Sense and Sensibility Summary

Sense and Sensibility is a novel of three volumes and 50 chapters, centered on the Dashwood sisters:

Structure at a glance

• Volume I. The Dashwoods' reduced circumstances and the sisters' budding romances
• Volume II. London society, Willoughby's betrayal, and hidden engagements revealed
• Volume III. Marianne's illness, Willoughby's confession, and the resolutions
• Two contrasting heroines. Elinor's "sense" set against Marianne's "sensibility"
• Free indirect discourse. Austen's narration closely follows Elinor's restrained perspective

The structure contrasts the sisters' opposite responses to love and disappointment.

This summary of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen begins with the death of Mr. Dashwood, whose estate passes by law to his son John from a first marriage, leaving his second wife and their three daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, in financial difficulty. John's selfish wife, Fanny, ensures they receive almost nothing. The Dashwood women relocate to the modest Barton Cottage in Devonshire, offered by a kind relative. Before leaving, the sensible, level-headed Elinor forms an attachment to Fanny's reserved brother, Edward Ferrars.

At Barton, the passionate, romantic Marianne meets and falls headlong in love with the dashing, charming John Willoughby, who rescues her when she injures her ankle. Their intense, public romance seems destined for marriage, and Marianne makes no effort to hide her feelings, in sharp contrast to Elinor's guarded reserve about Edward. Meanwhile, the steady, older Colonel Brandon quietly falls in love with Marianne, though she dismisses him as too old and dull.

As told in this Sense and Sensibility summary, both sisters suffer romantic blows. Willoughby abruptly leaves for London, and when the sisters later travel there, he coldly rejects Marianne, revealing that he is engaged to a wealthy heiress. Marianne is devastated and gives in completely to her grief. Elinor, meanwhile, bears her own secret pain: she learns that Edward has long been secretly engaged to the scheming Lucy Steele, a commitment of honor he made years ago. True to her nature, Elinor suffers in silence and even comforts others, hiding her heartbreak.

The sisters' fortunes shift through a series of revelations. Colonel Brandon reveals Willoughby's caddish past, deepening the family's disillusionment with him. When Edward's secret engagement is exposed, his mother disinherits him for refusing to break it, and Colonel Brandon generously offers Edward a modest living so he can marry Lucy. Marianne falls gravely ill after a heartbroken walk in the rain, and during her recovery, comes to appreciate the value of Elinor's steadiness, setting up the novel's resolution about love, maturity, and the balance of sense and sensibility.

Sense and Sensibility ends with both Dashwood sisters happily married after their trials, and with Marianne's growth into greater maturity. The turning point comes with a surprising reversal: Lucy Steele, ever the opportunist, abandons the now-disinherited Edward Ferrars and instead marries his younger brother Robert, who has become the family heir. This frees Edward from his long, honor-bound engagement. He rushes to Barton and proposes to Elinor, the woman he has truly loved all along, and she joyfully accepts. With Colonel Brandon's gift of a parish living, they can marry and settle comfortably at Delaford.

Marianne, having recovered from her near-fatal illness, undergoes a profound change of heart. Chastened by her ordeal and by learning the full truth of Willoughby's weakness and financial motives, she comes to value the steadiness and depth she once dismissed. Willoughby himself, though he confesses he genuinely loved Marianne, is left to a comfortable but unhappy marriage of his own making, haunted by his loss.

The conclusion of this summary of Sense and Sensibility sees Marianne, now wiser and more balanced, marry the devoted Colonel Brandon, whose patient, faithful love she finally returns. As the narrator notes, Marianne, who could never love by halves, in time gives her whole heart to her husband as completely as she once gave it to Willoughby. The two sisters, and their husbands, settle as near neighbors at Delaford, living in happiness and harmony. The novel closes having reconciled its central themes: that a life well lived requires both good sense and genuine feeling, tempered by wisdom.

Here are some of the most memorable quotes from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. These verbatim lines capture the novel's themes of love, feeling, and devotion:

"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love."

"Marianne could never love by halves; and her whole heart became, in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby."

These Sense and Sensibility quotes are widely shared: Marianne's early declaration captures her romantic idealism (which the novel gently tests), while the closing line about her marriage marks her growth and the reconciliation of passion with lasting, faithful love.