# Mrs. Ferrars — Sense and Sensibility character guide

> Mrs. Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ferrars, poor Mrs. Ferrars

**First appearance:** 0033-xxxiv

## Snapshot

Edward and Robert's domineering mother, a wealthy woman who rules her sons through the purse and would rather see them miserable than married beneath her.

## Who they are

Mrs. Ferrars is the matriarch whose fortune and approval govern her sons' prospects, and whose disapproval can strip a man of everything. Her obsession with wealth and social standing makes Edward's secret engagement to Lucy Steele a catastrophe, and her name hangs over Elinor's hopes throughout the novel. When news arrives that Robert has married Lucy instead, the release it brings Elinor is the more startling for coming from the very quarter that seemed most implacable.

## In the story

### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sense_and_sensibility_se/chapters/xxxiv)

Displays pride and ill nature; pointedly snubs Elinor while favoring Lucy Steele.

### [Chapter XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sense_and_sensibility_se/chapters/xxxv)

Mrs. Ferrars is described by Elinor as proud, mean, and prejudiced; her civility to Lucy is noted but seen as insincere.

## Links

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