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Sense and Sensibility
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Sense and Sensibility (1811) (edit title/settings)

by Jane Austen (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

'Young women who have no economic or political power must attend to the serious business of contriving material security.' Jane Austen's sardonic humour lays bare the stratagems, the hypocrisy and the poignancy inherent in the struggle of two very different sisters to achieve respectability.... read more

Summary edit see section history

When Mr. Dashwood dies, his estate - Norland Park - passes to John, his only son, and child of his first wife. Mrs. Dashwood, his second wife, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, are left only a small income.

On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood had asked John to promise to take... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

When Mr. Dashwood dies, his estate - Norland Park - passes to John, his only son, and child of his first wife. Mrs. Dashwood, his second wife, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, are left only a small income.

On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood had asked John to promise to take care of his half-sisters but John's selfish wife, Fanny, soon persuades her weak-willed husband that he has no real obligation in the matter, and he gives the girls nothing. John and Fanny move into Norland as its new owners and the Dashwood women, now treated as guests in what was their home, begin looking for another place to live.

Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, a pleasant, unassuming, intelligent but reserved young man, comes to Norland for a visit. He and Elinor are clearly attracted to each other and Mrs. Dashwood hopes they will marry. Fanny makes it clear that their mother, a wealthy widow, wants her son to marry a woman of high rank or great estate, if not both. Although Edward is attentive to Elinor, his reserved behaviour makes it hard to guess his intentions. Elinor does not encourage her relatives to hope for the marriage, although she secretly does.

One of Mrs. Dashwood's cousins, the wealthy Sir John Middleton, offers her a cottage on his estate, Barton Park, in Devonshire, and Mrs. Dashwood decides to accept. She and the girls find it tiny and dark compared to Norland, but try to make the best of it. They are warmly received by Sir John, who insists that they dine with him frequently at the great house of Barton Park and join the social life of his family. Also staying with Sir John is his mother-in-law Mrs. Jennings, a rich widow who is full of kindness and good humour and who immediately assigns herself the project of finding husbands for the Dashwood girls.

While visiting Sir John, the Dashwoods meet his old friend Colonel Brandon. It soon becomes apparent that Brandon is attracted to Marianne, and Mrs. Jennings teases them about it. Marianne is not pleased as she considers Colonel Brandon, at age 35, to be an old bachelor incapable of falling in love or inspiring love in anyone else.

Marianne, out for a stroll, gets caught in the rain, slips, and sprains her ankle. The dashing, handsome John Willoughby, who is visiting his wealthy aunt, Mrs. Smith, in the area, happens to be out with his gun and dogs nearby and sees the accident. He carries her home and soon wins her admiration with his good looks and outgoing personality, the opposite of the quiet and solemn Brandon. He visits her every day, and Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood begin to suspect that the couple are secretly engaged. After a picnic outing, during which Willoughby and Marianne are alone together for some time, Willoughby tells Mrs. Dashwood that he will have something important to say on his next visit. Mrs. Dashwood assumes he means to propose to Marianne and seek her blessing for the match. But when the day comes, she and Marianne are devastated to hear Willoughby announce that his aunt is sending him to London on business and that he may not return to their area for as long as a year.

Edward Ferrars visits the Dashwoods at Barton Cottage but seems unhappy. Elinor fears that he no longer has feelings for her. However, unlike Marianne, she does not allow anyone to see her wallow in her sadness, feeling it her duty to be outwardly calm for the sake of her mother and sisters, who dote on Edward and have firm faith in his love for Elinor.

Anne and Lucy Steele, cousins of Lady Middleton, come to stay at Barton Park. Sir John tells Lucy that Elinor is attached to Edward, prompting Lucy to inform Elinor that she (Lucy) has been secretly engaged to Edward for 4 years. Although Elinor initially blames Edward for engaging her affections when he was not free to do so, she realizes he became engaged to Lucy while he was young and naïve and perhaps has made a mistake. She thinks (hopes) that Edward does not love Lucy, but he will not hurt or dishonour her by breaking their engagement. Elinor hides her disappointment and works to convince Lucy she feels nothing for Edward. This is particularly hard as she sees Lucy may not be sincerely in love with Edward and may only make him unhappy.

Elinor and Marianne spend the winter at Mrs. Jennings' home in London. Marianne's letters to Willoughby go unanswered, and he treats her coldly when he sees her at a party. He later writes to Marianne, enclosing their former correspondence and love tokens, including a lock of her hair and informing her he is engaged to a Miss Grey, a high-born, wealthy woman with fifty thousand pounds (equivalent to about five million pounds today). Marianne admits to Elinor that she and Willoughby were never engaged, but she loved him and he led her to believe he loved her.

