Sense and Sensibility

Though not the first novel she wrote, Sense and Sensibility was the first Jane Austen published. Austen pursues a central theme; the necessity of finding a workable middle ground between passion and reason. The story revolves around the Dashwood sisters, Elinor, a sensible, rational creature, and Marianne wildly romantic - characteristics that offer Austen plenty of scope for both satire and compassion. How each of the sisters reacts to their romantic adventures and misfortunes, and the lessons they draw before coming finally to the requisite happy ending, forms the heart of the novel. Though Marianne's disregard for social conventions and willingness to consider the world well-lost for love may appeal to modern readers, it is Elinor whom Austen herself most evidently admired; a truly happy marriage, she shows us, exists only where sense and sensibility meet and mix in proper measure. Sense and Sensibility is introduced by H.M. Daleski, formerly President of the International Dickens Society and Chairman of the Department of English at the Hebrew University. He is the author of Dickens and the Art of Analogy, The Divided Heroine, Unities: Studies in the English Novel, and other books.