Colonel Brandon is a character in Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Brandon had an older brother, who was the heir to the family estate, Delaford, located in Dorsetshire. He has at least one sister who married the master of Whitwell.
In his youth he was in love with his cousin Eliza, an heiress and his father's ward, but because of her fortune, his father forced her to marry his elder brother. Brandon and Eliza attempted to elope, but they were betrayed by her maid and caught. He was sent to a relative's house and eventually into the army while Eliza gave into pressure and married his brother.
His father died a few months after their marriage, leaving his brother as the master of Delaford. He did not treat Eliza well and was extravagant, ruining the estate, and Eliza was seduced by another man. She became pregnant. When he discovered this, two years after their marriage, he divorced her.
When Brandon returned from the East Indies, three years after the divorce, he found Eliza and her namesake daughter in a spunging-house where Eliza was dying of consumption. Brandon removed her from the spunging-house, and she died in more comfortable surroundings. He became Eliza Williams's guardian and sent her to school. Though he called her his distant relation, many assumed he was Eliza's natural father.
His brother died five years before the events of the novel. Brandon took the young Eliza to visit Delaford after he took possession, and he spent the next few years fixing the damage his brother did.
Character traits[]
He married Marianne Dashwood, the middle Dashwood sister, at the end of the novel. Brandon is 35-36 years old in the events of the story. He is silent and grave, but with a sensible countenance and a gentlemanly disposition. Marianne Dashwood first thought him a very old bachelor and not very attractive in terms of matrimony. He's dignified and well-to-do, but beyond that, we don't get much from first impressions. The Colonel appears to be rather dull to the insensitive eye, but beneath his tranquil surface, there's a whole lot going on. Elinor Dashwood is the first to appreciate this, but gradually, other characters (including, finally, Marianne, when she decides to marry him) realize that he's a whole lot more than meets the eye. First of all, Colonel Brandon is clearly a sensitive soul, even though his exterior seems unflappable and even rather remote. He's the only person who appreciates Marianne's music the same way she does – respectfully and thoughtfully – and we get the impression that his quiet persona hides a deeply intellectual inner self. Colonel Brandon is also by far the character with the most significant emotional trauma to deal with, which he manages to do in an admirably mature, applause-worthy fashion. He's the ultimate combination of feeling and logic, and comes off as the only real grownup in this whole cast of characters.
All in all, Colonel Brandon may seem to be on the boring side, but he's actually not – he's just more under control than the other folks we meet here. We don't get to know him too well, but we can imagine that he's a pretty rewarding friend to have, once you get past his rather stiff exterior.