Colonel Brandon tells Elinor that Willoughby had seduced Brandon's ward, fifteen-year-old Eliza Williams, and abandoned her when she became pregnant. Brandon was once in love with Miss Williams' mother, a woman who resembled Marianne and whose life was destroyed by an unhappy arranged marriage to the Colonel's brother.

Because Fanny Dashwood does not like her sisters-in-law, she declines her husband's offer to let them stay with her. Instead, she invites the Miss Steeles. Lucy Steele becomes very arrogant and brags to Elinor that the old dowager Mrs. Ferrars favours her. Indeed Fanny and Mrs. Ferrars were fond of Lucy so Lucy's sister, Anne, decides it would not be improper to tell them of Lucy's engagement to Edward. When Mrs. Ferrars discovers Edward's and Lucy's engagement, she is infuriated, and demands he end the engagement instantly. However, he refuses so she disinherits him, in immediate favour of his brother, Robert. Elinor and Marianne feel sorry for Edward, and think him honourable for remaining engaged to a woman with whom he isn't in love.

Edward plans to take holy orders to earn his living, and Colonel Brandon, knowing how lives can be ruined when love is denied, expresses his commiseration to Edward for the deplorable circumstance and offers Edward a parsonage on Delaford, the Colonel's estate, with two hundred pounds a year. Colonel Brandon did not intend the parsonage to be assistance for Edward to marry Lucy as it would be insufficient to house a wife but intends it to provide Edward some sustenance. Elinor meets Edward's boorish brother Robert and is shocked he has no qualms about claiming his brother's inheritance.

The sisters end their winter stay in London and begin their return trip to Barton via Cleveland, the country estate of Mrs.Jennings' son-in-law, Mr. Palmer. There, miserable over Willoughby, Marianne neglects her health and becomes dangerously ill. Hearing of her serious illness, Willoughby arrives suddenly and reveals to Elinor that he truly loved Marianne, but since he was disinherited when his benefactress discovered his seduction of Miss Williams, he decided to marry the wealthy Miss Grey.

Elinor tells Marianne about Willoughby's visit. Marianne admits that although she loved Willoughby, she could not have been happy with the libertine father of an illegitimate child, even if he had stood by her. Marianne also realizes her illness was brought on by her wallowing in her grief, by her excessive sensibility, and had she died, it would have been morally equivalent to suicide. She now resolves to model herself after Elinor's courage and good sense.

The family learns Lucy has married Mr. Ferrars. When Mrs. Dashwood sees how upset Elinor is, she finally realizes how strong Elinor's feelings are for Edward and is sorry she did not pay more attention to her daughter's unhappiness. However, the next day Edward arrives and reveals it was his brother, Robert Ferrars, who married Lucy. He says he was trapped in his engagement to Lucy, "a woman he had long since ceased to love", and she broke the engagement to marry the now-wealthy Robert. Edward asks Elinor to marry him, and she agrees. Edward eventually becomes reconciled with his mother, who gives him ten thousand pounds. He also reconciles with his sister Fanny. Edward and Elinor marry and move into the parsonage at Delaford. Still, Mrs. Ferrars tends to favour Robert and Lucy over Edward and Elinor.

Mr. Willoughby's patroness eventually gives him his inheritance, seeing his marriage to a woman of good character has redeemed him. Willoughby realizes marrying Marianne would have produced the same effect; had he behaved honourably, he could have had love and money.

Over the next two years, Mrs. Dashwood, Marianne, and Margaret spend most of their time at Delaford. Marianne matures and, at the age of nineteen, decides to marry the 37-year-old Colonel. We are told that it is not in her nature to do anything by halves, and the gratitude and respect she has come to feel for him develop into a very deep love. The Colonel's house is near the parsonage where Elinor and Edward live, so the sisters and their husbands can visit each other often.

