50 Fun Facts About Sense and Sensibility

Who wrote Sense and Sensibility?

It was her debut novel, published in 1811 with 'By A Lady' on the title page instead of her name.

What was the novel's working title?

Renaming it after the sisters' qualities rather than their names added what critics call philosophical depth.

How was the author identified on the 1811 title page?

Austen paid for publication herself and made a profit of £140 on the first edition of 750 copies.

How many Dashwood sisters are there?

Elinor and Marianne carry the story; Margaret is the youngest, aged about thirteen.

In which county is the Dashwoods' original family estate?

After Henry Dashwood's death they are pushed out to a modest cottage in Devon on a relative's land.

What is the name of the Devonshire home the Dashwoods move to?

Sir John Middleton, Mrs Dashwood's second cousin, offers it at a low rent on his Barton Park estate.

Who persuades John Dashwood not to support his stepmother and half-sisters?

On his deathbed Henry Dashwood had extracted John's promise to provide for them.

How old is Colonel Brandon when he first meets sixteen-year-old Marianne?

His age seems hopelessly old to her romantic sensibilities, though she marries him in the end.

How does Marianne first meet John Willoughby?

Their shared artistic tastes make her fall for him, abandoning caution and propriety.

On whom is Willoughby financially dependent, giving him an excuse to leave for London?

She later disinherits him for seducing Brandon's ward, forcing him to marry an heiress.

Which sisters, cousins of Mrs Jennings, come to stay at Barton Park?

Lucy confides to Elinor that she is secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars, revealing her calculating nature.

Whom does Willoughby become betrothed to in London?

He greets Marianne coldly at a ball; she is heartbroken but admits they were never actually engaged.

Who was Colonel Brandon's teenaged ward, seduced and abandoned by Willoughby?

The revelation explains why Willoughby's cousin disinherited him.

Who blurts out the secret of Lucy's engagement to Edward?

She wrongly assumed the Ferrars family had grown fond enough of Lucy to welcome her; the sisters were promptly thrown out.

What does Colonel Brandon offer Edward after he is disinherited?

The living at Delaford would let Edward marry Lucy once ordained, an act of admiration for his honourable conduct.

How does Marianne fall gravely ill?

She contracts a putrid fever; Brandon rides to fetch her mother while Willoughby turns up to plead his case.

Whom does the scheming Miss Steele finally marry?

She jilts Edward for his now-wealthy younger brother, freeing Edward to marry Elinor.

In what form did Austen write the first draft, possibly as early as 1795?

She was around 19; the letters format was later replaced by continuous narrative.

Which 1796 novel by Jane West, featuring a romantic sister named Marianne, is thought to have influenced Austen?

West's book likewise pits a sister of rational sense against one of passionate sensibility.

Which Governor-General of India is often cited as an inspiration for Colonel Brandon?

Both had rumoured illegitimate daughters named Eliza and left for India at seventeen.

What does 'sensibility' mean as Austen uses it?

'Sense' meant judgment and prudence; the title contrasts the two sisters' governing qualities.

Which Shakespeare play do Gilbert and Gubar see the novel's opening as retelling from a female view?

Their book The Madwoman in the Attic reads the disinheritance of the Dashwood women as a critique of patriarchal inheritance.

Which London publisher accepted the manuscript in 1811?

Austen paid the printing costs, more than a third of her household's £460 annual income, and paid a commission on sales.

How many copies were in the first edition, all sold by July 1813?

Austen's profit was £140, roughly £5,000 in 2008 money.

How much did Austen profit from the first edition?

A second edition was advertised in October 1813, and the book has been in print ever since.

Who produced the notoriously loose 1815 French version, Raison et Sensibilité?

With little English, she worked from assistants' summaries and rewrote scenes, even having Marianne call Willoughby an 'Adonis'.

Which honour did the novel earn in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series of 1833?

It was also the first Austen title republished in England after her death.

Who directed the 1995 film adaptation?

Producer Lindsay Doran chose him partly on the strength of The Wedding Banquet.

Who wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film and played Elinor?

She spent five years on drafts and initially wanted another actress to play Elinor.

Which Oscar did the film's screenwriter-star win?

It made her the only person to win Academy Awards for both acting (Howards End) and writing.

How many Academy Award nominations did the 1995 film receive?

They included Best Picture and Best Actress; it also picked up twelve BAFTA nominations.

Which role did Kate Winslet actually audition for before winning Marianne?

Ang Lee disliked her work in Heavenly Creatures, so she pretended she'd heard the audition was still for Marianne and won it in one reading.

Who played Colonel Brandon in the 1995 film?

Thompson was glad he could show 'extraordinary sweetness' after so many Machiavellian roles.

Who played Willoughby in the 1995 film?

It was his most noted role to date; he and Emma Thompson later married.

Which group complained that Hugh Grant was too handsome to play Edward Ferrars?

Grant took a lower salary and called the script 'miles better than the book'.

What was the budget of the 1995 film?

It was the largest budget Ang Lee had yet had, and the film went on to gross about $135 million worldwide.

Which Devon estate stood in for Norland Park in the 1995 film?

National Trust staff stayed on set to monitor the shoot; Efford House played Barton Cottage.

Which festival prize did the 1995 film win, making Ang Lee the first two-time winner?

He had previously taken the Berlin prize for The Wedding Banquet.

Which Tamil film of 2000 adapted the novel?

Rajiv Menon directed; Aisha (2010) was an Indian take on Emma.

Who adapted the three-episode 2008 BBC series?

Davies is the screenwriter behind the 1995 Pride and Prejudice; John Alexander directed.

What is the title of Ben H. Winters's 2009 mashup parody of the novel?

Jane Austen is credited as co-author; it followed the same year's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Which author brought the story into the present day in 2013 for The Austen Project?

Emma Tennant had earlier written a sequel, Elinor and Marianne, in Austen's original epistolary format.

Who volunteers to fetch Mrs Dashwood when Marianne's illness worsens at Cleveland?

That same night Willoughby arrives to tell Elinor he genuinely loved Marianne, though his callousness about Eliza cools her pity.

What illness does Marianne contract at Cleveland that nearly kills her?

Her recovery, and learning of Elinor's silent heartache, shames her into vowing to be guided by her sister's good sense.

Which actress plays Elinor in the 2026 film adaptation directed by Georgia Oakley?

Georgia Oakley directs, with Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne, three decades after Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning take.

What distinguished the Hallmark Channel's 2024 adaptation of the novel?

Earlier screen versions include BBC serials from 1971, 1981 and 2008 and Rajiv Menon's Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain.

Who adapted Sense and Sensibility for BBC Radio 4 in 2013?

The same year saw a stage musical premiere in Denver and Joanna Trollope's modern-day retelling for The Austen Project.

In which US city did the 2013 musical of the novel receive its world premiere?

The Denver Center Theatre Company staged it; Jeffrey Haddow wrote the book and lyrics with music by Neal Hampton, and the UK premiere followed in 2023.

Roughly what was the Austen household's annual income when Jane paid to publish the novel in 1811?

Publication cost more than a third of that sum, but her £140 profit on the sold-out first edition rewarded the gamble.

Which 2014 Hindi soap opera on Zee TV was described as 'loosely based' on the novel?

A Malayalam soap, Kasthooriman, followed in 2017 as another loose adaptation on Asianet.