Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility ANNOTATED Jane Austen

In the wake of their father's death, the Dashwood sisters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, are left at the financial mercy of John, half-brother, and his greedy wife. Though their father asked John to take care of the girls and their distraught mother, the women end up getting seriously shafted - they're turned out of their family home, and basically left with a barely-respectable income to live on. Left to their own devices, the ladies decide to move away to a cottage owned by a distant cousin in Barton Park, Devonshire. Before they move house, though, Elinor (the more practical sister) tentatively allows herself to fall in love with Edward Ferrars, the gentle brother of the girls' obnoxious sister-in-law. However, both of these young people are on the, shall we say, cautious side of the emotional spectrum, and the romance doesn't go anywhere. The Dashwood girls move away to their new home, leaving Edward behind. In Devonshire, they find themselves in the company of the aforementioned cousin, Sir John Middleton, and his rather oddball family, comprised of a dully proper wife and a hilariously raucous mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings. Also present is Sir John's good friend, Colonel Brandon, a thirty-something, somewhat stodgy, but good-hearted bachelor, who falls for young Marianne's girlish charms. The Dashwoods try make themselves at home in the cottage, but can't help but miss their childhood home. Marianne (the less-than-practical sister) is particularly blue - that is, until she develops a love interest of her own, a dashing young man named Willoughby. Everyone gets along with the new guy just swimmingly, and the whole family expects that Marianne and Willoughby will announce their engagement any day. Marianne is sure that she's found her soul mate. Things start to go wrong fairly soon, though. Willoughby leaves rather suddenly for London, for reasons we're not entirely certain of, and doesn't give any indication of when he'll be back. Marianne takes this very hard, as she does everything. The plot continues to thicken with the arrival of an unexpected visitor - Edward Ferrars. He stays with his friends for a week, and all the while, everyone has a great time, even morose Marianne. However, Edward's departure heralds the arrival of another set of visitors, Mrs. Palmer, Lady Middleton's hyperactive sister, and her dour husband, Mr. Palmer. The Palmers just happen to live in the general vicinity of Willoughby's country home, and Marianne is eager for news of him - but there isn't any. After the Palmers' departure, yet another wave of newcomers washes in... and this time, they're unwelcome ones. Mrs. Jennings invites some unknown relations of hers, Miss Steele and her younger sister, Lucy, to come and stay at Barton Park. To cut a long story short, Lucy Steele admits to Elinor that she's secretly engaged - to Edward Ferrars! Elinor is shocked and upset, and her hopes for the future all crumble before her eyes. Both Dashwood sisters are now down in the dumps with regards to romance. At this low point, Mrs. Jennings asks Elinor and Marianne to accompany her to London for an extended trip, and after some squabbling, the girls accept. They embark upon their journey with mixed feelings - Marianne hoping to see Willoughby, and Elinor afraid that she'll run into Edward. Both of these things come to pass, but not in ways that the girls expect. Willoughby avoids Marianne like the plague, despite many, many letters from her. When they finally meet at a ball (by accident), he evades her once again. Soon thereafter, Marianne receives a rather cold letter of dumpage from Willoughby, and she falls ill with the shock. Colonel Brandon, still carrying a torch for Marianne, is concerned, but also relieved - he finally tells Elinor the horrible truth about Willoughby, ......