Author Description

Henry Dashwood, his second wife, and their three daughters live for many years with Henry's wealthy bachelor uncle. That uncle decides, in late life, to will his property first to Henry, then to Henry's first son John, and then to John's three-year-old son Harry. The uncle dies, but Henry lives just a year after that. On Henry's death, the new owner of the estate, then, is John Dashwood, the child of Henry's first marriage. Henry's second wife, Mrs Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, inherit only a small income. On his deathbed, Mr Henry Dashwood extracts a promise from his son John to take care of his half-sisters. But before Henry is long in the grave, John's greedy wife, Fanny, persuades her husband to renege on the promise, appealing to his concerns about diminishing his own son Harry's inheritance and to the fact that his sisters are but half-blood and therefore undeserving of his family loyalty. Après le décès de Henry Dashwood, ses trois filles, Elinor, Marianne et Margaret, ainsi que leur mère se trouvent privées de leur part d'héritage par leur demi-frère John (né d'un précédent mariage de Henry Dashwood) qui se laisse facilement convaincre par sa femme Fanny qu'il ne leur doit rien. Leur condition financière considérablement diminuée, elles se retrouvent dans une situation particulièrement difficile.