This has been kicking around my various hard drives for a long time. I think the first draft was in 2004; I know I finished a good draft in 2009, and I’ve tweaked it occasionally since then. It’s been a side project for when Galantier leaves me brain-fried.

I’ve always preferred Sense & Sensibility to Pride & Prejudice, because I think S&S is more about grief, loss and economics than romance. I actually like the fact that the boys go gallivanting off and spend their off-screen time behaving badly, and despite this, Willoughby and Edward Ferrars and Colonel Brandon feel less like props to advance the story than Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley do. (I do like P&P, and Lizzie certainly got a better deal with Darcy than by staying single or with Mr. Collins, but I just can’t ‘ship Larcy. So please don’t flame me.) I’m sure Darcy has an internal life that isn’t just obsessed with Lizzie, but he feels rather cypherish to me. I see social anxiety and a lifetime of familial manipulation and learned helplessness in Edward.

Continue reading “Economics & Emotion: Does Sense & Sensibility still work?” →