Indifference in Sense and Sensibility

《理性與感性》中的漠然

10.7015/JEAS.201609_46(3).0001

吳易道(Yih-Dau Wu)

漠然 ； 《理性與感性》 ； 不關心 ； 未言之情 ； indifference ； Sense and Sensibility ； unconcern ； reserve

歐美研究

46卷3期（2016 / 09 / 01）

305 - 336

英文

英國小說家夏綠蒂．伯朗蒂曾批評珍．奧斯汀是一位冷漠的作家，此一評論引發後世奧斯汀學者的反彈與駁斥。冷漠被認為是和奧斯汀小說無關的議題，因為它和情感似是兩個極端。本文嘗試破除此一偏見。首先，作者細究奧斯汀在《理性與感性》中如何使用冷漠(indifference)一詞，並定義冷漠為不關心(unconcern)與未言之情(reserve)。從此角度來看，冷漠主導了小說中角色發展、劇情變化甚至句型結構。奧斯汀不認為冷漠與情感乃兩對立的概念，前者可能遮掩了後者的存在，後者也可以是前者存在的必要條件。伯朗蒂提出的漠然議題能讓我們重新思考《理性與感性》的意義與價值。

Charlotte Brontë famously criticizes Jane Austen as a cold lady writer indifferent to passions and uninterested in feelings. Modern Austen scholars have successfully refuted Brontë's arguments and confirmed Austen's familiarity with the business of the heart. This critical debate gives rise to two misconceptions about indifference: that it is irrelevant to Austen's art, and that it is irreconcilable with feeling. This essay seeks to redress both misunderstandings. I first define indifference as unconcern and reserve, before analyzing the formative role they play in the characters, plot, and sentences of Sense and Sensibility. Next, I discuss the affective core of indifference. I show that, throughout the novel, Austen frequently collapses the otherwise rigid boundaries between powerful emotions and the appearance of indifference. Just as the latter can conceal TP the former, the former may be the precondition for the latter. Sense and Sensibility, I conclude, is not about sense or sensibility. It is centrally concerned with feeling indifferent and with feelings in indifference. Brontë's criticism is certainly unjust, but the issue of emotional inadequacy raised therein can cast new light on Austen's first-published novel.

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