Fanny Dashwood’s Screens

Fanny Dashwood’s Screens

Decorations

Elinor painted a set of screens for her sister-in-law, Fanny. Fanny had them put into frames and mounted in her drawing room to shield between a person and the fireplace. When John draws attention to the screens, the reactions of the group reveal their attitudes toward Elinor. John wants Colonel Brandon to admire them to convince him of Elinor’s suitability as a wife. Brandon admires them out of friendship. Fanny warns Mrs. Farrars that they are Elinor’s work so she dismisses them unkindly, illustrating her dislike of Elinor and her own bad manners. This leads to an outburst of emotion from Marrianne who feels Elinor’s pain as strongly as her own. The screens, which were a kind gift from Elinor to her sister-in-law, are used against her by Fanny and Fanny’s mother.

Elinor (Dashwood) Farrars

Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

Brianna Sumption

Novel