The whole novel is about her and her sister Elinor, but I want to focus on Marianne. She is reasonably young, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, and she and her family face many difficulties. Jane Austen writes about them losing their home, a horrible sister-in-law, and being forced to move to an unfamiliar country. Being young, Marianne is obviously disappointed, but manages to make the best of the situation. Marianne meets many new people in her new home and two of these people are Colonel Brandon and Willoughby. Colonel Brandon is immediately interested in the lively young girl, but Marianne doesn't want to be tied down to an older man. At the beginning of the novel Marianne is senseless. He seeks temporary happiness and finds it in Willoughby. In my research essay I will follow Marianne's journey to happiness as she suffers and learns that sometimes love is fleeting and that it takes meaning and effort to be so.