About Author:
Jane Austen was a Georgian era author, best known for her social commentary in novels including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England. While not widely known in her own time, Austen's comic novels of love among the landed gentry gained popularity after 1869, and her reputation skyrocketed in the 20th century. Her novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, are considered literary classics, bridging the gap between romance and realism.
Theme of the novel:
1)women and feminity
2) society and class
3)Love
About Novel:
When Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, leaving all his money to his first
wife's son John Dashwood, his second wife and her three daughters are
left with no permanent home and very little income. Mrs. Dashwood and
her daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) are invited to stay with
their distant relations, the Middletons, at Barton Park. Elinor is sad
to leave their home at Norland because she has become closely attached
to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her half-brother John. However,
once at Barton Park, Elinor and Marianne discover many new
acquaintances, including the retired officer and bachelor Colonel
Brandon, and the gallant and impetuous John Willoughby, who rescues
Marianne after she twists her ankle running down the hills of Barton in
the rain.
Willoughby openly and unabashedly courts Marianne, and
together the two flaunt their attachment to one another, until
Willoughby suddenly announces that he must depart for London on
business, leaving Marianne lovesick and miserable. Meanwhile, Anne and
Lucy Steele, two recently discovered relations of Lady Middleton's
mother, Mrs. Jennings, arrive at Barton Park as guests of the
Middletons. Lucy ingratiates herself to Elinor and informs her that she
(Lucy) has been secretly engaged to Mr. Ferrars for a whole year. Elinor
initially assumes that Lucy is referring to Edward's younger brother,
Robert, but is shocked and pained to learn that Lucy is actually
referring to her own beloved Edward.
In Volume II of the novel, Elinor and Marianne travel to
London with Mrs. Jennings. Colonel Brandon informs Elinor that everyone
in London is talking of an engagement between Willoughby and Marianne,
though Marianne has not told her family of any such attachment. Marianne
is anxious to be reunited with her beloved Willoughby, but when she
sees him at a party in town, he cruelly rebuffs her and then sends her a
letter denying that he ever had feelings for her. Colonel Brandon tells
Elinor of Willoughby's history of callousness and debauchery, and Mrs.
Jennings confirms that Willoughby, having squandered his fortune, has
become engaged to the wealthy heiress Miss Grey.
In Volume III, Lucy's older sister inadvertently reveals the news
of Lucy's secret engagement to Edward Ferrars. Edward's mother is
outraged at the information and disinherits him, promising his fortune
to Robert instead. Meanwhile, the Dashwood sisters visit family friends
at Cleveland on their way home from London. At Cleveland, Marianne
develops a severe cold while taking long walks in the rain, and she
falls deathly ill. Upon hearing of her illness, Willoughby comes to
visit, attempting to explain his misconduct and seek forgiveness. Elinor
pities him and ultimately shares his story with Marianne, who finally
realizes that she behaved imprudently with Willoughby and could never
have been happy with him anyway. Mrs. Dashwood and Colonel Brandon
arrive at Cleveland and are relieved to learn that Marianne has begun to
recover.
When the Dashwoods return to Barton, they learn from their
manservant that Lucy Steele and Mr. Ferrars are engaged. They assume
that he means Edward Ferrars, and are thus unsurprised, but Edward
himself soon arrives and corrects their misconception: it was Robert,
not himself, whom the money-grubbing Lucy ultimately decided to marry.
Thus,x Edward is finally free to propose to his beloved Elinor, and not
long after, Marianne and Colonel Brandon become engaged as well. The
couples live together at Delaford and remain in close touch with their
mother and younger sister at Barton Cottage.
Comments