This adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel; Sense and Sensibility focuses on the romantic trials and tribulations of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Though she feels deeply, Elinor is the older, apparently more reserved sister. Marianne is outwardly more passionate and romantic. The play opens with the funeral of the elder John Dashwood, father to Elinor and Marianne. Their half-brother, John, inherits their father's entire estate by law. Although their father made him promise to 'take care' of his half-sisters and stepmother, his greedy and selfish wife; Fanny, easily persuades him that this does not actually mean monetary assistance, leaving his step-mother and half-sisters practically destitute, with no dowry and very little to live on. Elinor falls in love with the awkward and shy Edward Ferrars but cannot reveal her true feelings because he has been promised to another. Marianne recklessly falls in love with the dashing John Willoughby who breaks her heart, while the quiet and sad Colonel Brandon carries a torch for her.