Sense & Sensibility - Chapter 2 - The Pliable John Dashwood

I originally wanted to vent my frustration at the very selfish Fanny Dashwood, but insread I want to talk about her husband, Elinor and Marianne's half-brother, John Dashwood.
With a nicer, more compassionate wife, he could have been a better man. He is certainly like a great unformed ball of clay, and Fanny knows all too well how to mold him to her will. She manipulates him quite expertly into making sure he gives nothing at all to his stepmother and half-sisters. He briefly earns some esteeem from the reader by being ready and willing to help them out. But he shows, with Fanny's help, that he really has no desire at all to help the newly homeless women. It's almost a relief to him to be unburdened of any care of them. In the end, he is of a like-minded opinion as his wife that the destitute women ripped from their home are more likely to give them something!