Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV series) and 17, so these romantic relationships are real rites of passage for them." Davies commented that he would have liked to have been in charge of the casting. He revealed that he had initially objected to Hattie Morahan being cast in the role of the eldest Dashwood sister, Elinor. However, he was glad that his objections were ignored, because he fell in love with her performance. Morahan told "The Daily Telegraph's" Jasper Rees that she deliberately chose not to watch the 1995 film adaptation of "Sense and Sensibility" or think about Emma Thompson's portrayal of the character. She explained that
Sense and Sensibility (film) significant alterations to the characters of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood: in the novel, the former embodies "sense", i.e. "sensible" in our terms, and the latter, "sensibility", i.e. "sensitivity" in our terms. Audience members are meant to view self-restrained Elinor as the person in need of reform, rather than her impassioned sister. To heighten the contrast between them, Marianne and Willoughby's relationship includes an "erotic" invented scene in which the latter requests a lock of her hair – a direct contrast to Elinor's "reserved relationship" with Edward. Lee also distinguishes them through imagery – Marianne is often seen with musical instruments,