Name: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Jane. Austen
ISBN: 9780194793421

Sense and Sensibility

Jane. Austen

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Author Description

Sometimes the Dashwood girls do not seem like sisters. Elinor is all calmness and reason, and can be relied upon for practical, common sense opinions. Marianne, on the other hand, is all sensibility, full of passionate and romantic feeling. She has no time for dull common sense - or for middle-aged men of thirty-five, long past the age of marriage. True love can only be felt by the young, of course. And if your heart is broken at the age of seventeen, how can you ever expect to recover from the passionate misery that fills your life, waking and sleeping?

Menrva's Summary

THE PULSE

The central conflict arises when the Dashwood sisters face financial ruin and social displacement, forcing them to navigate the rigid expectations of Regency-era courtship. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood represent opposing philosophies of life: one governed by stoic reason and the other by impulsive romanticism. As they encounter potential suitors, they must reconcile their internal temperaments with the external pressures of class, reputation, and economic necessity. The narrative employs a third-person omniscient perspective to examine the social mechanics of 19th-century England.

INSIDE THE PAGES

Regency-era social commentary
Contrast between rationalism and romanticism
Exploration of economic dependency for women
Satirical portrayal of social manners
Character-driven dialogue
Focus on domestic life and courtship
Examination of social status and inheritance
Moral development of the protagonists

THE COLLECTIVE ECHO

Readers frequently highlight the sharp contrast between Elinor and Marianne as the primary engine of the narrative. Discussion often centers on the effectiveness of the author's irony in critiquing the social conventions of the time. Critics often note that the pacing remains steady, focusing more on internal character growth than external action. The work is widely regarded for its precise prose and its enduring exploration of the tension between emotional expression and social duty.

Page Count:
99

Publication Date:
2009-04-09

Publisher:
Oxford University Press España, S.A.

ISBN-10:
0194793427

ISBN-13:
9780194793421

Romance

Fiction

Reference

Historical

Foreign Study

classic