Character Analysis
Mrs. Palmer
Mrs. Jennings' younger daughter, Charlotte, is a foolish but cheerful young woman "strongly endowed by nature with a turn for being uniformly civil and happy." Short, plump, and pretty, she is not so elegant as her sister, Lady Middleton, but is "much more prepossessing." When she visits the Dashwoods at Barton Cottage, she likes and admires everyone and everything: "Well! What a delightful room this is! I never saw anything so charming!" Not even her husband's rudeness can disturb her: "When he scolded or abused her, she was highly pleased."
One of the most entertaining characters in the novel, Charlotte prattles incessantly, often with unconscious humor. When asked if she knows Willoughby, she replies, "Oh dear, yes; I know him extremely well," and then goes on to say, "not that I ever spoke to him indeed; but I have seen him forever in town."
When her baby is born, she naturally fusses over him and shows little common sense over his childish ailments. When Marianne falls ill, she persuades her husband to send her and the baby to relatives in Bath, fearing infection for her child.