A Report on Sense and Sensibility Summary: Sense and Sensibility is a story about the Dashwood family, who loses everything when Mr. Dashwood falls suddenly ill and dies unexpectedly. Mr. Dashwood is forced, by law, to leave his fortune and vast estate to his son, Mr. John Dashwood, from his first marriage. These circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's current wife, and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) without a home and with hardly enough money to live on. Edward, Fanny Dashwood's older brother, falls in love with Elinor, but Fanny makes up an excuse to send Edward to London, away from Elinor. The Dashwood family then moves to