Sense and Sensibility
John Willoughby
The charming suitor
A dashing, charismatic young man who rescues Marianne on the hills and turns out to be less than he seems.
Willoughby appears out of a storm with a gun and two dogs and carries Marianne home in his arms. He is handsome and graceful, a bold rider and the best dancer in the county, and he shares Marianne’s love of poetry and music. He is the heir to Allenham Court, where he is visiting his cousin Mrs. Smith.
He is also impulsive, self-indulgent and ultimately mercenary. He gives Marianne a horse he cannot afford to keep, and takes her alone through Allenham Court. He claims that he cares nothing for Colonel Brandon’s gloom. He is quick to promise and slow to think of the cost. When people point out the consequences, he laughs it off. He can be warm and sincere in the moment, which is part of what makes the story’s turn so painful.
“Marianne was the only woman I ever loved... I am a miserable dog, but my affection was real.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Willoughby courts Marianne all summer and cuts a lock of her hair. He leaves abruptly for London, saying Mrs. Smith has given him business there. In London he ignores Marianne’s letters, and at a ball he treats her with icy formality while accompanied by the wealthy Miss Sophia Grey. He then writes to return her letters and say he is to marry.
Colonel Brandon reveals that Willoughby ruined and abandoned a young woman. When Marianne lies ill at Cleveland, he comes in the night to confess he loved her and sold his happiness for fifty thousand pounds. Elinor pities him, and he disappears before dawn.
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