Margaret in Sense and Sensibility

Who is Margaret?

Margaret is the thirteen-year-old youngest daughter of Mrs. Dashwood who appears intermittently around the family’s social life at Norland, Barton, and in company visits. She wants to belong and to mirror the affectionate intimacy she sees between her sisters, so she often echoes Marianne's romantic tone and takes pleasure in the company and small conversational intrigues. In the narrative she performs small but pointed actions: an offhand remark that helps prompt Willoughby’s morning visit, reporting that Willoughby kept a lock of Marianne’s hair, breaking a tense debate between Elinor and their mother by entering the room, and later returning to Barton during Marianne’s recovery. Though not central to major plot decisions, Margaret functions as a perceptive witness (noting details like the lock of hair) and as a stabilizing, good-humored presence whose manners contrast with more extreme passions in the household.

Personality

Good-humored

Introduced as good-humored in the family portrait in Chapter 1, and she keeps a dignified silence when Edward unexpectedly visits in Chapter 48.

Impressionable

Already influenced by Marianne’s romanticism in Chapter 1 and later echoes Marianne’s views and excitement about Willoughby.

Observant

Tells Elinor in Chapter 12 that Willoughby cut and kept a lock of Marianne’s hair, providing concrete evidence of intimacy.

Discreet

Her quiet, timely entrance in Chapter 15 ends a fraught argument and she keeps a composed silence during Edward’s awkward visit in Chapter 48.

Character arc

Margaret’s role is modest and mostly consistent rather than dramatically changing: she opens the novel as a youthful, good-humored child already shaped by Marianne’s ardent sensibility, and throughout the chapters she remains a gentle presence who reflects family moods. Early on she indulges in romantic enthusiasm and casual talk—her offhand remark precedes Willoughby’s visit and she repeats small but telling details like the lock of hair—showing both curiosity and a tendency to follow the stronger personalities around her. As tensions and sorrows affect the household, Margaret demonstrates quieter steadiness: she interrupts an argument in Chapter 15, returns home during Marianne’s convalescence, and remains composed during emotionally charged scenes such as Edward’s sudden arrival (Chapter 48). By the end of the provided notes she stands as a comforting, decorous member of the family who listens, notices, and preserves propriety rather than becoming a decisive agent of change; her comportment underscores the elder sisters’ struggles without undergoing a dramatic personal transformation herself.

Relationships

• Marianne Younger sister who strongly influences Margaret’s romantic tastes and whom Margaret admires and often imitates.
• Elinor Older sister whose sensible restraint Margaret observes and sometimes supports by offering quiet, stabilizing actions.
• Mrs. Dashwood Her mother, whose household Margaret helps sustain and whose anxieties she witnesses with tact and composure.
• Willoughby A subject of Margaret’s gossip and observation—her remark precedes his visit and she reports he kept Marianne’s hair.
• Mrs. Jennings Part of the social circle Margaret encounters at Barton and the Park, contributing to the lively company she enjoys.

Why Margaret matters

Margaret functions as a small but meaningful foil to the novel’s larger emotional extremes: her good humor, discretion, and observational detail highlight the differences between passionate impulsiveness (Marianne) and cool prudence (Elinor). She registers and relays domestic facts that propel misunderstanding and revelation, yet she rarely disturbs family equilibrium herself. Thematically, Margaret embodies the domestic continuity and social decorum that sustain the Dashwoods through upheaval—showing how ordinary manners, attentiveness, and quiet presence support family resilience amid romantic drama and social anxieties.

Chapters with Margaret

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 45
• Chapter 46
• Chapter 47
• Chapter 48
• Chapter 50

More Sense and Sensibility characters

• MMarianneProtagonist
• EElinorProtagonist
• MMrs. JenningsMajor character
• MMrs. DashwoodMajor character
• CColonel BrandonMajor character
• LLady MiddletonMinor character
• SSir JohnMajor character
• WWilloughbyMajor character