to the hilt; at first I thought she was over-the-top but when I checked the text, most of her dialogue is in the original.

Now I want to watch the most faithful adaptation for each Usten book. I doubt I will be able to find the 1988s MP in the US, though.

Abigail wrote: "Yes! That adaptation keeps growing on me, though I find a few moments heavy-handed. The actress playing Anne Steele plays her to the hilt; at first I thought she was over-the-top but when I checked..."

Jane Austen loves her over-the-top characters, for sure 😂

Lucy Steele makes Caroline Bingley seem positive charming - an excellent well rounded character.

Craftyhj wrote: "Lucy Steele makes Caroline Bingley seem positive charming - an excellent well rounded character."

You're not wrong 😭

She is pretty nasty and conniving. Though no one can hold a candle to Willoughby. He does the worst stuff then expects everyone to feel sorry for him. Woe is me. I had to marry a rich woman. I do not even like her. Life of a mercenary is so hard. All I did was impregnate and abandon a child. And lie to everybody. But I am hot so I deserve so much more. Why cannot Marianne be my next mistress? She is so my h hotter than my wife!

I hear you about Willoughby, but I really loathe John “Banality of Evil” Dashwood and his pathetic hypocrisies, so beautifully portrayed in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility.

John is a lousy brother and disrespectful son.

Jan wrote: "She is pretty nasty and conniving. Though no one can hold a candle to Willoughby. He does the worst stuff then expects everyone to feel sorry for him. Woe is me. I had to marry a rich woman. I do n..."

Lol I get what you're saying; it's definitely reflective of the time that he could do so many horrible things and expect to get away with it relatively well.

To me, his "woe is me" attitude comes from a place of astonishing selfishness that causes him to be blind the affect of his own actions on others; he's only sorry when the consequences catch up to him in the end. Otherwise, I believe he really would have been blinded to the wrongness of his conduct.

One can sympathize with him to a degree, knowing that he could have married Marianne *and* have been pardoned for the situation with Miss Williams, being at once happy and rich, as Jane Austen put it; but the author makes it clear that he was nowhere near as deserving of her as Colonel Brandon, or any other man of *real* character.

Gosh, what a paragraph. But in short, Willoughby had potential, and that gives him a degree of sympathy that, say, Wickham does not possess; however, he lacks the basic empathy and foresight that are the bare minimum for a good partner in any time period (but especially in a Jane Austen novel).

Abigail wrote: "I hear you about Willoughby, but I really loathe John “Banality of Evil” Dashwood and his pathetic hypocrisies, so beautifully portrayed in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility."

Bang on Abigail! When we consider these minor characters we are again reminded of Austen's absolute genius in understanding characters and stretching them just far enough. What a woman!