Sense and Sensibility

the old Gentleman

The unmarried former owner of Norland Park and Henry Dashwood’s uncle. He leaves the estate to Henry’s son and a legacy to Henry’s three daughters.

the old Gentleman’s sister

The old Gentleman’s longtime companion and housekeeper; she died ten years before him.

Mr. Henry Dashwood

Also known as Mr. Dashwood

The old Gentleman’s nephew and heir to Norland Park. He is the father of John, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, and dies shortly after inheriting the estate.

Mrs. Henry Dashwood

Also known as Mrs. Dashwood · the Dashwoods’ mother

Henry Dashwood’s second wife and the mother of Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. After her husband’s death, she moves with her daughters to Barton Cottage and later hopes Marianne will marry Colonel Brandon.

Mr. John Dashwood

Also known as John Dashwood

Henry Dashwood’s son from his first marriage and half-brother to Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. He inherits Norland and, persuaded by his wife, gives his half-sisters little assistance.

John Dashwood’s first wife

Also known as John’s mother

John’s deceased mother, whose fortune was divided between him and Henry Dashwood; her identity is not given.

Harry Dashwood

Also known as Harry

John and Fanny Dashwood’s four-year-old son, to whom the Norland estate is secured.

Mrs. John Dashwood

Also known as Fanny Dashwood · Fanny

John Dashwood’s narrow-minded and selfish wife, and Edward Ferrars’s sister. She persuades John to withhold most of the help he had promised his father’s widow and daughters, and later becomes a rival of Lucy for Mrs. Ferrars’s favour.

Elinor Dashwood

Also known as Elinor · Miss Dashwood

Henry and Mrs. Dashwood’s eldest daughter, sensible and self-controlled. She marries Edward Ferrars after his former engagement to Lucy Steele ends.

Marianne Dashwood

Also known as Marianne · Miss Dashwood

Henry and Mrs. Dashwood’s second daughter, passionate and unrestrained in her feelings. After Willoughby’s rejection, she recovers from a serious illness and eventually marries Colonel Brandon, to whom she grows deeply devoted.

Margaret Dashwood

Also known as Margaret · Miss Dashwood

Henry and Mrs. Dashwood’s youngest daughter, aged thirteen. Good-humored and romantic, she later reaches an age suited to dancing and being thought to have a lover.

Edward Ferrars

Also known as Edward

Fanny Ferrars’s shy, affectionate elder brother and eldest son of the wealthy Mrs. Ferrars. After Lucy Steele marries his brother Robert, he marries Elinor and becomes the clergyman of Delaford.

Mrs. Ferrars

Edward, Fanny, and Robert Ferrars’s mother, whose fortune largely determines her children’s prospects. She disinherits Edward over his engagement to Lucy, later restores him as her son and consents to his marriage to Elinor, while eventually favouring Robert and Lucy.

Edward Ferrars’s younger brother

The younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Ferrars, later identified as Robert Ferrars. Mrs. Ferrars settles an estate on him after disinheriting Edward; he marries Lucy Steele.

Sir John Middleton

Also known as Sir John

Mrs. Dashwood’s Devonshire cousin and landlord at Barton. Sociable and generous, he befriends the Dashwoods, arranges outings and gatherings, and tells Willoughby that Marianne is gravely ill.

Lady Middleton

Sir John Middleton’s elegant, reserved wife and daughter of Mrs. Jennings. She and Sir John have four children.

the Middletons’ eldest child

The Middletons’ shy six-year-old son, brought by his mother on a formal visit to the Dashwoods. His name is not given.

Mrs. Jennings

Lady Middleton’s mother, a cheerful, talkative widow with two married daughters. She delights in matchmaking and teasing her acquaintances, and helps Marianne and Anne Steele.

Colonel Brandon

Also known as the colonel

Sir John’s grave, gentlemanly friend, aged thirty-five. He loves Marianne and shows her family devoted concern; he tells Elinor of his history with Eliza and her daughter, and provides Edward with the living at Delaford.

the elderly lady of Allenham

Also known as the possessor of Allenham Court

An unnamed, infirm woman of good character who lives at Allenham Court and is related to Willoughby; he is expected to inherit her possessions.

Mr. Willoughby

Also known as Willoughby · John Willoughby

A handsome, lively young man who seduced and abandoned Colonel Brandon’s ward, Eliza Williams, and later rejected Marianne to marry wealthy Sophia Grey. He regrets his conduct and remains interested in Marianne after she marries Colonel Brandon.

Willoughby’s black bitch pointer

Also known as Willoughby’s pointer

A female hunting dog belonging to Willoughby, praised by Sir John as especially fine. She accompanies him with another pointer and later rests at Marianne’s feet.

Miss Williams

A relation of Colonel Brandon whom Mrs. Jennings identifies as his natural daughter. Mrs. Jennings speculates that Brandon’s sudden trip to London concerns her.

Mrs. Smith

Willoughby’s wealthy relation and the owner of Allenham. She dismisses him from her favour and house after learning he abandoned Eliza Williams, but later forgives him after he marries a woman of character.

Mr. Jennings

Mrs. Jennings’s late husband. She has recounted to Elinor details of his final illness and their last conversation.

Colonel Brandon’s sister

An unnamed sister of Colonel Brandon who is said to be ill in Avignon; Mrs. Jennings speculates that she may have sent for him.

the two Miss Careys

Two unmarried women from Newton who join the party planned to visit Whitwell; their individual names are not given.

the three Miss Dashwoods

Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret Dashwood, referred to together as they walk to the park.

the proprietor of Whitwell

An unnamed person who owns the place called Whitwell and is abroad during the planned visit. The proprietor has left strict orders restricting access.

Colonel Brandon’s brother-in-law

The unnamed brother-in-law of Colonel Brandon who has an interest in the Whitwell estate and can facilitate a visit there.

Willoughby’s groom

Willoughby’s unnamed groom, whose information about the carriage trip to Allenham is obtained by Mrs. Jennings’s maid.

Mrs. Jennings’s maid

Also known as Mrs. Jennings’s own woman

An unnamed servant of Mrs. Jennings who asks Willoughby’s groom where he and Marianne went. She later helps nurse Marianne.

Willoughby’s servant

An unnamed servant who accompanies Willoughby’s curricle and waits with it at Barton Cottage when he comes to take leave.

Edward’s servant

An unnamed servant to whom Edward gives his horse when he meets the Dashwood sisters on the road.

Edward’s friends near Plymouth

Unnamed acquaintances with whom Edward has been staying in Devonshire for a fortnight before visiting the Dashwoods.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer’s unborn child

Also known as the Palmers’ son · the Palmers’ little boy

Charlotte and Mr. Palmer’s son and heir, born during the story. He travels with Charlotte and his nurse to a relation’s house when Marianne becomes ill.

Mr. Palmer

Also known as the Palmers’ husband · Thomas Palmer

Charlotte Palmer’s grave, fashion-conscious husband and Mrs. Jennings’s son-in-law. He hopes to enter Parliament and is the father of a son.

Charlotte Palmer

Also known as Mrs. Palmer

Mrs. Jennings’s younger daughter and Mr. Palmer’s good-humored, cheerful wife. She gives birth to a son.

the Palmers’ uncle at Weymouth

Also known as Charlotte’s uncle

An unnamed uncle with whom Charlotte Palmer stayed while the Palmers were in the country; his identity is not specified.

the Westons

Unnamed acquaintances expected to visit the Palmers at Cleveland; they are mentioned but do not appear.

the Gilberts

Unnamed acquaintances whom Sir John Middleton considers inviting to dinner; they are mentioned but do not appear.

the Miss Steeles

Two young women, Lucy and Anne Steele, who are relations of Mrs. Jennings and cousins of the Middletons. They cultivate the Middletons’ and Mrs. Ferrars’s favour and become acquainted with the Dashwoods.

Lucy Steele

Also known as Lucy

The younger and prettier Miss Steele, clever but poorly educated and self-interested. Formerly engaged to Edward Ferrars, she marries his younger brother Robert and wins Mrs. Ferrars’s favour.

Anne Steele

Also known as Miss Steele · Nancy

Lucy Steele’s elder sister, nearly thirty, plain, vulgar, inquisitive, and indiscreet. She knows of Lucy and Edward’s secret engagement and reveals it to Fanny Dashwood after overhearing their conversation.

John Middleton

Also known as John

One of Sir John and Lady Middleton’s sons, prone to mischievous tricks with the Miss Steeles’ belongings.

William Middleton

Also known as William

The Middletons’ second son, who pinches one of the Miss Steeles’ fingers.

Annamaria Middleton

Also known as Annamaria

The Middletons’ three-year-old daughter, whom Lady Middleton calls gentle and quiet despite her loud distress when scratched by a pin.

Mr. Rose

A smartly dressed young man in Exeter who is a clerk to Mr. Simpson; Anne Steele cites him as an example of a beau.

Mr. Simpson

An Exeter man who employs Mr. Rose as a clerk; he is mentioned but does not appear.

Mr. Pratt

Lucy and Anne Steele’s uncle at Longstaple, near Plymouth, who had Edward Ferrars under his care as a pupil for four years.

Betty

Mrs. Jennings’s servant, whom she proposes sending by coach to accompany or assist the Dashwoods on their journey to London. She has a sister who is out of place.

Cartwright

A person with whom Mrs. Jennings settles her accounts after returning to her London home; no further details are given.

Mrs. Jennings’s two elderly acquaintances

Two unnamed elderly women from Mrs. Jennings’s intimate circle who dine with her and the Dashwoods in London.

the fashionable young woman

An unnamed fashionable woman seen speaking with Willoughby at a London party; he turns back to her after briefly addressing the Dashwoods.

the lady of the house

The unnamed hostess of the crowded London party attended by the Dashwoods and Lady Middleton.

the Middletons’ youngest daughter

An unnamed daughter of Sir John and Lady Middleton whose indisposition prevents Mrs. Jennings from attending a party with the Dashwoods.

Mrs. Taylor

An unnamed acquaintance who tells Mrs. Jennings that Willoughby is to marry Miss Grey; her information comes from a friend of Miss Grey.

Miss Grey

Also known as Sophia

A wealthy young woman with a fortune of fifty thousand pounds, whom Willoughby marries; her name is Sophia. Mrs. Jennings reports that she is stylish but not handsome, and she is under the guardianship of the Ellisons.

Biddy Henshawe

Miss Grey’s aunt, whom Mrs. Jennings remembers as having married a very wealthy man.

Miss Walker

An acquaintance who tells Mrs. Taylor that the Ellisons may be glad to see Miss Grey married because she and Mrs. Ellison do not get along.

Mr. and Mrs. Ellison

Miss Grey’s guardians; Mrs. Ellison is the woman Colonel Brandon overhears discussing the settled marriage between Miss Grey and Willoughby.

Colonel Brandon’s brother

An unnamed man who married Eliza, Colonel Brandon’s beloved orphan relation, against her wishes for the sake of her fortune. He treated her unkindly and died about five years before Brandon’s account.

Eliza

Also known as Mrs. Brandon

Colonel Brandon’s orphan relation and first love, forced by her uncle and guardian to marry Brandon’s brother. Mistreated in the marriage, she was later divorced and died after Brandon found her destitute and gravely ill.

Eliza’s daughter

Also known as little Eliza · Miss Williams

The daughter Eliza had with her first lover, whom Colonel Brandon took into his care. At fourteen she disappeared after going to Bath with a young friend; Willoughby seduced and abandoned her, and she later gave birth to his child.

Eliza’s first lover

An unnamed man who seduced Eliza after the breakdown of her marriage; she lived with him for a time.

Colonel Brandon’s cousin’s maid

An unnamed maid who betrayed Colonel Brandon and Eliza’s plan to elope to Scotland.

the father of Eliza’s daughter’s friend

An unnamed, well-meaning but unobservant man who was in Bath for his health. His daughter accompanied Eliza’s daughter and knew what had happened to her disappearance.

the young friend of Eliza’s daughter

An unnamed girl who accompanied Eliza’s daughter to Bath and knew the circumstances of her disappearance, but would not reveal them.

Dr. Davies

Also known as the Doctor

A single man traveling to London who shares a post-chaise with the Miss Steeles. Anne Steele denies that he is her beau despite others teasing her about it; he is the reason she says pink is his favorite color.

Mr. Gray

Also known as Gray

The proprietor of Gray’s shop in Sackville Street, where Elinor negotiates an exchange of her mother’s jewels and later meets her brother.

the gentleman choosing a toothpick-case

An unnamed, fashionably dressed and conceited customer at Gray’s shop who occupies the shop assistant’s attention while choosing an elaborate toothpick-case. He is later identified by John Dashwood as Mr. Robert Ferrars.

Hon. Miss Morton

Also known as Miss Morton

The only daughter of the late Lord Morton, with a fortune of thirty thousand pounds. Edward Ferrars’s family considers her as a marriage match for him.

Lord Morton

The late father of the Hon. Miss Morton; he is mentioned as a peer, but does not appear.

old Gibson

A former resident of East Kingham Farm, which John Dashwood recently bought.

Mr. Robert Ferrars

Also known as Robert Ferrars

Edward Ferrars’s younger brother and a conceited, fashion-conscious man. He receives the estate Mrs. Ferrars had offered Edward and marries Lucy Steele, later regaining his mother’s favour.

Mrs. Dennison

An acquaintance of Mrs. John Dashwood whose mistaken assumption that the Dashwood sisters were staying with their brother prompts her to send them invitations to a musical party.

Mr. Donavan

A doctor who attends Charlotte Palmer’s infant and later reassures the family about Fanny Dashwood’s hysterics. He relays news of Edward and Lucy’s engagement to Mrs. Jennings and remains nearby when Mrs. Ferrars is told.

Miss Godby

An acquaintance of Anne Steele who tells Miss Sparks that Edward Ferrars would not give up Miss Morton for Lucy.

Miss Sparks

An acquaintance of Anne Steele who repeats Miss Godby’s speculation about Edward Ferrars’s marriage prospects.

Richard

Also known as Anne Steele’s cousin Richard

A cousin of Lucy and Anne Steele who feared Edward would break his engagement when his family confronted him.

Mr. Richardson

Also known as the Richardson man

An acquaintance of Anne Steele who takes her and Miss Richardson to Kensington Gardens in his coach; he is said to make a great deal of money.

Mrs. Richardson

Also known as Miss Richardson

An acquaintance of the Miss Steeles who arrives in her coach and takes one of them to Kensington Gardens.

Mrs. Clarke

An acquaintance of Mrs. Jennings who joins her party at Kensington Gardens and occupies her conversation.

Sir Robert

Also known as Edward Ferrars’s uncle Sir Robert

An unnamed uncle of Edward and Robert Ferrars who persuaded Mrs. Ferrars to place Edward under private tuition with Mr. Pratt rather than send him to Westminster.

Lord Courtland

A friend of Robert Ferrars who asks his advice about plans for a house; Robert says he urged him to build a cottage.

Lady Elliott

A friend of Robert Ferrars who asks him how to arrange a dance in her cottage.

Elliott

Also known as Robert Ferrars’s friend Elliott

A friend of Robert Ferrars who lives near Dartford; Robert recounts advising her on how to host a dance.

Mr. Steele

A relation of Lucy and Anne Steele who may contribute money toward Lucy and Edward’s household; his precise relationship to them is not stated.

Mr. Harris

Also known as the Palmers’ apothecary

The apothecary who attends Marianne during her serious illness at Cleveland and treats her until she recovers.

the mother’s servant

An unnamed servant of Mrs. Dashwood who could come to Cleveland to accompany Elinor and Marianne home.

the Palmers’ child’s nurse

An unnamed nurse who travels with Charlotte Palmer and her infant son when they leave Cleveland during Marianne’s illness.

the Cleveland gardener

Also known as the gardener

An unnamed gardener at Cleveland who laments blights in the kitchen garden.

the Cleveland dairy-maid

Also known as the dairy-maid

An unnamed dairy-maid at Cleveland whose hopes are disappointed when hens abandon their nests or are lost.

the Cleveland housekeeper

Also known as the housekeeper

An unnamed housekeeper at Cleveland who helps Charlotte Palmer show her child around the house.

Thomas

Also known as the Dashwoods’ man-servant

The Dashwoods’ man-servant, identified by name when he reports seeing Edward Ferrars and Lucy in Exeter and tells the family that they are married. Lucy sends Edward a message by him.

Sally

An unnamed servant at the Park who sends a message through Thomas to her brother, a post-boy.

Sally’s brother

Also known as the post-boy

An unnamed post-boy and brother of Sally, a servant at the Park; Thomas visits him while carrying a message.

Mrs. Burgess

An unnamed relation or acquaintance of Anne Steele in Exeter, with whom Anne plans to stay for several weeks after Lucy’s marriage.