In many of Jane Austen's novels, women are often described as very passionate and strong characters, much more so than men. The novel Sense and Sensibility, in particular, contains multiple female protagonists who show different aspects of a woman and her approach to life's many decisions. Elinor Dashwood, for example, made her own decisions and acted according to her common sense, making her a strong character especially when her emotions are tested. Marianne Dashwood, on the other hand, made all of her choices based solely on her emotions rather than senses, which is what made her seem weak as her emotions were tested to win the book. Even with these two very different mindsets between the two sisters, Austen also placed many cunning women in the story such as Lucy Steele and Fanny Dashwood who show how strong and dedicated women can compare to men. One of the multiple reasons why women have been described throughout the ages as weak is because they are known to be incredibly emotional. Although this characteristic is evident in all women, it does not necessarily indicate that all women are easily disabled by their emotions. This seems to be an important point made in Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Not only did it include a character who was pretty much controlled by her emotions, but also some other female characters who were very intelligent and didn't let their feelings dramatically influence their behavior. Marianne Dashwood was one of the weakest women due to her reaction to Willoughby's mysterious departure, and she later discovered that he had left her for a richer woman. Rather than use the company of others as a distraction, Marianne made Willoughby her attention as she wrote him letter after letter when she hadn't heard from him. She also had difficulty composing her... middle of paper... her lover, Edward, had been engaged to the ruthless Lucy Steele for four years. Her heart broke when she heard this news, but Elinor did not let her emotions overwhelm her and cause a dramatic effect on her behavior when she was in public. In fact, Elinor continued to put up with Lucy's constant talk about Edward, and even kept this painful secret to herself. Elinor knew that there were other people involved than herself, so she knew that pining for Edward's engagement as Marianne had done to Willoughby was unlikely to do her any good. This mindset not only demonstrated how strong Elinor was as a woman, but also sets a beautiful example for young women today. Her character is an excellent role model for women today because she showed a fantastic amount of self-control when it came to her emotions and handled the situation regarding Edward and Lucy very wisely..