Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility is a romantic fiction story set in southwest England that describes the life and loves of the three Dashwood sisters. They are forced to move with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up, Norland Park, when their father dies and his estate is passed onto their half-brother, John. The sisters are starkly different from each other; Elinor is the epitome of prudence and self-control while Marianne embodies emotion and enthusiasm. The novel follows the young ladies to their new home, a meager cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak. The philosophical resolution of the novel is ambiguous: the reader must decide whether sense and sensibility have truly merged. Sense and Sensibility is one of Jane Austen's classic romantic fiction stories.