PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK

Title: Sense and sensibility

Author: Jane Austen
Level: Intermediate
Number of words: about 1600 basic words

1. AUTHOR: write about some biographical facts about the author. (2-3 lines)
Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire on 16th December 1775. She was the 7th
daughter of an 8 child family. She was educated at Oxford and later a boarding school in Reading.
The writer very close to Cassandra, one of her sisters with whom shared a long correspondence
throughout her life; much of what we know about her comes from these letters. Austen died in
1816 of Addisons disease when she was only 41.
2. CHARACTERS: analyse the main characters: 1-2 lines per character.

Elinor Dashwood: she is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwoodand she is
19 years old at the beginning of the book. She is very responsible and always hide her
emotions in order to help others before.

Marianne Dashwood: she is the second daughter of Mr and Mrs Henry Dashwood and
she is 16 years old at the beginning of the book. She likes art and poetry and she is very
sensible; love problems affect her very much.

Mrs Dashwood: she is the mother of Elinor, Marianne and Margaret (the third daughter
who is not very important in the story). At the beginning of the story she lives in Norland
but she has to leave when his husband die and she doesnt inheritate the house.

Colonel Brandon: he is a friend of Sir John Middleton and he is 35 at the beginning of

the story. He falls in love with Marianne but she thinks he is too old. He is a very kind
man and always offers himself to help.

John Willoughby: he is a young man, the nephew of a neighbour of the Middletons. He

falls in love with Marianne, which whom shares art and music interests. However,
because of economic causes, he has to marry another girl who doesnt love.

Edward Ferrars: he is the elder of Fanny Dashwood's two brothers. Four years before he
meets the Dashwoods, he proposed to Lucy Steele but nobody knew it. Despite this, at
the end he marries Elinor Dashwood.

3. The PLOT: Tell the story, what the book is about. Write 4 paragraphs: 1: introduction, 2
and 3: main events and 4: the end. (3-4 lines per paragraph).
The story starts with the dead of Mr. Dashwood. He lefts his house to his son and makes him
promise that he is going to take care of his half-sisters and their mother, but he is very selfish
and doesnt do it. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters decide to leave Norland because they are
not well-treated and try to start a new life in Barton.
The two eldest daughters, Elinor and Marianne, are in the age of starting looking for a husband
and all the action takes place around this fact. Young gentlemen like Willoughby, the Ferrars
brothers and Coronel Barton among others are the candidates and they are also the cause of
the girls sadness and disappointment.
Marianne loves Willoughby but he decides to marry another girl because he needs money.
Moreover, Elinor is in love with Edward Ferrars, but he is engaged with another woman, and
although he loves Elinor, their marriage seems impossible.
At the end of the novel, Elinor marriages Edward Ferrars, who has become a clergyman, and
Marianne marriages Coronel Barton, which whom she ends up falling in love although at the
beginning she thought he was too old.

4. STUDYING the LANGUAGE: Analyse minimum 10 words and 10 expressions. You can use
either a translation or a definition.
WORDS:
Clergyman: a Christian priest, who looks after a church and the people who go there to prey.
Heir: a person who will receive money or property when another person dies.
Will: a document which explains what someone wants to happen to their money and
property after they die.
China, linen: things which are used in a house. Plates and cups are china. Bedsheets and
pillows are linen.
Sighed: the soft sound that someone makes because they are sad, tired or disappointed.
To tease: say something to someone which makes them feel uncomfortable or angry.
To bow: bend your head and the top part of your body towards someone when you meet
them.
Lock: a small piece of a persons hair.
To flatter: a way of speaking to someone so that they like you and they do what you want.
To faint: suddenly fall to the ground because you are ill or have had a shock.
EXPRESSIONS:

To change your mind: decide to do something different or to make a new plan.

To remain friends with: continue being friends with somebody.
Live very cheaply: spend only a little money on food, your home, etc.
It is a pity: words that you say when you are disappointed about something.
To expect a child: going to have a baby. To be pregnant.
For Gods sake: a very strong way of asking why something is happening.

 To perform a marriage ceremony: when a clergyman speaks special words at the marriage
of a man and a woman.
To give a warm welcome to someone: to receive somebody in a kind way.
To be very kind to somebody: be agreeable and offer yourself for help to someone.
To spend money freely: spend a lot of money without caring about its value.

5. Give your PERSONAL OPINION: Write a paragraph expression your opinion about the book
(2-3 lines).
I have liked this book very much. I think Sense and Sensibility is a very good novel which allows
you to have an accurate vision of the English middle and upper social classes of the nineteen
century. Although their behaviours and habits are far from ours, through this story we can
identify ourselves with lots of the feelings of the characters.