Product Description

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7149 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Jane Austen (1775-1817) was extremely modest about her own genius but has become one of English literature's most famous women writers. She is also the author of Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey. Ros Ballaster is a Fellow and Tutor in English at Mansfield College, Oxford. Tony Tanner was a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

Jane Austen's First Look at English Society
Most people who have read Jane Austen will have read Pride and Prejudice. With a title like Sense and Sensibility, most readers will assume that the two books can be interpreted and enjoyed in the same way. Other than having three word titles that employ alliteration in the first and third words, the two novels are more different than similar.

While Pride and Prejudice is primarily about miscommunication, Sense and Sensibility is about the maturation of two sisters as they find themselves confronted by adversity. The former topic allows Ms. Austen more room to roam, but within the later topic she has plenty of opportunities to display her story telling and comic talents. While maturation is an important sub theme in Pride and Prejudice, you see maturation better developed in Sense and Sensibility.

When their father dies, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret find themselves in exile from their family home with their mother. The family estate had been left to their half brother whom their father exhorted to take care of them. But that promise is soon diluted into doing almost nothing through the selfishness of his wife and his vacillation. A relative kindly offers them a country cottage near his home and takes obvious pleasure in their company.

At this modest new home, Elinor found herself entertaining the welcome attentions of Edward Ferrars. Elinor's younger sister, Marianne, is all aflutter over John Willoughby who seems to be committed to her. In fact, everyone assumes that there will soon be wedding bells for Marianne and Willoughby.

All of these pleasant connections are, however, soon disrupted. Willoughby leaves and ignores Marianne. Elinor finds out an unexpected secret about Ferrars that puts her on her caution in pursuing their relationship. As these complications develop, Marianne soon finds herself distraught despite having attracted another suitor, the reliable, but older, Colonel Brandon. Elinor steps into the breach to try to help her sister regain her equilibrium. Both learn what a broken heart can feel like and adjust in their own separate ways.

In vintage Jane Austen style, all bets are off near the end of the book as characters take unexpected steps that open up new possibilities. There's no one quite like Jane Austen for pulling great twists in her romantic comedies. These twists will cause your jaw to drop.

Try not to compare this book to Pride and Prejudice. It's clearly a lesser work, but one that can certainly be enjoyed in its own right.

Really worth reading.
This is the second book of Jane Austen's that I ever read. I had seen the film and thought it was really good but the book surpassed my expectations. The detail with which Jane Austen writes is superb, especially when describing the characters. Marianne is my favourite character for reasons which become obvious when you read the book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Disappointing
Austen's first novel, and she has not managed to quite get the trick of interesting plot or characters. It's not actually a bad book. But I must admit I sped through the second half hoping that there would be a punchline, and was disappointed.