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She and Brandon tried to elope but were caught. Unhappy in her marriage, her life took a downward turn while Brandon served in the army abroad. She was seduced by numerous men, divorced Brandon’s brother, and ended up confined to a house because of debt.
- Overview
- Biography
- Notes
Eliza Williams is a character mentioned in Sense and Sensibility.
Eliza Williams is the ward of Colonel Brandon, though many people (Mrs. Jennings included) believe her to be his illegitimate child. However, she is the illegitimate daughter of Brandon's cousin, also named Eliza, and her unknown lover. The elder Eliza was Brandon's childhood sweetheart and former sister-in-law. The elder Eliza died when Eliza Williams was three. Eliza Williams then became Brandon's ward.
For several years Eliza Williams lived at school where Brandon visited her often. She visited him at Delaford following the death of his brother and his inheritance of the estate.
When she was fourteen, Brandon withdrew her from the school and placed her in a household in Dorsetshire run by a respectable woman, with several other girls her age. She lived there for two years.
When she was sixteen, Brandon gave his consent to her visiting a friend in Bath where the friend's father was convalescing. The two girls ran wild while the father was confined to the house. It was in Bath that Eliza met John Willoughby, who seduced her, and in February, they disappeared together. Brandon did not hear from Eliza for eight months. Her friend refused to give him any information when he tried to find her, and her friend's father had no information to give.
Eliza lived with Willoughby for several months before he left. He did not tell her his address, and he did not return to her like he had promised.
In October, Eliza writes to Brandon at Delaford, and the letter is forwarded to Barton. Brandon cancels a planned excursion to Whitwell to find Eliza in London. Around this time, Willoughby's aunt Mrs. Smith finds out about the affair and insists Willoughby marry Eliza, but he flees Allenham rather than do so.
•In a scene on another version of the film Colonel Brandon visits the teenaged Eliza whom had the baby. She asks about Willoughby thinking that if he saw his baby, he may love her, but Colonel Brandon has news of his engagement to another woman, clearly visibly breaking her heart.
Linda Robinson Walker argues that Hastings "haunts Sense and Sensibility in the character of Colonel Brandon": both left for India at the age of seventeen; Hastings may have had an illegitimate daughter named Eliza; both Hastings and Brandon participated in a duel.
The opening episode of Sense and Sensibility features the moment Willoughby seduces Eliza, who is still a schoolgirl.
- Costume Drama
In this chapter, Jane Austen makes use of one of the conventions seen commonly in the novels of that period — the inset story. The story of the young woman ruined by a ruthless young man was always popular. The seduction usually happened at a seaside resort, as here, in Bath.
While Elinor exemplifies sense, Marianne epitomizes sensibility. The middle Dashwood sister, she is romantic, emotional, and sentimental. She often lacks the restraint, prudence, and politeness of her older sister Elinor. She falls in love easily… read analysis of Marianne Dashwood.
