A small green court
was the whole of its demesne in front; and a neat wicket gate admitted them
into it.
As a house, Barton
Cottage, though small, was comfortable and compact; but as a cottage it was
defective, for the building was regular, the roof was tiled, the window
shutters were not painted green, nor were the walls covered with
honeysuckles. A narrow passage led
directly through the house into the garden behind. On each side of the entrance was a sitting room, about sixteen
feet square; and behind them were the offices and the stairs. Four bedrooms and two garrets formed
the rest of the house. It had not
been built many years and was in good repair. In comparison of Norland, it was poor and small indeed! — but the tears which recollection called
forth as they entered the house were soon dried away. They were cheered by the
joy of the servants on their arrival, and each for the sake of the others
resolved to appear happy. It was
very early in September; the season was fine, and from first seeing the place
under the advantage of good weather, they received an impression in its favour
which was of material service in recommending it to their lasting approbation.
Sense And Sensibility
– Chapter Six
Who wouldn’t want to live in Barton Cottage? As a fervid Janeite I want to
understand the dismay with which Elinor, her sisters and her mother feel on
moving into their small (for them) new abode - but I confess that I can’t.
I would relish the process of returning home by entering a small
green courtyard through a neat wicket gate. A tiled roof, shuttered windows,
cozy sitting rooms and a passage leading into a garden behind the cottage with high
hills behind and lofty green downs nearby to walk and dream upon…. It all sounds blissful. Now these
ladies were in a serious downsizing situation and it is true that none of us
want to leave a beloved home – yet I find myself envying this set of Dashwoods.
But what’s this about the cottage being defective because the
shutters weren’t green? And not only were the outside walls sadly
honeysuckle-free, but the building was regular and the roof was only… well…
tiled? From William
Wordsworth’s descriptions of moss-grown huts and Keats’ autumn cottages whose
thatched eves were covered with fruited vines, it’s easy to see that Romanticism
had leant a yearning for the rustic, the picturesque and the irregular.
Jane Austen wrote during the time of Wordsworth, Coleridge
and Byron, and many of this Regency work’s characters and their reactions strongly
echo the period’s Sensibility Movement.
The Regency Era (1811-1820) fell directly in the middle of what is
considered The Romantic Period (1800-1840) and its literature reflected the thoughts
and emotions of the time. This
reading of Sense And Sensibility has
awakened me to a fresh realization of how much the Romantic Movement is
reflected in Marianne Dashwood with her love of beauty, her pride in unbridled
emotions and her admiration of passionate hearts.
"It was
impossible for her to say what she did not feel, however trivial the occasion;
and upon Elinor therefore the whole task of telling lies when politeness
required it, always fell."
Sense And Sensibility
– Chapter 21
Read on!
