Discourse about the value placed on money in Jane Austen’s novels always surges when a new adaptation is released, as with the new Sense and Sensibility film.
Based on the 1811 novel of the same name, it is strongly grounded in womanhood and in the many forms of love, whether that be familial, platonic or romantic.
However, for some people, all they seem to take away from Austen’s books is how much the female characters centre their lives around financial happiness. In doing so, they miss the point of her writing altogether.
The Sense and Sensibility film was released in the UK on 25 September, and surprisingly, the interviews with the cast members are what have gone viral. Well, one specific cast member: the actor who plays Mr Willoughby – Frank Dillane.
In an interview with Ambar Lee (The Fangirl Nation), she said his character portrayal was the “slimiest” she’d ever seen, to which Dillane was visibly taken aback. He then went on to combat this claim by saying, “I didn’t see him as slimy, or I didn’t personally see much of the red flags”, and “the women, after all, spend the whole film talking about whether he has money or he has status […] so then to burn Willoughby in the same flames that they are burning in themselves seems to be unfair”. How disappointing indeed.
Not only could I hear Austen turning in her grave, but I could also hear the collective sighs of women everywhere as he spoke those words. He has misunderstood the novel and Austen’s reasons for writing books such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma in the first place.
Her novels are first and foremost about women navigating life in a time when the scales were not tipped in their favour and, ultimately, about surviving society.
The deeper themes can be overlooked by some who simply see her novels as romances. Some may even say her characters are, for lack of a better term, gold diggers.
But the truth is, women had to care about money; many were not allowed to get jobs of their own, and they were entirely dependent on men, whether that be their father or partner. Choosing a husband was not simply about who to love but a decision that would determine their future independence.
P.S. Willoughby is, without question, slimy.
Image credit: Megan Kempster
Leave a Reply