John Willoughby

John Willoughby
Dominic Cooper as John Willoughby in the 2008 BBC television serial, Sense and Sensibility.
Gender	Male
Age	25
Income	£700 pounds per annum
Education	Unknown
Primary residence	Combe Magna in Sormersetshire, and occasionally Allenham in Devonshire
Family
Spouse	Miss Sophia Grey
Romantic interest(s)	Beth (Eliza's illegitimate child), Marianne Dashwood, Miss Grey
Children	An illegitimate child, through Beth

John Willoughby is a fictional character in Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. He is described as being a handsome young man with a small estate, but has expectations of inheriting his aunt's large estate.

John Willoughby first appears in Sense and Sensibility when he rescues Marianne Dashwood after she falls down a hill and twists her ankle during a rainstorm. Because of this action, he is known as "Marianne's Preserver" by her younger sister, Margaret. After this action, Marianne Dashwood falls in love with him.

Willoughby and Marianne obviously have strong sentiments of warmth and affection towards one another and everybody believes them to be clandestinely engaged. However, neither Marianne nor Willoughby hints at an engagement to anybody. One day, Willoughby wishes to speak to Marianne in private. By the time he has finished, Marianne is in tears, and it seems that he is gravely disappointed. The reason given by Willoughby to explain this is that his aunt has sent him on a business trip to London, and he must obey instantly, and he might not ever return to Devonshire. Marianne's mother interprets this abrupt journey as it being the intention of his aunt to dissolve any attachment between her nephew and Marianne, for Marianne has no dowry. Elinor suspiciously wonders why Willoughby would not say as much, but she does not doubt Willoughby's love for Marianne.

Mrs. Jennings invites both Elinor and Marianne to London with her during the winter, and Marianne, in hopes of reuniting with her beloved Willoughby, happily accepts; Elinor is only reluctantly persuaded after much entreaty and persuasion from her mother and Marianne. In London, Marianne improperly writes several letters to Willoughby, telling him that she had arrived in London and requesting him to come and visit her at the residence of Mrs. Jennings. Willoughby does not respond, throwing Mariannne into despair. Elinor and Marianne then encounter him by chance at a cotillion and Marianne confronts him for not replying to her letters. Willoughby treats her very coldly and is obviously paying attention to another lady. This greatly upsets Marianne who has to be taken home early. The next day, Marianne receives a letter from Willoughby in which he informs her in very cold and distant terms that his affections have long been engaged elsewhere and he is sorry if she ever mistakenly thought otherwise. He also returns all her letters and the lock of hair that she had "so obligingly bestowed upon him." Marianne is thrown into utter despair. Elinor thinks that Willoughby has broken an engagement with Marianne, but she explains that they were never engaged. Elinor attempts in vain to afford Marianne some consolation, and she tells her beloved sister to think of her family and to exert herself through this difficult interval of sorrow. At the ball it is revealed that Mr. Willoughby is now engaged to a fashionable young woman named Miss Grey who has a fortune of £50,000.