THE SYI{OPSIS OF SENSE A}ID SENSIBILITY
When Mr. John Dashwoodinheritedhis father's estate,it was his inteation to
provide comforlably for his step'u,otherand his half-sisters. His wife, pnnny,
however, had other ideas, and even though she was independelrtlywealthy she
cleverly preventedher husbandfrom helping his relatives.Whe,nFanny's brother,
Edward Ferrars, began to show intef,est in John's haf-sister, Elinor, Fanny,
determinedto preverntany alliancebetweenthem,madelife so uncomfortablefor the
older Mrs. Dashwoodand her daughlersthat thoseladies acceptedthe offer of their
relative,Sir JohnMddleton, to occupya cotiageon his estate.
N4rs.Dashwood,Elinor, and Ndariannewere happy in the cottageat Barton
Park. There they met Colonel Brandon- Sir John's friend, who was irnrnediately
attacted to lvlariarure.She,consideringhim old at lhe age of thirly-five, rejectedhis
suit and fell in love with JohnWilloughby, a youngrnanvisiring wealthy relativeson
a neighbogingestate.
Once,while all the friendsuaerepreparingfor an outing, Colonel Brandonrvas
calledawayin a mysteriousfasbion.Elinor andMariannewere srqp.risedlater to hear
that he had a daughte4at least tlat wae the rumor they heard.Wiloughby see'med
determinedto give llaariarmea bad impressionof Colonel Brandon"a fact which did
not make Elinor hap'py. Shortly affer the colooel's suddendeparture,Willoughby
himself left very suddenly, without giving lvlarianne a satisfactory explanation.
Elinor could not help being cons€rsedaboutthe uanner of his departrue,particularly
sincehe had not madea definite engageme,nt
with lvlarianne.
.|,,
A week later Edward Ferrarsappearcdat the cottage for a visit. In spite of
Elinor's attraction ls him, Edward seemedno more rhnn mildly interestedin her.
After a shortstayhe left the cotlagewithout sayinganythingto give Elinw hope.
NGanwbileSir Johnhad invited to his home Miss Lucy Steeleand ber sister,
two young ladies whom Elinor thought vulgar and iporonl
She was therefore
stuned when Lucy told her that shewas secretlyengagedto Edward Ferrars,uAom
shehad met while he was a pupil of Lucy's rmcle.According to Lucy's story, they
had been engagedfor fou years, but Edward's mother would not pe'rmit him to
marry. SinceEdwardhad no rnoneyof his onm and no occupation,they were fiorced
to wait for Mrs.Ferars' consentbefore they could annormcetheir engage,n€,ol.
Elinor, concealingher rmhappiness
at lhis news,told Lucy that shewould help in any
way shecould.
A shorttime later Elinor and lvfuriannewere invited to London to visit tiends.
Marianneinmediately wrote to Willoughby that she waEnerlr. Although she wrote
two or tbreetimes, shehad no reply. One day, shemet him at a party. He was with
anotheryoung lady and heatedlvtrariannecourteouslybut coolly. The next moming,
Ivlariannereceived a letter from him lslling her that he wes sorry if she had
misunderstoodhis intentionsand tbat he lrad beenlong engagedto anothergirl. All
of her friends and relatives were fi:rious to Willoughby. Even though she was
heartbroken,lvlariannecoutinued1e6lgfsndhi'n andto believetbat he was blameless.
Shewas comfortedby ColonelBrandoo,who was alsoin London.
Privately, the colonel told Elinor about Willoughby's story. The colonel hed a
ward, the yomg girl believed by some to be his daughter,who wag rn reality the
daughterof his brother's divorced wife. When ihe colonel bad had to leave Barton
Part so suddenly,he bad leamedthat his ward had beenseduccdand then abandmed
by Willoughby, Elinor gavethis newsto N4arianne,
who receirrcdit with suchsonow
that Elinor fearedfor her healtL Colonel Brandoncoutinuedto be kind to lvlarianne,
and it was obviousto everyonethat he loraedher.
