[Music] hello everyone welcome all welcome back to my channel i hope you're all doing well today we are diving in to the fourth jane austen novel that i've covered on my channel very exciting and it is one that i have loved for many years sense and sensibility i really look forward to covering this one i think it's going to be a lot of fun as usual i will start with a detailed and comprehensive plot summary let's face it it is usually the largest section in all of my videos the chapters below will show where we are in case you feel the need to jump around so why don't you make yourself comfortable with a nice cup of tea or any other beverage of your choice and let's get into it [Music] the dashwood family lives in sussex at the grand estate called norland park they are mr henry dashwood the father mrs dashwood the mother along with their three daughters eleanor marianne and margaret this was mr dashwood's second marriage as he's also a widower with a son from his first marriage his son is john dashwood who was all grown up and married himself as the elder mr dash would lay on his death bed he begged his son who was his heir to take care of his wife and daughters after his death they were after all his step-mother and half-sisters john promised his father that he would and so henry dashwood could pass on peacefully not long after his death john dashford and his wife moved into norland park as was their rights as their heirs of john ashford henry dashwood two minute dashwoods this is a good start isn't it they allowed henry's widow and daughters to stay as long as they needed but of course tensions arose pretty much immediately as there are now two mrs dashwoods in the story i will call the elder mother dashwood and john's wife will be called mrs d trust me she doesn't deserve to have a full name while jon wasn't exactly the most loving brother in the world he was actually quite selfish by nature it was nowhere near the cold-heartedness that his wife displayed pretty much as soon as they inherited norland park she began to meddle in the promise jon had made to his father why should he feel obligated to give them anything they're only his half-sisters there's practically no relation at all initially john had planned on giving each of his sisters a thousand pounds each which was a respectable a respectable sum back then but mrs d was manipulating enough to get him to abandon his promise altogether as she herself puts it they will live so cheap their housekeeping will be nothing at all they will have no carriage no horses and hardly any servants they will keep no company and have no expenses of any kind only conceive how comfortable they will be as you can imagine mrs d wasn't exactly a popular household member though when mrs d's brother came to visit them the family was quite surprised by how different he was from his sister edward ferris was his name and he was a bit shy but ultimately a gentle warm-hearted person he and eldest daughter eleanor hit it off right away now eleanor is 19 years old and very wise and sensible for age she would always counsel her mother on all important matters and keep her from making bad financial decisions but eleanor was also quite reserved with her feelings she was really controlled if that makes sense when her sister marianne asked eleanor about this obvious connection with edward she merely replied that she liked him to which marianne flew into a rage and accused eleanor of being cold-hearted you see marianne was the opposite of her sister she was 16 and equally as passionate in her joy as she was in her sorrows a fiercely hopeless romantic but also a clever artistic and generous person marion could sense the connection between eleanor and edward even though she herself found him a bit dull saying that his eyes lacked fire but eleanor was quick to shut down any speculation on a possible marriage between them as edward wasn't free to act as he wanted his mother had control of his inheritance and would want him to marry someone wealthier than eleanor this prediction was soon confirmed over dinner mrs d had also noticed her brother's partiality to eleanor and so she made it clear to everyone that both she and their mother would work to ensure that edward married well insulted by mrs d's obvious hint mother dashwood thought it was high time to take her daughters and move far away from norland park after a bit of searching the dashwood girls found a cottage in devonshire that would suit their needs on the day of their move their brother john seemed genuinely sad to see them move so far away but not mrs d the only thing she would miss were the nice furniture that they brought with them once arrived at their new home they were visited by their landlord sir john okay again john yes john sir john middleton who was a friendly gentleman and he invited them to dinner that evening at his estate barton park there they met his wife lady middleton as well as some other local residents mrs jennings was middleton's mother-in-law and she was described as a good humored large-sized old lady who enjoyed making vulgar jokes and then there was colon brandon a single man of 35 with a silent and gloomy impression after this event it became clear that mrs jennings was a bit of a hobby matchmaker everyone's favorite sort of person and she quickly began hinting that colonel brandon and marianne would make a good couple this absolutely horrified marianne for several reasons