Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
1996 at Nicki's House
Synopsis
Two sisters of opposing temperaments but who share the pangs
of tragic love provide the subjects for Sense and Sensibility.
Elinor, practical and conventional, is the epitome of sense;
Marianne, emotional and sentimental, the embodiment of sensibility.
To each comes the sorrow of unhappy love: Elinor desires a
man who is promised to another while Marianne loses her heart
to a scoundrel who jilts her. Their mutual suffering brings
a closer understanding between the two sisters - and true
love finally triumphs when sense gives way to sensibility
and sensibility gives way to sense.
First line
The family of Dashwood had been long settled in
Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at
Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where for many
generations they had lived in so respectable a manner as to
engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance.
Published comment
How could these novels ever seem remote? ... The gaiety is
unextinguished to today, the irony has kept its bite, the
reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished ... As
comedies they are irresistable and as nearly flawless as any
fiction could be.
Eudora Welty
Related resources
A
reader's guide
Biography
on the Pegasos site
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