Sense and Sensibility

Chapters 1-17

Reading Check

1. Fanny/his wife (Chapter 2)

2. Barton Park (Chapter 6)

3. Edward’s (Chapter 8)

4. Willoughby (Chapter 9)

5. A horse (Chapter 12)

6. Two weeks (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. Henry Dashwood, the father of the family, inherits the home, but it is entailed to his son, John, who inherits it when Henry dies. John wants to live there with his wife, Fanny, and they turn his stepmother and half-sisters out. (Chapter 1)

2. Fanny specifically, and loudly, characterizes such a woman as trying to “draw [Edward] in.” Without confronting Elinor directly, she is accusing her of trying to trick Edward into throwing away the prospect of an advantageous marriage by making him fall in love with her. She insinuates that Elinor’s motive is financial and that she does not have Edward’s best interest at heart. (Chapter 4)

3. Elinor—the cooler and more logical sister—simply shrugs off Mrs. Jennings’s remark, finding the woman beneath worrying about. By contrast, Marianne shows her sensitive and emotional nature when she reacts with disgust and directs an openly sympathetic look at Elinor. (Chapter 7)

4. Elinor wishes that her sister were not so distracted by Willoughby, because she thinks that Colonel Brandon is a good man and deserves a fair chance with Marianne. She worries that Colonel Brandon, an older man with a reserved temperament, is not flashy enough to pull Marianne’s attention away from Willoughby, whom Elinor finds lively but careless. (Chapter 10)

5. When Colonel Brandon is called away indefinitely to London, Mrs. Jennings tells Elinor that she thinks his trip has something to do with a girl called Eliza Williams. She asserts that Eliza may in fact be the Colonel’s illegitimate daughter. (Chapter 13)

6. Instead of proposing, Willoughby announces that he is leaving for London and is unlikely to be back in the area for many months. He gives no clear reason for his return to London, and Marianne is devastated. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 18-34

Reading Check

1. A braid of fair hair (Chapter 18)

2. Give the Norland vicarage position to Edward (Chapter 24)

3. Willoughby and Marianne are engaged. (Chapter 26)

4. Eating and sleeping (Chapter 29)

5. Miss Grey (Chapter 30)

6. John (Chapter 33)

Short Answer

1. He would like to make the church his profession, but this profession does not offer the kind of status that his mother and sister aspire to. (Chapter 19)

2. At first, she claims not to know him, despite Anne’s insistence that they do know Edward. Later, she claims to Elinor that she and Edward are secretly engaged and have been for the past four years. She implies that they are waiting for Edward to receive his inheritance in order to marry, as his mother does not approve of the match. (Chapters 21 and 22)

3. Marianne is delighted because she hopes to run into Willoughby in London. By contrast, Elinor is horrified at the prospect. She does not enjoy Mrs. Jennings’s company, and she is worried that she will have to socialize with Lucy Steele in London. (Chapter 25)

4. Marianne has been pursuing Willoughby through letters and constant inquiries to their acquaintances, and this has absolutely been noticed and caused comment in their social circle. If Marianne and Willoughby are not already engaged, this behavior will damage Marianne’s reputation. (Chapter 27)

5. Willoughby appears with a woman at his side, and when he does finally speak to the Dashwoods, he addresses Elinor rather than Marianne. When Marianne chides him for his coldness toward her, he seems embarrassed but determined to pretend as if there is nothing surprising about his behavior. (Chapter 28)

6. Willoughby seduced and abandoned Colonel Brandon’s young ward, Eliza, and Eliza gave birth to Willoughby’s illegitimate child. Brandon and Willoughby had a duel over the matter, but neither was hurt. (Chapter 31)

Chapters 35-50

Reading Check

1. Harley Street (Chapter 36)

2. Willoughby (Chapter 39)

3. Robert/her younger son (Chapter 41)

4. Marianne (Chapter 43)

5. Colonel Brandon (Chapter 45)

6. Robert (Chapter 48)

Short Answer

1. Lucy is making a play on the word “engagement” that is meant to hurt both Dashwood sisters. On the surface, she is simply pointing out that Edward is the kind of man who shows up in the places where he has committed to be—that is, he keeps his social engagements. But underneath this, she is mocking Marianne’s failed hopes for a marital engagement to Willoughby and reminding Elinor that Edward has an existing marital engagement to Lucy. (Chapter 35)

2. Anne carelessly lets the secret of Lucy and Edward’s engagement slip out in conversation, and Fanny reacts with horror, ejecting the Steele sisters from her home. (Chapter 37)

3. Edward is still in love with Elinor, but he has heard rumors that she and Brandon are forming a romantic attachment. He believes that Brandon is offering him the living in order to hasten his marriage to Lucy and remove him as a rival for Elinor’s attentions. (Chapter 40)

4. Mrs. Smith, his benefactor, discovered his relationship with Eliza. Mrs. Smith expected Willoughby to marry Eliza and, when he refused, she cut him off entirely. This is what caused him to pursue the wealthy Miss Grey and turn his back on Marianne. (Chapter 44)

5. Since Edward is about to break the news of another engagement that his mother will view as unsuitable, Elinor advises him to swallow his pride and apologize to Mrs. Ferrars for getting engaged to Lucy without her approval. (Chapter 49)

6. Although Marianne does not feel romantic love for Brandon when she marries him, she is convinced that he is a good man and will make a good husband because he loves her and everyone around her believes in his good character. Over time, however, she comes to love him as much as she once loved Willoughby. (Chapter 50)