The girls continuedtheir stay in London, and a litle later their brother Jokr
and his wife Fanny took a houseibcre. When the Misses Steelealso arrived in toum
for a visit, Edward's mother learnerlat last that he and Lucy were e.ngaged.
Angry,
shesettledwbat would havebeenErJward'sinheritanceon her othe'rson,Roberl and
Edward and Lucy were left with no meansof sup,port.He plannedto study for the
ministy, and Elinor arrangedwith Colonel Brandonfor Edward to becomea cruate
on his estateso that Edwardand Lucy could be married.
Before Elinor aud lvlariannerehrmedhome, they visited Cleveland,an estate
betweenLondon and Barton Park. There N{ariannebecameill with a heavy cold.
Becauseshe was anxious to see lrer mother, Colonel Brandon went for Mrs.
Dashwood,Before they retumed,Willoughby, having heard of ldarianne'g illuess,
called at the house.He told Elinor that he had tleatd lvfarianneshamefirlly,because
he had no money of his onm and becausehis wealthy relative had leamed of his
freaheut of Colonel Brandou'sand as a result had refusedto give hirn an allo'nrance.
Consequently,he had married a wealthy gi.l
"nd
re,rormcedlvlariarme.He said that
he still loved Irrlarianneaod wishedher to how his story so that shewould not think
hanhlv ofhim.
75
Mariannerecoveredfrom her illness and retumedhome with her mother and
Elinor. ThereElinor told her Willoughby's story.Ndariannecontinuedlp ssnsw him,
but sheno longer loved him.
After their rehnn" Elinor learned from a servantthat Edward and Luuy had
bea married. soon Edwarrdap,peared
at the cofiageand told the Dashwoodstbat the
nnssrupuleus Lucy bad rnaried his brother instead, after their mother had
disinheritedEdward in favor of Roberl Edward bad come to ask Elinor to marry
him, and he had no trouble in gaining her consent,as well as that of her mother. It
remainedonly for him to securea living. He w-entto London to seekhis mother's
fbrgiveness.Because\lrs. Ferrarsalsohad scomedher son Robertafter his marriage
to Lucy, she felt a needfor affection froru one of her children. After much weeping
and pleading,which failed to move Edward in his determinationto marry Elinor,
Mrs. Ferrarsgave her couse.ntto the wedding.After their marriagethey moved into
the parsonagepromisedby Edwardby Colonel Brandonsomemonthsbefore.
The.colooelcontiouedhis quiet and friendly courtshipof tvlarianne.At last she
recognizedhis gentlenessand kindncssand they were rrarried. When they moved to
his estate,lhe two sisterswere near eachother oncemore. Fanny and Jobn w€re so
pleasedto be related to the colouel that Fanny even forgave Edward for marrying
Elinor. Mrs. Dashwoodwas delightedat the good fortune of her children, and the
families lived in peaceaad contentmentfor all their lives.
GEIIEALOGICAL
CTIARTS FOR SENSE A}ID SENSIBILITY
The tables below show how someof the charactersin Se,nseand Sensibilitv
arerelatedto eachother.
l. lbe Ferrarsaod Dashwoods
(of NorlandPark)
t ThcQldGentleman
I
(his nephew)
Firstwife m. MrHenry Dastlood
m. secondwife-Mrs. Dashwood
t Mr. Fenarsm.Mrs.Fenars
Edward Robcrt
(eldestson)
Fannvm. JohnDashwood
2. TheMddletons
Mn. Jennings
r__________r__t
Sir JohnMiddleton ra. Iady Middleton
(acousinofMrs.Dashwood)l
Charlottezr. ThorrasPalmer
I
I
John,Willianl Annamaria,etc.
son
76
3. TheBrandons
t OldMr. Brandon
r-_--T--__--_l
Col.Brandon Sister
t Brother m.t ElizaWilliamsI lust xducsr
(eldestson)
Eliza William (Jr.) A JohnWilloughbyrz. SophiaGrev
CfrifO
Notes:
t = indicatesindividual who hasdied bctbrethe main action of thc novcl.
l=
indicatessn illicit liason.
a = indicalesmarried.