#john dashwood

[austengifs]

Had he married a more amiable woman, he might have been made still more respectable than he was:—he might even have been made amiable himself; for he was very young when he married, and very fond of his wife. But Mrs. John Dashwood was a strong caricature of himself;—more narrow-minded and selfish. When he gave his promise to his father, he meditated within himself to increase the fortunes of his sisters by the present of a thousand pounds a-piece. He then really thought himself equal to it. The prospect of four thousand a-year, in addition to his present income, besides the remaining half of his own mother’s fortune, warmed his heart, and made him feel capable of generosity.—“Yes, he would give them three thousand pounds: it would be liberal and handsome! It would be enough to make them completely easy. Three thousand pounds! he could spare so considerable a sum with little inconvenience.”—He thought of it all day long, and for many days successively, and he did not repent.

Sense and Sensibility Volume I, Chapter I

[bethanydelleman]

The first few chapters of Sense & Sensibility are like Jane Austen taking us by the hand and explaining why this whole system of the patriarchy sounds great in principle but sucks in practice. So there is this guy, and he needs a woman around, because women do shit:

The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and niece, and their children, the old Gentleman’s days were comfortably spent. (Ch 1)

In the end it doesn't matter that they spent 10 years taking care of him and his house, because he wills his entire estate to a male child who has done diddly squat except be born with a Y chromosome. But don't despair! The Dashwood girls still have their father. Nope. He died. Well that's okay, because they have a half-brother and the whole idea is that men have the power but they also have to protect the women in their lives right? Right? Right, John Dashwood? Well no:

Now was the time when her son-in-law’s promise to his father might with particular propriety be fulfilled. Since he had neglected to do it on first coming to the estate, their quitting his house might be looked on as the most suitable period for its accomplishment. But Mrs. Dashwood began shortly to give over every hope of the kind, and to be convinced, from the general drift of his discourse, that his assistance extended no farther than their maintenance for six months at Norland. He so frequently talked of the increasing expenses of housekeeping, and of the perpetual demands upon his purse, which a man of any consequence in the world was beyond calculation exposed to, that he seemed rather to stand in need of more money himself than to have any design of giving money away. (Ch 5)

But John Dashwood failed in his duties as a protector and provider! Shouldn't he be socially punished? What were the consequences? Well nothing, of course. The ideal is rights and responsibilities, but there is no enforcement. In the end, the women, so vital to the functioning of society, are left with nothing because how can men punish other men for such a crime?

[firawren]

Fanny Dashwood and John Dashwood discussing how to fulfill his father's dying (but not legally binding) wish to take care of John's sisters and widowed stepmom:

[taciturn-nerd]

"I was thinking of..."

John Dashwood telling his wife that he's thinking of giving his step-mother and half-sisters three thousand pounds because he promised his father on his deathbed that he would help them and his wife talking him out of giving them anything at all!

VS

Me telling my husband I'm thinking of donating money to our local food bank because SNAP food benefits were disrupted this month in the U.S. and my husband being whole-heartedly supportive and even cooking a warm meal for people we know who use EBT to help with groceries.

I'm so grateful to have a spouse who is the exact opposite of Fanny Dashwood, who is kinder and way more generous than I am and helps me be a better person.

[missy-1978]

@janeuary-month

Day 9 - Inheritance- Sense and Sensibility

Colonel Brandon learned the sad circumstances of the Dashwood ladies' inheritance one evening as he  sipped port in the library at Barton Park with Sir John Middleton.

“Yes, it is a shame, a damn shame” Sir John started. “Their father Henry, only inherited Norland Park from his uncle a year or so before he himself died. He and his family…the second family that is, lived there for ten years, but he could not earn an income from the estate until the uncle died. There was not enough time to provide adequately for the girls' dowries.” 

“Were there no provisions in the will for Mrs. Dashwood?” The Colonel asked.

“Not enough for a widow and three unmarried daughters. When Elinor sent me an inquiry about renting, they could afford no more than 400 pounds per year.” Sir John groused. “Of course I offered them Barton Cottage at no cost, it was the least I could do for my cousin.”

“What about their brother, the heir?”

“Ah, John, their half brother. As I understand it, Henry begged him on his deathbed to take care of his step mother and half sisters, and he probably would have too, if not for Fanny.”

“Fanny?”

“The wife.”

“Ah, I believe I understand exactly what you are not saying. By the way, how do you know all of this? The Dashwood ladies do not strike me as the types to wash their dirty linens in public.”

“Ah” Sir John snickered, “Mother winkled it out of Mrs. Dashwood. She is horribly good at winkling.”

“Yes,” the Colonel deadpanned. “She is.”

*

Almost a year later, the Colonel and Sir John were once again enjoying a glass of port in the library at Barton Park. This time, however, circumstances were quite different. Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars were married and installed at the parsonage at Delaford, and Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood were to be wed the following morning. 

“Well Brandon” Sir John commented “who knew when my cousin and her daughters came to Devonshire, it would change your life forever.”

The Colonel nodded in acknowledgement. “I am obliged to you for providing me with the chance to be happier than I ever imagined I could be.”

“Ho, ho” Sir John responded jokingly “perhaps you should thank John for his lack of backbone, or Fanny for her lack of empathy.”

“Ah yes” Brandon quipped “at least the Dashwood ladies will never be beholden to them again. I increased the living for Edmund; Elinor should never have to scrimp and save again. I also settled on Margaret the sum of 10,000 pounds as a dowry; she Mrs. Dashwood will move to the Dower House after the wedding.”

“That is very generous of you, it seems as though you will be surrounded by Dashwoods for the rest of your life.”

“I could not be more pleased at that prospect.” The Colonel replied. “After everything they endured at the hands of their own relatives, it is the least I can do for my new, inherited family.” 

(Oops, I forgot to post this one last week)

[pennywisetherizzfulclown]

Mark Gatiss as John Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility (2008)

(dailymotion took the video down so I had to add it to megadrive)

[aria-baerose]

[thesequxnce]

Just finished Chapter 33 in Sense and Sensibility. John Dashwood has hella audacity bc he tells Elinor about his concerns for her and their sisters’ ability to marry well but emphasizes their lack of fortune as if that isn’t literally HIS fault. He was out here building greenhouses and buying an extra home instead fulfilling his father’s death wish to help his sisters and his stepmom to the best of his ability🙄