firstly he is 35 that is on the wrong side of 30. and i agree that 16 and 35 isn't a suitable age gap but you know different times and all that the other reason was that he was far too grim marianne could never dream of being with a man whose passions in life didn't perfectly match hers so she ignored mrs jennings meddling instead she pointed out to eleanor how strange it was that edward still hadn't visited them and they had already lived at the cottage for two weeks at that point she thought that was very cold of him because according to marianne anyone who is different from her is cold one day marianne and younger sister margaret go out for a walk but it suddenly starts raining and they are forced to rush back down the hill towards the cottage marianne then slips and falls and managed to sprain her ankle just at that moment a mysterious rider approached her and proceeded to lift and carry her home he was a dashing young man by the name of willowby mother dashwood invited him to stay for a bit but he declined as he was dirty and wet from the rain but promised to come back and visit the next day upon hearing of marianne's accident sir john immediately visits them to make sure that she's okay a very involved landlord indeed marianne and the others asked if he knew willoughby and so john confirmed that he did and when asked of what he was like he said willowby was a fine shot a bold rider and at balls he could dance all night he was also the heir of an elderly woman living in the neighborhood who happened to be very rich marianne was thrilled willowby did keep his promise to visit the next day where he and marianne discovered a mutual joy in music dancing and literature willoughby made a habit of visiting marianne every day and they would talk sing and read together willoughby was here on also invited to dinners at barton park where he was always at the center of attention and colonel brandon was completely ignored the only one who wasn't entirely sold on willoughby was eleanor she thought he had a lack of propriety and caution around her sister which back in those days would be considered a red flag her negative view of him was increased when she heard willoughby make rude remarks about colonel brandon specifically saying brendon is just the kind of man whom everybody speaks well of and nobody cares about whom all are delighted to see and nobody remembers to talk to and marianne agreed even adding her own insults to the pile but we all know she wasn't a big fan of him from the start this makes elena defend brandon she doesn't think that he's simply dull but rather subdued maybe from previous bad experiences in his past but willoughby remained unconvinced he seemed determined to dislike him the dashwoods continued to socialize with their new acquaintances including willoughby he and marianne made a habit of paving like two lovebirds hardly leaving each other's side at every party eleanor was not a big fan of this again because of impropriety she was then told by her younger sister margaret that she had seen willowby and marianne in the sitting room alone the other night and he had asked her for a lock of her hair which he had then cut himself and placed in his pocket this was a gesture usually reserved for people who are very close such as a fiancee or a family member soon thereafter everyone had gathered at the middletons as they were going for an outing that's when colonel brandon gets a mysterious letter that makes him leave for london immediately mrs jennings then gossips to eleanor that it must have something to do with miss williams who was his illegitimate daughter during the outings that day marianne and willoughby disappear on their own and are not seen again until they are all back at the middletons for dinner mrs jennings then starts gossiping again and it tells eleanor that they must have been at a secret visit to allenham which was the house that willoughby one day will inherit this was a sure sign that willoughby would propose to marianne if he hadn't already about a week after colonel brandon's sudden departure mother dashwood eleanor and younger sister margaret came home one day finding willowby's carriage outside the cottage upon entering they were met by a very upset marianne who was crying as he was rushing up the stairs in the sitting room they found willowby who looked very distraught himself he told them that he had been sent on immediate business to london by his elderly relative mr smith and that he won't be invited to stay with her again for the rest of the year mother dashwood then said that he was very welcome to come and stay at their cottage whenever he was free willoughby stammered some niceties but then he stopped himself after some silence he said it is folly to linger in this manner i will not torment myself any longer by remaining among friends whose society it is impossible for me now to enjoy and with that he left mother dashwood was convinced that it must have been because of willowby's relative mrs smith suspecting his attachment to marianne and disapproving of it but eleanor was still suspicious willoughby was very open and had no problem telling the whole world of every thought in his head no however in private with close friends he had been silent there was also the fact that neither willowby nor marianne had told them of any engagement it was only their behavior that convinced everyone who saw them of a secret engagement between them this