Although Austen writes that Elinor's feelings are just as passionate and deep as Marianne's, she knows how to govern them better, as she is more aware of the demands which society makes upon women, and is more prepared to compromise.
The American scholar Susan Morgan called Elinor Dashwood the "moral center" of the novel, having "both deep affections and the willingness to control the desires of her own heart for the sake of the people she loves".
[1]: 194 Unlike her younger sister, Elinor knows that social conventions are to a certain extent dishonest as people engage in polite lies, and she does not take them at face value, giving her better judgement.
[1]: 203 Unlike her sister, Elinor's way of understanding the world is based upon careful observation of the character of others, instead of fixed maxims or impulsive emotionism.
[1]: 204 In this regard, Morgan argued that for Austen, the purpose of politeness when she created the character of Elinor Dashwood is not to enforce social norms, but as a way of understanding the world, to cover uncertainties and sudden vicissitudes which occur in life.
All I have ever attempted to influence has been the behavior...I am guilty, I confess, of having often wished you to treat our acquaintance in general with greater attention; but when have I advised you to adopt their sentiments or conform to their judgment in serious matters?
[3]: 50 The novel described Elinor's character as: "She was stronger alone, and her own good sense so well supported her, that her firmness was as unshaken, her appearance of cheerfulness as invariable, as with regards and so fresh, it was possible for them to be".
[3]: 51 Unlike the characters, the Dashwood sisters read much, which distinguishes them in a place like Barton Park, and neither is especially deferential to Lady Middleton, who does not understand what the term satirical actually means.
[3]: 51 Irvine also points out that both the Dashwood sisters share fundamentally the same values, which sets them in opposition to other characters, and it this very friendliness within the family that allows their differences to emerge within their conversations.
[3]: 52 The book ends with the implication that the Dashwood sisters will remain closer to each other than their husbands as the narrator says:"Between Barton and Delaford, there was that constant communication which strong family affection would naturally dictate;-and among the merits and the happiness of Elinor and Marianne, let it not be ranked as the least considerable, that though the sisters, and living almost within sight of each other, they could live without disagreement between themselves, or producing coolness between their husbands".
[3]: 54–55 Following the death of Henry Dashwood, in the opening chapter, Elinor, Marianne, Margaret, and their mother are left nearly penniless by the machinations of the girls' selfish and greedy sister-in-law, Fanny.
Though their father had asked John Dashwood, his son and the sisters' half-brother, to make sure the girls would be taken care of as their income would be low, he is swayed by his wife to give them nothing extra.