<source: Wikipedia>

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Elinor Dashwood: the sensible and reserved eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is 19 years old at the beginning of the book. She becomes attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her elder half-brother, John. Always feeling a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, she places their welfare and interests above her own, and suppresses her own strong emotions in a way that leads others to think she is indifferent or cold-hearted.
  • Marianne Dashwood: the romantically inclined and eagerly expressive second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the book. She is the object of the attentions of Colonel Brandon and Mr. Willoughby. She is attracted to young, handsome, romantically spirited Willoughby and does not think much of the older, more reserved Colonel Brandon. Marianne does the most development within the book, learning her sensibilities have been selfish. She decides her conduct should be more like her elder sister's, Elinor.
  • Margaret Dashwood: the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She is thirteen at the beginning of the book. She is also romantic and well-tempered but not expected to be as clever as her sisters when she grows older.
  • Mrs. Dashwood: the second wife of Henry Dashwood, who is left in difficult financial straits by the death of her husband. She is 40 years old at the beginning of the book. Much like her daughter Marianne, she is very emotive and often makes poor decisions based on emotion rather than reason.
  • Henry Dashwood: a wealthy gentleman who dies at the beginning of the story. The terms of his estate prevent him from leaving anything to his second wife and their children. He asks John, his son by his first wife, to look after (meaning ensure the financial security of) his second wife and their three daughters.
  • John Dashwood: the son of Henry Dashwood by his first wife. He intends to do well by his half-sisters, but he has a keen sense of avarice, and is easily swayed by his wife.
  • Fanny Dashwood: the wife of John Dashwood, and sister to Edward and Robert Ferrars. She is vain, selfish, and snobbish. She spoils her son Harry. Very harsh to her husband's half-sisters and stepmother, especially since she fears her brother Edward is attached to Elinor.
  • Sir John Middleton: a distant relative of Mrs. Dashwood who, after the death of Henry Dashwood, invites her and her three daughters to live in a cottage on his property. Described as a wealthy, sporting man who served in the army with Colonel Brandon, he is very affable and keen to throw frequent parties, picnics, and other social gatherings to bring together the young people of their village. He and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, make a jolly, teasing, and gossipy pair.
  • Edward Ferrars: the elder of Fanny Dashwood's two brothers. He forms an attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Years before meeting the Dashwoods, Ferrars proposed to Lucy Steele, the niece of his tutor. The engagement has been kept secret owing to the expectation that Ferrars' family would object to his marrying Miss Steele. He is disowned by his mother on discovery of the engagement after refusing to give up the engagement.
  • Lady Middleton: the genteel, but reserved wife of Sir John Middleton, she is quieter than her husband, and is primarily concerned with mothering her four spoiled children.
  • Mrs. Jennings: mother to Lady Middleton and Charlotte Palmer. A widow who has married off all her children, she spends most of her time visiting her daughters and their families, especially the Middletons. She and her son-in-law, Sir John Middleton, take an active interest in the romantic affairs of the young people around them and seek to encourage suitable matches, often to the particular chagrin of Elinor and Marianne.
  • John Willoughby: a philandering nephew of a neighbour of the Middletons, a dashing figure who charms Marianne and shares her artistic and cultural sensibilities. It is generally understood that he is engaged to be married to Marianne by many of their mutual acquaintances.
  • Colonel Brandon: A close friend and neighbor of Sir John Middleton, who is introduced to the Dashwood sisters as a potential suitor.
  • Lucy Steele: Add a description of this character.
  • Mrs. Ferrars: Fanny Dashwood and Edward and Robert Ferrars' mother. A bad-tempered, unsympathetic woman who embodies all the foibles demonstrated in Fanny and Robert's characteristics. She is determined that her sons should marry well.
  • Charlotte Palmer: the daughter of Mrs. Jennings and the younger sister of Lady Middleton, Mrs. Palmer is jolly but empty-headed and laughs at inappropriate things, such as her husband's continual rudeness to her and to others.
  • Thomas Palmer: the husband of Charlotte Palmer who is running for a seat in Parliament, but is idle and often rude.
  • Anne Steele: Silly sister of Lucy Steele
  • Nancy Steele: Lucy Steele's elder, socially inept, and less clever sister.
  • Miss Sophia Grey: a wealthy but malicious heiress whom Mr. Willoughby marries in order to retain his comfortable lifestyle after he is disinherited by his aunt.
  • Lord Morton: the father of Miss Morton.
  • Miss Morton: a wealthy woman whom Mrs. Ferrars wants her eldest son, Edward, and later Robert to marry.
  • Mr. Pratt: an uncle of Lucy Steele and Edward's tutor.
  • Eliza Williams: the ward of Col. Brandon, she is about 15 years old and bore an illegitimate son to John Willoughby. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Williams.
  • Elizabeth Williams: the former love interest of Colonel Brandon. Williams is Brandon's father's ward, and is forced to marry Brandon's older brother. The marriage is an unhappy one, and it is revealed that her daughter is left as Colonel Brandon's ward when he finds his lost love dying in a poorhouse.
  • Mrs. Smith: the wealthy aunt of Mr. Willoughby who disowns him for not marrying Eliza Williams.
  • Robert Ferrars: the younger brother of Edward Ferrars and Fanny Dashwood, he is most concerned about status, fashion, and his new barouche. He subsequently marries Miss Lucy Steele after Edward is disowned.
Show all 27 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue.”
    Marianne Dashwood
  • “She was stronger alone; and her own good sense so well supported her, that her firmness was as unshaken, her appearance of cheerfulness as invariable, as, with regrets so poignant and so fresh, it was possible for them to be.”
  • “To your sister I wish all imaginable happiness; to Willoughby that he may endeavour to deserve her.”
    Colonel Brandon
  • “It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”
    Marianne Dashwood
  • “Death...a melancholy and shocking extremity.”
  • “Elinor was to be the comforter of others in her own distresses, no less than in theirs.”
  • “Marianne would have thought herself very inexcusable had she been able to sleep at all the first night after parting from Willoughby.”
  • “He was not handsome, and his manners required intimacy to make them pleasing.”
  • “Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.”
    Narrator
  • “Elinor perfectly understood her, and was forced to use all her self-command to make it appear that she did not.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Elinor was to be the comforter of others in her own distresses, no less than in theirs;
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  •     Elinor saw, with concern, the excess of her sister's sensibility;
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • If their praise is censure, your censure may be praise, for they are not more undiscerning, than you are prejudiced and unjust.'
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • 'Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • She had an excellent heart;—her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them:
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • No leaf will decay because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we can observe you no longer! No; you will continue the same; unconscious of the pleasure or the regret you occasion, and insensible of any change in those who walk under your shade! But who will remain to enjoy you?'
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • With such a reward for her tears, the child was too wise to cease crying.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • Lady Middleton resigned herself to the idea of it, with all the philosophy of a well-bred woman, contenting herself with merely giving her husband a gentle reprimand on the subject five or six times every day.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  •     Marianne's abilities were, in many respects, quite equal to Elinor's. She was sensible and clever; but eager in every thing: her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was every thing but prudent.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  •     'It is very true,' said Marianne, 'that admiration of landscape scenery is become a mere jargon. Every body pretends to feel and tries to describe with the taste and elegance of him who first defined what picturesque beauty was. I detest jargon of every kind, and sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in but what was worn and hackneyed out of all sense and meaning.'
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 20 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Volume 1 : 22 Chapters
Volume 2 : 14 Chapters
Volume 3 : 14 Chapters