was a very important detail had willow bee given his word that he would marry marianne or not marianne was devastated the whole evening and would burst into tears whenever anyone said anything that reminded her of willoughby this deep sorrow continued for days she had completely given in to it she would walk alone in places they had been together play songs on the piano that they had played read books that they had enjoyed together she would just nourish her grief every single day a week passed like this and there was no letter from willoughby nor did marianne seem like she expected any one day as the sisters are out walking together they see the silhouette of the men riding towards them to everyone's great surprise and to marianne's disappointment it was none other than edward ferris the brother of mrs d who was married to their brother he had finally come to visit them but the visit was far from joyful marianne was just pure melancholy so she wasn't much fun in general but everyone noticed that he wasn't at his best either back at the cottage they talked about his mother's high hopes for him that she wanted him to become a famous politician or something of that sort but that didn't feel right to edward as he himself put it i have no wish to be distinguished and have every reason to hope i never shall thank heaven i cannot be forced into genius and eloquence sounds like a real catch doesn't he the next day marianne noticed a ring on edward's finger that was adorned with a lock of hair again there was a fixation on hair back in those days she asked if it was his sister's hair and he awkwardly replied that it was even though it was much lighter in color eleanor could clearly see that it was in fact her hair color and thought that he must have acquired it somehow without her knowledge this did not creep her out though she was in fact quite flattered by it edward ended up staying with them a whole week after which he sadly had to leave devonshire contrary to marianne eleanor kept her grief on his departure to herself she made sure to distract herself with activities and gave a neutral impression outwardly while still having all kinds of mixed feelings when she was alone [Music] life quickly moved on for the dashwoods and when the middletons had a couple of young female cousins visiting they had the pleasure or displeasure of making their acquaintance themselves they were the steel sisters and they were quite unremarkable in general they were well versed in the gossip of mrs jennings though and congratulated eleanor on her sister marianne's upcoming marriage to willowby even though no such thing had been announced the conversation then turned towards eleanor and her connection with edward ferris and the steel sisters admitted to also being acquainted with him small world a few days later on a walk back to the cottage from the middletons eleanor finds herself walking alone with lucy steele and lucy was asking questions about mrs ferris meaning edward's mother which elena thought was really strange so she told lucy that she didn't know mrs faris and lucy then explained that her reason for asking was because she had been secretly engaged to edward ferris for the last four years eleanor was astonished by disbelief as lucy continued saying that edward couldn't mind her telling eleanor about it as he practically thinks of her as a sister ouch she also said that edward had been staying with her and her family just before he visited the dashwoods and he was so sad when he was leaving them and she gave him a ring with a lock of her hair inside it it was all getting too much for eleanor at this point as she heard all of this eleanor was completely mortified but she managed to compose herself just before it was visible she remained so for several days keeping her immense shock and grief to herself as she analyzed every single detail in lucy's story it made sense that edward might have had an infatuation some years ago that ended in a lapse of judgment but she knew it in her heart that he loved her eleanor which made it all so much worse in these times honorable men would never break an engagement he would be bound to marry lucy if she still wanted him and it was clear to eleanor that she did although when she had the opportunity to speak to lucy again on the subject she felt that lucy's devotion to edward was more based on self-interest that they kept their engagement a secret so that his mother wouldn't disinherit him for going against her wishes [Music] so christmas comes and goes and mrs jennings then suggests that eleanor and marianne come and stay with her when she returns to london in january in true jane austen fashion there is a whole chapter dedicated to the back and forth debate on whether or not eleanor and marianne should accept this invitation but we all know that they will marianne was thrilled no doubt expecting to see willoughby there but eleanor was apprehensive if they did meet him there then his true intentions towards her sister would surely make themselves known upon their arrival in london marianne immediately writes a short letter which she orders the footment post for her she then waits in eagerness and when there was a knock on the door shortly after she seemed ready to burst with excitement marianne was in for a disappointment however as colonel brandon entered through the door and so she ran off there was no visit or letter received from willoughby the next day either to marianne's even greater disappointment the days went on with the sisters following mrs jennings in her socializing going to house visits and shops in the mornings and having little parties with card games in the evenings a week into their stay a card had been left at the house while they were out and it was willowbiz marianne was ecstatic thinking that he will surely visit again the next day but alas he did not even though marianne made sure to stay in so that she wouldn't miss him shortly thereafter the middletons arrived in london as well and invited them all to a party marianne had one look around as she entered so that willoughby wasn't there and went on to sulk the rest of the evening marianne's behavior hereafter became even more erratic she wrote more letters and seemed agitated and restless as she watched longingly out the windows as she did so she saw colonel brandon arrive and she retreated to her room leaving eleanor to greet him alone after a bit of awkwardness brandon then asked eleanor if the rumors were true if marianne and willoughby really were engaged and he should give up all hope of being with her himself eleanor didn't know for certain but she did know of their mutual affection which seemed to brandon as confirmation enough some days later the sisters were invited to a ball marianne was in apathy at this point caring neither for her appearance nor the impression she gave others she was a ghost of her former self as she joined eleanor at the party with lady middleton to everyone's great surprise however willowby was there too he was talking to a lady friend and it took a while before he noticed them when marianne saw him however her joy and eagerness were immediately visible but their meeting was very awkward willoughby came up to them reluctantly and addressed eleanor more than he did marianne and when marianne asked if he had received her letters he deflected her question he was formal and visibly uncomfortable as he quickly ended the conversation and went back to his friend leaving marianne in total shock eleanor urged her to remain calm since marianne looked equally ready to scream as to faint they went home early where marianne shut herself off in her room consumed by heartbreak marianne spent that night frantically writing a letter which was sent in the early morning this time she got a quick reply she left eleanor and mrs jennings at the breakfast table and shut herself up in her bedroom again where she soon gave in to her grief once more eleanor came up to comfort her and was shown the letter that had caused the outburst it was from willoughby apologizing if he had given the wrong impression he declared that his feelings had long been directed elsewhere and he hopes to soon announce his engagement he had also returned the previous letters marianne had sent along with the lock of hair she had given him this was too much for even eleanor to comprehend and she cried with her sister for this betrayal marianne then admitted that there had never been any secret engagement between them so technically willoughby had never broken any promise almost immediately afterwards the word was out mrs jennings came back from her outing having heard the gossip downtown about willowby's engagement to a miss grey who him who herself had a considerable fortune the days went on and marianne remained a ghost of her former self colonel brandon came by to see how she was doing but she was shut up in her bedroom he was relieved however to find eleanor alone as he had decided to finally share his full history with will be so i mentioned earlier the gossip about brandon having a love child that he supports this was not in fact his child but the daughter of a woman he had once loved but wasn't permitted to marry he had then gone away with the navy and on his return to england he had found the woman on her deathbed alone with a three-year-old daughter after she passed away he had taken custody of the child ignoring the rumors that this created the years went on and when the girl was 14 she had asked permission to go to bath with a friend which he had given once they're in bath however she disappeared and he didn't find out her whereabouts until eight months later he then found her alone and heartbroken by none other than the charming mr willoughby and not only that she was also pregnant remember she is 14. quite the shocking revelation to say the least strangely enough this did little to comfort marianne once eleanor had told her she continued brooding in her sorrows only now she was full of doubt on whether willoughby's intentions had been to seduce and desert her as well marianne did however start making more of an effort around colonel brandon and would no longer just go to her room when he visited some weeks later news reached them that willoughby had now married and he and his new wife had left london [Music] one day eleanor managed to persuade marianne to accompany her on an errand in town as they were waiting their turn in a shop they were surprised to see their half-brother john dashwood standing right next to them it was a cordial meeting and he went on to visit them at mrs jennings the next day his wife mrs d however did not accompany him during the visit john observed the friendship between eleanor and colonel brandon and went on to push for eleanor to marry him he made it clear that both he and mrs d would be very supportive of this match clearly but eleanor denied