Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Add Sense and Sensibility to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside | Reading Guide

Sense and Sensibility

Introduction by Peter Conrad

By Jane Austen
Introduction by Sandra Cisneros

By Jane Austen
Introduction by Sandra Cisneros

By Jane Austen
Introduction by David Gates

By Jane Austen
Introduction by David Gates

By Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

By Jane Austen
Introduction by Peter Conrad

By Jane Austen
Introduction by Peter Conrad

By Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

Best Seller

Part of Vintage Classics

Part of Modern Library Classics

Part of Everyman's Library Classics Series

Part of Modern Library Classics

Paperback $10.00

Sep 04, 2007 | ISBN 9780307386878

Paperback $11.00

Jan 09, 2001 | ISBN 9780375756733

Mass Market Paperback $5.95

Dec 01, 1982 | ISBN 9780553213348

Hardcover $28.00

Mar 10, 1992 | ISBN 9780679409878

Ebook $4.99

Mar 28, 2006 | ISBN 9780553902440

Ebook $3.99

Nov 01, 2000 | ISBN 9780679641131

All Formats
+
    Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
    Mass Market Paperback $5.95
    Dec 01, 1982 | ISBN 9780553213348

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (5) +
    • $10.00

      Sep 04, 2007 | ISBN 9780307386878

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $11.00

      Jan 09, 2001 | ISBN 9780375756733

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $5.95

      Dec 01, 1982 | ISBN 9780553213348

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $28.00

      Mar 10, 1992 | ISBN 9780679409878

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Mar 28, 2006 | ISBN 9780553902440

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Nov 01, 2000 | ISBN 9780679641131

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About Sense and Sensibility

    In its marvelously perceptive portrayal of two young lovestruck women, Sense and Sensibility proves that Jane Austen’s novels, along with their perfection of form and tone, are full of strong feeling.

    Its two heroines—so utterly unlike each other—both undergo the most violent passions when they are separated from the men they love. What differentiates them, and gives this extraordinary book its complexity and brilliance, is the way each expresses her suffering: Marianne–young, impetuous, ardent–falls into paroxysms of grief when she is rejected by the dashing John Willoughby; while her sister, Elinor—wiser, more sensible, more self-controlled—masks her despair when it appears that Edward Ferrars is to marry the mean-spirited and cunning Lucy Steele. All, of course, ends happily—but not until Elinor’s “sense” and Marianne’s “sensibility” have equally worked to reveal the profound emotional life that runs beneath the surface of Austen’s immaculate and irresistible art.

    About Sense and Sensibility

    Published in 1811, Sense and Sensibility has delighted generations of readers with its masterfully crafted portrait of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Forced to leave their home after their father’s death, Elinor and Marianne must rely on making good marriages as their means of support. But unscrupulous cads, meddlesome matriarchs, and various guileless and artful women impinge on their chances for love and happiness. The novelist Elizabeth Bowen wrote, "The technique of [Jane Austen’s novels] is beyond praise….Her mastery of the art she chose, or that chose her, is complete."

    This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition contains a new Introduction by Pulitzer Prize finalist David Gates, in addition to new explanatory notes.

    About Sense and Sensibility

    In 1811, Jane Austen’s first published work, Sense and Sensibility, marked the debut of England’s premier novelist of manners. Believing that “3 or 4 families in a country village is the very thing to work on,” she created a brilliant tragicomedy of flirtation and folly. Romantic walks through lush Devonshire and genteel dinner parties at a stately manor draw two pretty sisters into the schemes and manipulations of landed gentry determined to marry wisely and well. Neither sense nor sensibility can guarantee happiness for either—as romantic Marianne falls prey to a dangerous rascal, and reasonable Elinor loses her heart to a gentleman already engaged. Wonderfully entertaining yet subtle and probing in its characterizations, Sense and Sensibility richly displays the supreme artistry of a great English novelist.

    About Sense and Sensibility

    In its marvelously perceptive portrayal of two young women in love, Sense and Sensibility is the answer to those who believe that Jane Austen’s novels, despite their perfection of form and tone, lack strong feeling.

    Its two heroines, Marianne and Elinor—so utterly unlike each other–both undergo the most violent passions when they are separated from the men they love. What differentiates them, and gives this extraordinary book its complexity and brilliance, is the way each expresses her suffering: Marianne–young, impetuous, ardent–falls into paroxysms of grief when she is rejected by the dashing John Willoughby; while her sister, Elinor—wiser, more sensible, more self-controlled—masks her despair when it appears that Edward Ferrars is to marry the mean-spirited and cunning Lucy Steele. All, of course, ends happily—but not until Elinor’s “sense” and Marianne’s “sensibility” have equally worked to reveal the profound emotional life that runs beneath the surface of Austen’s immaculate and irresistible art.

    About Sense and Sensibility

    Published in 1811, Sense and Sensibility has delighted generations of readers with its masterfully crafted portrait of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Forced to leave their home after their father’s death, Elinor and Marianne must rely on making good marriages as their means of support. But unscrupulous cads, meddlesome matriarchs, and various guileless and artful women impinge on their chances for love and happiness. The novelist Elizabeth Bowen wrote, “The technique of [Jane Austen’s novels] is beyond praise….Her mastery of the art she chose, or that chose her, is complete.”

    About Sense and Sensibility

    Sense and Sensibility is one of the best loved of Jane Austen’s novels, populated by great comic creations like Mrs. Jennings, the unscrupulous cad Willoughby, and guileless and artful women. As ever, Austen suffuses her work with great ironic observation and tremendous wit, producing a masterpiece of romantic entanglement that time and a very different set of mores cannot diminish.

    Sense and Sensibility was the first of Jane Austen’s novels to be published, coming out in 1811. It had a long gestation, beginning as Elinor and Marianne, an epistolary novel that Austen wrote in the 1790s. The novel centers on the sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who are forced to leave their home with their mother and younger sister, Margaret, and move in reduced circumstances to the West of England. Elinor, the sensible sister, and Marianne, the overimaginative romantic, must rely on a good marriage as a means of support. As their excellent schemes are intruded upon, Austen subtly explores the marriage game of her times, as both sense and sensibility affect the sisters’ chances of happiness and comfort.

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Also in Everyman’s Library Classics Series

    Resurrection
    Byron's Travels

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    Also by Jane Austen

    The Jane Austen Gift Set
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
    Emma
    Lady Susan
    See all books by Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    About Jane Austen

    Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on… More about Jane Austen

    Product Details

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Paperback | $10.00
    Published by Vintage
    Sep 04, 2007 | 384 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780307386878

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Paperback | $11.00
    Published by Modern Library
    Jan 09, 2001 | 304 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375756733

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Mass Market Paperback | $5.95
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Dec 01, 1982 | 352 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780553213348

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Hardcover | $28.00
    Published by Everyman’s Library
    Mar 10, 1992 | 408 Pages | 5 x 8 | ISBN 9780679409878

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Mar 28, 2006 | 352 Pages | ISBN 9780553902440

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Romance

    Ebook | $3.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Nov 01, 2000 | 288 Pages | ISBN 9780679641131

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    "As nearly flawless as any fiction could be."
    —Eudora Welty

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook