Marianne Dashwood

Marianne Dashwood is one of the main characters in the novel. The girl is the middle daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dashwood and is a younger version of her romantic, selfish, and not a very smart mother. The author also describes her as the emotional and expressive person that is defined as a representative of the “sensibility” in the book. At the beginning of Sense and Sensibility, Marianne is a nice-looking sixteen years old lady that is overwhelmed with romantic expectations towards young and attractive Mr. Willoughby. That is why she does not pay significant attention to much older Colonel Brandon, who always keeps silence and does not express his feelings openly. Throughout the novel, the character of Marianne experiences a significant development and changes its features from negative to more positive. The decisive point is the time when she suffers from an illness and recovering period. Thus, the girl becomes more clever and reasonable, learning that her previous behavior has been inappropriate. Now, she wants to be more like Elinor, her elder sister and tries to look up at her. Finally, Marianne realizes that Colonel Brandon is a man who loves her with all his heart, and makes a decision to marry him.