歐美研究季刊第46卷第3期 - page 325

Indifference in
Sense and Sensibility
325
was vexed and half angry; but resolving to regulate
her behaviour to him by the past rather than the
present, she avoided every appearance of resentment
or displeasure, and treated him as he ought to be
treated from the family connection. (102-103)
In this passage we see Elinor’s anger and resentment subside as
social expectations exert a cooling effect. Edward’s role as her
guest and the brother of her sister-in-law compels her to be
polite to him. Elinor does not show, let alone tell, Edward that
she is displeased. If Edward holds back his genuine feeling in
the presence of Elinor, so does Elinor in his. But Austen takes
care to reveal that Elinor’s reserve is not devoid of powerful
feeling and that family connections alone do not fully explain
Elinor’s calm appearance. Elinor thinks of those good old days
when Edward’s affection for her was incontrovertible and this
happy memory enables her to resist emotional demon-
strativeness: “resolving to regulate her behaviour to him by the
past rather than the present, she avoided every appearance of
resentment or displeasure.” Elinor’s passionless appearance is
underpinned by and suffused with her affection for her lover.
IV. The Affective Core of Indifference
If, as demonstrated above, indifference is the central issue
that Austen deals with in
Sense and Sensibility
, why is it that
this issue rarely attracts critics’ attention? To ask this question
is to reconsider the assumed dichotomy between indifference
and feeling, a dichotomy that has dominated the study of
feelings in Austen’s novels. For most Austen scholars,
Sense
and Sensibility
seeks to cultivate readers’ sympathetic
appreciation of another individual’s peculiar circumstance and
to celebrate those characters who possess this ability. Thus the
diffident Edward becomes attractive to the eyes of Elinor, who
pleads that it takes time to understand his intrinsic worth: “His
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