there being any attachment between them beyond friendship by this time lucy steele and her sister had also joined them in london much to eleanor's displeasure she was then forced to listen to lucy complain that she couldn't see edward despite him having come to london with his sisters this d tensions then rose even further when john dashford and mrs d decided to host a dinner party and the steel sisters happened to be there as well mrs d of course having no idea of lucy's secret engagement to her brother edward was not part of this party so at least eleanor was spared the awkwardness of that situation to her surprise however lucy steele managed to flatter her way right into mrs d's cold selfish heart it wasn't a great evening for the dashwoods overall as mrs d's mother made some rude remark about eleanor's painting skills consequently making marianne burst into tears and mrs jennings fetching her smiling souls the next day lucy steele visited eleanor alone and spoke of the excitement that having made such a good impression with edward's family but just at that moment the door opened and they were joined by another visitor which happened to be edward himself there he was alone in a room with the woman he had once promised to marry and the woman who he would now have preferred to marry and in his view neither eleanor nor lucy were aware of each other's attachment to him it was an awkward visit and eleanor had to go and fetch marianne to break the tension another social gathering soon took place where eleanor had the opportunity to meet the brother of edward and mrs d his name was robert and he was just as shallow and cold as his sister all of this socializing made john dashwood feel guilty to have his sister stay with mrs jennings while in town and not with himself they are family after all mrs t was so frightened by the prospect of having eleanor and marianne stay with them that she quickly shot down the suggestion saying that she had already asked the steel sisters to come and stay and they are such lovely girls john was then forced to give in and mrs t made sure to write to lucy steele immediately the next day who was of course ecstatic at this apparent approval from edwin's sister but her happiness was shortly lived only a few days into them staying with john and mrs d lucy's sister spilled the beans to mrs d about lucy's and edward's secret engagement and the effect was immediate mrs d gave such a hysterical fit that jon had to call for the doctor and the steel sisters hardly even had time to collect their things before they were thrown out of the house with this secret now being out eleanor prepared herself to tell marianne who had long expected an upcoming marriage between edward and eleanor and marianne was appalled and cried excessively at hearing it she felt immense guilt over her own melodramatic displays over willoughby when she had a sister who had been suffering in silence and they had a real bonding moment over this the next day their brother john stopped by for a visit and told them that edward had been given an ultimatum by his mother to either break up the engagement or be socially and financially cut off from the family he chose not to break it up and so he was sent away and his mother bestowed everything on his brother robert the engagement was then public knowledge which was of course difficult for eleanor to bear as she was still very much in love with edward edward then visited the dashwood sisters to say goodbye as he would be leaving for oxford the next day he had decided to become ordained as he had long been interested in the church and now that he was cut off he was in need of a profession eleanor then had the pleasure of telling him that colonel brandon was offering him a parsonage on his land which would be his as soon as he was finished with his ordination edward was very grateful for this generous offer but he also suspected that the only reason why colonel brandon would offer him that who didn't even know him was had to be because of an attachment to eleanor and maybe brandon was hoping to marry her [Music] it had now been two months since eleanor and marianne came to london with mrs jennings and it was time to go back to the country they were then invited to go with mrs jennings to stay with mr and mrs palmer the latter being mrs jennings second daughter soon after their arrival there marianne became very ill her illness was so severe that it made everyone worried and eleanor spent day and night by her side while a doctor made frequent visits marianne was feverish and delirious and both eleanor and colonel brandon who was also staying at the house began to fear that she would not make it through brandon then offered to go and fetch mother dashwood for them himself and hurried off into the night eleanor was then left with mrs jennings as they nursed marianne in her illness to their immense relief marianne did eventually improve enough to be able to sleep eleanor remained by her side however until she heard the sound of a carriage arriving thinking that it was colonel brandon and her mother she rushed downstairs to meet them but she was in for a massive shock downstairs she was met by none other than willowby he was noticeably drunk and eleanor implored him to return to his home that she knew wasn't very far from there he then explained that he had actually come from london having scarcely left his carriage before arriving there with the purpose