Sense and Sensibility

The Penguin English Library Edition of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

“The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!”

Jane Austen’s novel tells the story of Marianne Dashwood, who wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love – and its threatened loss – the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

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