Sense and Sensibility Lesson Plan

What do we learn about the Colonel in Chapter 11, and how do Elinor and Marianne's reactions show their characters?

The Colonel's past history is insinuated once again, through his own comments about disappointed love, and allusion to his own experience. His disappointment at being ignored by Marianne seems to parallel some past experience of his, and his comments about the tragic history of a girl he knew similar to Marianne foreshadows some misfortune that Marianne might come to because of her open, emotional nature.

Once again, Elinor and Marianne are contrasted to what their differing reactions would be to this conversation with the Colonel. While Elinor decides to...