Edward Ferrars is a major character in Sense and Sensibility. He is the brother of Fanny Dashwood and Robert Ferrars, but unlike his two siblings, he did not develop any of the snobbery that they had.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Edward is the eldest son of a rich man who died and left his fortune at the discretion of his widow, Mrs. Ferrars. On the advice of his uncle Sir Robert, Mrs. Ferrars sent Edward to Longstaple, where he was privately educated by Mr. Pratt, unlike his younger brother Robert, who was sent to Westminster School.
After he completed his education, he stayed on at Longstaple for a year. He fell in love with his tutor's niece Lucy Steele and secretly became engaged to her when he was nineteen years old. Since she had no fortune and he only had two thousand pounds, they could not marry.
He attended Oxford University.
His mother wishes for him to get him in parliament, but he has no interest in politics.[1]
Norland Park[]
Upon the death of Henry Dashwood, Edward's sister and brother-in-law moved to the estate, effectively displacing the Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters. Edward stayed at the house before the Dashwood women moved out, and met Elinor Dashwood, the eldest half-sister of his brother-in-law. The Dashwood women were pleased with his disposition and how he was unlike his sister.[1]
Mrs. Dashwood looked forward to when Edward would marry Elinor, as she could see their regard for each other as plain as day.
[WORK IN PROGRESS; MORE COMING SOON]
As first described in Sense and Sensibility: “Edward Ferrars was not recommended to their good opinion by any peculiar graces of person or address. He was not handsome, and his manners required intimacy to make them pleasing. He was too diffident to do justice to himself; but when his natural shyness was overcome, his behaviour gave every indication of an open, affectionate heart. His understanding was good, and his education had given it solid improvement. But he was neither fitted by abilities nor disposition to answer the wishes of his mother and sister, who longed to see him distinguished—as—they hardly knew what.”
His personality, while it lacks the flash of Marianne Dashwood's romantic interest Willoughby, indicates more fortitude. Despite the good common sense that links him to Elinor, he is able to attach himself to other people and form bonds of friendship and love with ease. He exemplifies great loyalty when he sacrifices his potential happiness with Elinor to honor a promise he made to another girl when he was younger. He and Marianne's future husband Colonel Brandon are both models of great character under unimpressive exteriors. This simplicity makes them rather less three-dimensional than Pride and Prejudice′s Fitzwilliam Darcy and Emma′s Mr. Knightley.
a particularly floppy-looking Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 3