Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen, 1811

A-level set text OCR A-level

Two sisters face reduced circumstances and uncertain courtships with different habits of feeling and judgement.

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Length: 50 chapters
Reading time: About 8 hr 18 min
Words: 118,590

About the book

Changes in the ownership of Norland leave the Dashwood women dependent upon arrangements made by others. Their brother's willingness to help is soon tested by conversation at home. Money and family affection are closely connected before the sisters begin a new life elsewhere.

Elinor and Marianne offer contrasting responses to emotion, but Austen gives both a world that requires interpretation. Promises, manners and appearances do not always say exactly what they mean. The novel draws its interest from the difficulty of judging another person's feelings while managing the force of one's own.

On these lists

Courtship and marriage

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Jane Austen died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.