of knowing marianne's fate eleanor reluctantly told him that she was improving which gave him great relief he then went on to explain his actions his side of the story if you will willowby admitted to having behaved appallingly to put it lightly he had enjoyed marianne's company with without the intention of ever returning her affections but then he had ended up falling for her anyway he was a vain man with a growing number of deaths his greatest fear was poverty so marrying marianne wasn't something he immediately wanted eventually though he gave in and he decided to propose that is when his relative mrs smith whom he wants to inherit was told the story of his seduction and abandonment of a young teenage girl reading between the lines it was of course colonel brandon who had shared this information mrs smith had been so horrified by his behavior that she demanded that him he married this poor girl which he refused and so she then cut him off this was just before he left devonshire and he had gone to the cottage to say goodbye to marianne immediately afterwards thinking that he would never see her again by the time eleanor and marianne had arrived in london he was already engaged to another woman and he avoided them like the plague as he suffered under his own repressed emotions every word in every letter from marianne was a dagger to his heart his fiancee had witnessed his awkward meeting with marianne at the ball and knowing the rumors she could put two and two together his fiancee had then intercepted the letter marianne had sent them the next morning and in an act of jealousy had herself dictated the reply he was to send her hence why the letter was so cold cruel and unlike him he admitted to having married her only for her money and that his wife knew of this he had no affection for her as marianne was still the only woman he loved after having shared all of his woes eleanor took pity on him and when he left they said their goodbyes cordially not long after willoughby had left mother dashwood and colonel brandon arrived and eleanor could give the happy news that marianne was recovering for which they were both tremendously relieved marianne continued getting better over the days that passed and was especially grateful to brandon for going himself to fetch her mother eventually she was strong enough for the journey home to their cottage elena could see traces of marianne's melancholy return as she was again reminded of her heartbreak but now she seemed quite determined to move on from it she was happy to be home and vowed to visit more places and spend more time reading and educate herself once her strength had returned she and eleanor went for a walk and marianne spoke of willoughby for the first time with a clear collected mind and manner eleanor then took the moment to retell his story to marianne she was very emotional upon hearing this and they returned to the cottage so that she could go and lie down after some quiet reflection she told her family that she was all right that she had accepted things as they were it was all for the best [Music] things were not to stay quiet and calm for long though one day the dashwood servant came to the cottage with some news that mr ferris was now married eleanor grew pale and marianne fell into her chair in hysterics when asked to elaborate the servant said that he had seen mr ferris and his new wife the former miss lucy steele when he was an heir on an errand in exeter lucy had recognized him and had asked him to send her regards to the dashwoods this was a low blow for the whole family and especially of course to eleanor imagine their surprise then when edward himself arrived at the cottage a short while later eleanor could barely look at him as she asked awkwardly how mrs faris was but edward was quick to clear up the misunderstanding it was actually his brother robert who had married lucy and eleanor was so overcome by this that she had to leave the room and burst into tears of joy once the dust had settled edward declared his intentions to propose to eleanor and everyone was happy and content we find out that lucy had been a bit sly and gone after his brother robert after edward had been disherited inherited disinherited robert was now independent and could act as he wished so she flattered her way into his heart as well just like she had done to their sister mrs t before she had only written to edward to end their engagement after she had already married his brother it was then time for another guest to come and stay at the cottage colonel brandon who was at this time more welcome than ever before even by marianne a few days later however edward and brandon left together for delaford where brandon had his estate as edward had to visit the parsonage that brandon was to offer him being somewhat forgiven by his mother edward and eleanor received some money and were married in early autumn the same year but what about marianne she took her time in quiet independent studying she knew how much her family wished to see her settled and how much colonel brandon still loved her so at the age of 19 she had reached the level of maturity to value him for his merits and she agreed to marry him it was not the whirlwind romance she had always fantasized about but it was stable caring and happy the end i really love the dynamic between these two sisters and how it develops throughout the story at the start they couldn't be more different eleanor