Sense and Sensibility
What is Sense and Sensibility about?
What is the age gap between Colonel Brandon and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility?
What is the main theme of Sense and Sensibility?
What illness did Marianne have in Sense and Sensibility?
Who are the main characters in Sense and Sensibility?
How do Elinor and Marianne Dashwood’s romantic relationships differ?
What was the original title of Sense and Sensibility?
What notable adaptations have been made of Sense and Sensibility?
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Sense and Sensibility is a novel by English author Jane Austen that was published anonymously in three volumes in 1811 and that became a classic of English literature. The satirical, comic work offers a vivid depiction of 19th-century middle-class life as it follows the romantic relationships of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters of very different characters. It was Austen’s first published novel. Like her other famous works, the book centers on the predicaments of young women living in an era of gendered social conventions and mercenary marriages.
Summary and characters: A tale of two sisters
Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the impoverished Dashwood family, focusing on the two elder Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, who are personifications of good sense (common sense) and sensibility (emotionality), respectively. They become destitute upon the death of their father, who leaves his home, Norland Park, to their half brother, John, on the basis of a law that limited the transfer of property to male heirs (entailment). Although instructed to take care of his sisters, John is dissuaded of his duty by his greedy wife, Fanny. The family—which, in addition to Elinor and Marianne, includes their mother and a younger sister, Margaret—moves to Barton Cottage on the estate of their cousin, Sir John Middleton, in Devonshire. There the open and enthusiastic Marianne meets Colonel Brandon, a staid and settled bachelor nearly 20 years her senior. Although he expresses an interest in Marianne, she discourages his attention and instead becomes infatuated with the attractive John Willoughby, who seems to be a romantic lover but is in reality an unscrupulous fortune hunter. He deserts Marianne for an heiress, and she eventually makes a sensible marriage with Colonel Brandon.
“Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”
During this time, Marianne’s elder sister, the prudent and discreet Elinor, and Edward Ferrars, Fanny’s brother, have formed an attachment. However, she is outwardly reserved about her affections, especially after learning that he has been secretly engaged to Lucy Steele for several years. Although Edward loves Elinor, he is determined to honor his commitment to Lucy. When the engagement is revealed, Edward is disowned, and Colonel Brandon offers him a living as a clergyman. Later Elinor is told that Mr. Ferrars has married. Believing that the Mr. Ferrars in question is Edward, she is both shocked and relieved to discover that Lucy has wed Edward’s brother, Robert. Edward arrives at Barton Cottage and proposes to Elinor, who accepts.
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Analysis: A prequel to Pride and Prejudice?
Sense and Sensibility had a long period of gestation. Austen began writing it about 1795, and she initially titled it Elinor and Marianne. She significantly revised it in 1809. It was her first published novel, and she paid to have it published. Sense and Sensibility contained what would become Austen’s trademark features: insightful observation, astute characterization, and dazzling wit. There has long been debate over whether Austen favored one quality over the other—sense or sensibility—or whether she favored an equal dose of both as the best recipe for life.
The novel’s two protagonists are often interpreted as representing the Enlightenment and Romanticism, as Austen wrote her novels during the transition from one era (the Enlightenment and its focus on reason and skepticism) to the other (Romanticism and its idealization of emotion and the imagination). In this interpretation, Elinor represents the Enlightenment and Marianne represents Romanticism. Although Austen famously satirized emotional excess in her works (i.e., critiqued romantic notions), in Sense and Sensibility she notably allows emotional growth for both her heroines: Elinor gradually becomes less rigid and more emotionally open, while Marianne gains prudence and reason. In Elinor’s words, Marianne learns to “settle her opinions on the reasonable basis of common sense and observation.”
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Some scholars regard Pride and Prejudice, which was published two years later, as a “sequel” to Sense and Sensibility, because it revisits many of the themes of the earlier novel, including a study of two opposing characters who experience emotional growth. In Pride and Prejudice, the proud and socially inferior Elizabeth Bennet and her suitor, the rich and arrogant Mr. Darcy, evolve to come together in love and understanding. (Austen began writing the novel in October 1796.)
Movies and other adaptations
Sense and Sensibility was a success upon publication, and it later was adapted for film, stage, and television. Among the most notable adaptations is the 1995 movie, which was directed by Ang Lee and starred Emma Thompson (as Elinor), who won an Academy Award for her adapted screenplay. Kate Winslet (Marianne), Hugh Grant (Edward Ferrars), and Alan Rickman (Colonel Brandon) also starred. A critical and commercial success, the movie spurred a resurgence of interest in Austen’s novels.
The British Broadcasting Corporation produced several TV series and miniseries based on Sense and Sensibility, in 1971, 1981, and 2008. Modern adaptations include the films Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000; I Have Found It), starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Tabu, and Ajith Kumar; Material Girls (2006), in which the sisters (now going by the surname Marchetta and played by Hilary and Haylie Duff) are cosmetics heiresses in Los Angeles who lose their fortune; and From Prada to Nada (2011), a Latina take on the story set in East Los Angeles and starring Camilla Belle and Alexa PenaVega. In 2026 a new film version was released, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (Elinor) and Esmé Creed-Miles (Marianne).
The novel has also been adapted by other writers. For example, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) is a parody novel by Ben H. Winters.
