What happens in Chapter XLIII of Sense and Sensibility?
Marianne wakes up the morning after getting sick and insists she's better, but she spends the day shivering by the fire or lying weakly on the sofa. A restless, feverish night follows, prompting Elinor to send for the Palmers' apothecary, Mr. Harris. When he mentions a "putrid tendency" and "infection," Mrs. Palmer becomes alarmed for her baby and decides to leave with her infant for a relative's house near Bath; Mr. Palmer follows a day or two later. Mrs. Jennings, however, refuses to leave, promising to care for Marianne in her mother's absence. Colonel Brandon is convinced by Mrs. Jennings to stay as well, supposedly to play piquet with her in the evenings.
Marianne's condition doesn't change for two more days. On the third morning, Mr. Harris reports some improvement, but by evening, her condition sharply declines. That night, alone with Elinor, Marianne wakes in feverish delirium, crying out for her mother. Elinor checks her pulse—it's "lower and quicker than ever"—and rushes to Colonel Brandon, who immediately offers to fetch Mrs. Dashwood from Barton. He leaves by carriage around midnight.
The night is agonizing: Marianne drifts in and out of delirium while Elinor watches in despair. Mr. Harris doesn't arrive until after five in the morning; his medicines fail to help, and by mid-morning, Elinor is nearly without hope. However, around noon, she notices a slight improvement in Marianne's pulse. By four o'clock, Mr. Harris confirms a recovery that exceeds his expectations and announces that Marianne is completely out of danger. Elinor feels a deep but quiet joy. At eight o'clock, earlier than expected, a carriage arrives—but when Elinor rushes downstairs, she finds not her mother but Willoughby.
Analysis
The chapter unfolds as a prolonged crisis that modulates in carefully controlled waves. Austen begins with a deceptive calm—Marianne’s insistence that she is "better" and Elinor’s misplaced confidence—before each consecutive night strips away that sense of security. The cycle of hope and disappointment repeats three times (the first restless night, the false dawn of the third morning, and the frightening relapse that evening), creating genuine suspense within a domestic sickroom context.
The point of view remains closely aligned with Elinor throughout, making her emotional restraint the chapter's focal point. Her joy at Marianne’s recovery is described as "silent and strong," while her terror during the night is "concealed," even as she comforts her delirious sister. This self-control contrasts with the more openly expressive reactions of Mrs. Jennings, whose gloomy predictions and raw grief are presented sympathetically rather than satirically here—this tonal shift enriches her characterization.
Colonel Brandon's willingness to ride through the night for Mrs. Dashwood is conveyed with careful brevity: "a readiness that seemed to speak the occasion, and the service pre-arranged in his mind." The succinctness of the description—he presses Elinor's hand, whispers words "too low to reach her ear," and departs—captures both urgency and emotion without falling into sentimentality.
The chapter’s concluding sentence is a brilliant moment of structural surprise. The stormy night, the flickering carriage lamps, Elinor's breathless descent—all the elements of an emotional reunion are set in motion, then deflated in five words: "she entered it,—and saw only Willoughby." This abrupt ending leaves the reader suspended at the exact moment of shock, mirroring Elinor’s own halted movement.
Key quotes from Chapter XLIII
““Is mama coming?””
Marianne, waking in feverish delirium in the middle of the night, cries out to Elinor.
“All within Elinor’s breast was satisfaction, silent and strong.”
The narrator describes Elinor's inward response after Mr. Harris declares Marianne entirely out of danger.
“She rushed to the drawing-room,—she entered it,—and saw only Willoughby.”
The chapter's final sentence, as Elinor hurries downstairs expecting her mother and Colonel Brandon.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter XLIII
- dressing-closet
- A small private room adjoining a bedroom, used for dressing and personal grooming; a kind of early wardrobe room attached to a main bedchamber.