is calm and controlled while marianne is lively and very sentimental there is hardly any common ground between them because they don't understand each other there's this quote by marianne that i found really explained it well she says we have neither of us anything to tell you because you do not communicate and i because i conceal nothing when you think about it this is so spot on when eleanor suffered her heartbreak learning of edward's secret engagement lucy she suffered in silent and kept a mask in front of her in front of her own family she literally does not communicate and when marianne had her heart broken she couldn't care less about who knew she wore her grief like a big neon sign you know i have a little theory in the scene when marianne shows eleanor the breakup letter from willoughby eleanor starts crying too and i think that marianne's emotional display helped eleanor get some much needed tension relief that even though it was her giving sympathy to marianne at least for a brief moment she didn't have to conceal her own grief and i just thought that was really nice later on when the secret gets out and eleanor has to tell marianne marianne realizes how much her sister has suffered and it's such a beautiful bonding moment at that time marianne became much less self-absorbed and eleanor became less reserved about her emotions to top it all off when marianne gets ill and she finds the strength to survive in her willingness to atone for her previous selfish behavior and just in general be a better sister and daughter to her family i just think it's a lovely arc about sisterly love and understanding and of this i have no complaints but let's talk about the romances and we need some tea for this [Music] i know i'm about to sound like marianne right now but i find edward and eleanor to be quite dull to be fair this is a narrative issue more than a character issue because we don't even get a proper scene with edward until 23 into the book that is almost one-fourth of the book before we get even a speaking line for him the reader is told about their mutual affection but not shown until much much later and i get why jane austen did it this way because their romance is kind of secondary to the marianne and willowby tragedy she usually does this in books where there's more than one romance going on but just because i get it from a practical standpoint that doesn't make me more invested i do however have some thoughts on this couple and why i think they're a good fit for each other there's this quote that i really like i i don't know where it's from but it goes love is not two people looking at each other it's two people looking out in the same direction from what i know about eleanor and edward they are both very practical people it's not that these two don't have genuine affection for each other but i think the basis of it is their mutual wants and desires they both want a quiet life without great ambitions or adventures this is quite rare for roman stories as characters like that usually don't create interesting enough drama but i think it really works in sense and sensibility and the main reason for that is marianne edwards in eleanor's moderation is made even more apparent when viewed in contrast with marianne's lack thereof if there is a spectrum of intensity we have edward and eleanor on one end and marianne and willowby on the other it just makes for a clever juxtaposition as you wouldn't necessarily view either of them as extreme when seen only on their own although i have to say that i have a couple of things i just like about edward this might just be me but i honestly feel like he's sort of lacking in the backbone department firstly he allowed himself to get attached to eleanor despite being engaged to another not only that he also led eleanor on even though she didn't know about his engagement secondly he seems very spoiled this one is more subjective i guess but i think his lack of interest in any profession is so tiring he's constantly complaining about his mother wanting him to be ambitious and i can't help but think that why complain if you are not presenting any alternatives he did mention the church but it was so brief that it gave the impression that he only chose it simply because it required the least amount of effort and thirdly and this ties into the whole mummy issue thing he even went as far as blaming his mother for his premature engagement to lucy he literally said this at the end of the book that if his mother had allowed him a profession or studies then he would have been distracted by that instead of forming an infatuation with lucy my jaw dropped when i read this i i did not i did not remember these details from my first read by the way how can you go from complaining about your mother's meddling in your career options and then blaming her for your irresponsible decisions when you are keeping those decisions a secret from her i'm just i'm at a loss for words i loved eleanor and i just think she deserves better than this i honestly think colonel brandon would have made a better fit for her than for her sister let me know if you agree with that or not but let's move on [Music] now this is where things get interesting as previously stated this is the opposite of edward and eleanor it is a whirlwind romance fast-pacing intense and passionate but also quite short-lived i personally find willoughby the most interesting jane austen villain i've read