Sense and Sensibility

When Henry Dashwood dies, his wife and three daughters—Elinor, Marianne and Margaret—are left with an inheritance of only £500 a year. The bulk of his estate, Norland Park, is left to his son, John, from his first marriage. John and his greedy, snobbish wife Fanny immediately install themselves in the large house; Fanny invites her brother, Edward Ferrars, to stay with them. She frets about the budding friendship between Edward and Elinor, believing he can do better, and does everything she can to prevent it from developing into a romantic attachment. Sir John Middleton, a cousin of the widowed Mrs. Dashwood, offers her a small cottage house on his estate, Barton Park in Devonshire. She and her daughters move in and are frequent guests at Barton Park. Marianne meets the older Colonel Brandon, who falls in love with her at first sight. Competing for her affections is the dashing John Willoughby, with whom she falls in love. Later one morning she expects him to propose marriage to her, but he instead leaves hurriedly for London. Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, invites her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, to visit. They bring with them the impoverished Lucy Steele. Lucy confides in Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged secretly for five years, thus dashing Elinor's hopes of a future with him. Mrs. Jennings takes Lucy, Elinor, and Marianne to London, where they meet Willoughby at a ball. He barely acknowledges their acquaintance, and they learn he has become engaged to the extremely wealthy Miss Grey. Marianne is inconsolable. Colonel Brandon then reveals that his ward Beth, illegitimate daughter of his former love Eliza, is pregnant with Willoughby's child and was abandoned by him; Willoughby's aunt, Lady Allen, had disinherited him upon discovering this. The engagement of Edward and Lucy also comes to light. Edward's mother demands that he break it off. When he honorably refuses, his fortune is taken from him and given to his younger brother, Robert. On their way home to Devonshire, Elinor and Marianne stop for the night at the country estate of the Palmers, who live near Willoughby. Marianne cannot resist going to see Willoughby's estate and walks a long way in torrential rain to do so. As a result, she becomes seriously ill and is nursed back to health by Elinor after being rescued by Colonel Brandon. After Marianne recovers, the sisters return home. They learn that Lucy has become Mrs. Ferrars and assume that she married Edward. However, Edward arrives to explain that Lucy has in fact wed his now-wealthy brother Robert, and Edward is thus released from his engagement. Edward proposes to Elinor and becomes a vicar, while Marianne marries Colonel Brandon.

Plot from Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)CC BY-SA 4.0