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 940 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Absentee, and followed by Elective Affinities.

This is book 54 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Cold Comfort Farm, and followed by A Suitable Boy.

This book is in Penguin Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Barnes & Noble Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Heritage Press. (edition-based publisher list)
This is book 183 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by Running With Scissors, and followed by American Gods.

This book is in Tor Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Arcturus Paperback Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics. (publisher series)
This is book 169 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by A Midsummer Night's Dream, and followed by Where the Red Fern Grows.

This book is in Wordsworth Classics. (edition-based publisher list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jane Austen (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. R. W. Chapman
  2. James Kinsley
  3. Maria Luísa Ferreira da Costa (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Thomas Egerton, Whitehall
Country: England
Publication Date: 1811
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 296

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR4034 .S4 1996
  • Dewey: 823.7

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

The story revolves around Elinor and Marianne, two daughters of Mr. Dashwood by his second wife. They have a younger sister, Margaret, and an older half-brother named John. When their father dies, the family estate passes to John, and the Dashwood women are left in reduced circumstances. The novel follows the Dashwood sisters to their new home, a cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience both romance and heartbreak. The contrast between the sisters' characters is eventually resolved as they each find love and lasting happiness. Through the events in the novel, Elinor and Marianne find a balance between sense (or pure logic) and sensibility (or pure emotion) in life and love.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Fiji
  • Northanger Abbey
  • Emma
  • Jane Austen: The Complete Novels
  • Mansfield Park
  • Jane Eyre
  • Persuasion

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense and Sensibility
  • The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen
  • The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World
  • 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen: The Truth About the World's Most Intriguing Romantic Literary Heroine
  • Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners
  • A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
  • Eliza's daughter : a sequel to Jane Austen's Sense and sensibility
  • Colonel Brandon's Diary
  • The Dashwood Sisters Tell All

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