so far not only is he charming but there are layers to his personality that were explored almost as much as with the main characters willowby is guided by selfishness he admits this himself when talking to eleanor near the end of the book he enjoys flirting with young women and he knows that it's wrong but he does it anyway his vanity is so severe he can't stop himself from seducing these young women this is why i really enjoy his character he is no moustache twirling villain wiccan he's just a human with some very serious flaws and he did get his punishment in the fact that he developed feelings for marianne he had decided to propose to her which in itself was guided by selfishness as he knew he had an expensive lifestyle that went beyond his income by marrying her he would bring her into a life of continuous debt but then his past actions finally caught up with him and he was disinherited forcing him to marry for money rather than for love it was then that his feelings from marianne made him suffer and even more so by knowing how devoted she still was to him he valued her even higher simply because he couldn't have her he couldn't care less about his new wife nor the money because those were things he already had access to and as eleanor and marianne talk about at the end of the book had willow bee and marianne married it would have been the opposite in their poverty or relative poverty he would eventually grow resentful of marianne and regret his decision to marry her in a way willoughby was cursed by his own personality to always be unsatisfied with what he had as for marianne she was guilty only of youthful naivete and i can't fault her for that let's not throw stones in glass houses i think most of us have been naive at some point in our lives especially in our teens what's worth mentioning here though is marianne's path towards healing with the help of eleanor she came to the conclusion that she would never be happy with willowby in the end he would have found out eventually about his past indiscretions and how can you go on living happily with a husband knowing that he had seduced and abandoned a teenage girl pregnant with his child i know i couldn't so she chose the rational over the emotional or rather she chose sense over sensibility and was therefore healed this fits so well with eleanor actually doing the opposite when edward comes to the cottage and attention is so high since everyone thinks he's married to lucy and when he confirms that he isn't eleanor can't keep her feelings in check anymore and she has to leave the room to let her emotions out but let's not get sidetracked we still have one more relationship to talk about so unpopular opinion alert or i don't actually know if this is unpopular or not but i find this relationship to be quite unnerving to begin with he's 35 and is still heartbroken over a lost love from his youth and he is reminded of her in 16 year old marianne on its own that isn't so bad i guess but him developing a romantic interest in her because of this despite marianne showing zero interest herself it's just a bit yucky in my opinion well at least they waited until she was 19. on marianne's part i'm a bit more forgiving the heartbreak she went through along with the shock of the revelations that came after it caused something of a trauma it was a changing experience for her and it makes sense that she would end up looking for the opposite of that which had previously hurt her but i don't think marianne could be happy in the end with brandon in the book we learned that she grew to love him in time and i quote 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 and that might be true but i don't think brandon has the capacity to reciprocate these feelings in a way that would be satisfying to marianne she is a very intense and passionate person by nature and brandon is so subdued and serious when i imagine these two together i just see this tragic pairing where she is always disappointed in some way and he is always bewildered in regards to how to please her and not only that i wonder could marianne really be happy knowing that the reason why brandon chose her is because she reminded him of someone else that he was never able to marry i just find that difficult to believe [Music] i had an amazing time rereading this as it was about 10 years ago now since i read it the first time i have to say that i think sense and sensibility actually beats emma in my top three favorite jane austen novels which would make it pride and prejudice sense and sensibility and then emma although i'm sure i'll change it again next time i reread emma but pride and prejudice will always be my number one this was actually my first video since i reached a thousand subscribers and got to join the youtube partner program and i just want to take a moment to thank everyone who's followed me so far and as well as give a warm welcome to new viewers hello i hope you like it here i hope you all enjoyed this very long video i i really wanted to give this book justice and i had so much fun writing the script i just didn't want it to end i'll be making some sort of movie versus book comparison as well so stay tuned for that don't forget to leave me a comment below with any and all of your thoughts as well as give me a thumbs up and subscribe if you haven't already that always makes my day thank you all so much for watching and i hope to see you back next time [Music] [Music] you