Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Verstand und Gefühl
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love stories about family, money and the risks of love, with dry humour, gossip and the English countryside. A welcoming choice for first-time Austen readers and those seeking a refresher.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Sense and Sensibility is the first novel Jane Austen published. It appeared in 1811, under the label of a Lady, and it brought her the first money she earned from her writing. She had drafted an early version years before in letter form, then reshaped it into the story we have. It follows two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who lose their home and most of their income when their father dies.
The novel sets two ways of living side by side. Elinor, the elder, keeps her feelings in check and thinks of other people first. Marianne, at seventeen, trusts her feelings completely and sees no reason to hide them. Austen does not simply crown one sister and scold the other. She lets each one love, hope and be hurt, and she asks what each has to learn from the other.
You get a story of money, manners and the English countryside, told with dry humour. You meet greedy relatives, kind neighbours and gossips, and a few men who may or may not deserve the sisters. You also get a close look at how little freedom women had when money and property were tied up by the men around them. Let us begin where the trouble begins, with a death and a will.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A father dies and the money goesFree
- 2Two sisters, two ways of feeling
- 3Edward Ferrars and a quiet attachment
- 4A small cottage in Devon
- 5Willoughby sweeps Marianne away
- 6Manners, gossip and the cost of openness
- 7London brings hope and strain
- 8Sense and sensibility are not enemies
- 9How Austen tells the story
Punkt 1 von 9
A father dies and the money goes
The story opens in Sussex, at an estate called Norland Park. The Dashwood family has lived there for generations, and the old owner has just died. He leaves the property to his nephew, Henry Dashwood, but only for his lifetime, and it is already tied up for the nephew's son. When Henry dies not long after, the estate passes to his son John, the child of his first marriage.
Henry's second wife and her three daughters are left with very little. Mrs Dashwood, Elinor, Marianne and the youngest girl, Margaret, will have only a small yearly income to live on. Before he died, Henry asked his son John to look after them. John promises, and he means it, at least for a short while.
Then his wife, Fanny, gets to work. She is a cold, careful woman who loves money more than anything. Step by step she talks her husband down from a generous gift to a smaller one, and then to almost nothing at all. By the end of the conversation, John has persuaded himself that the occasional present of fish or game will be plenty.
This scene tells you a great deal about the book. Austen shows how a kind promise can be worn away by one sensible sounding argument after another. Nobody is a villain in the grand sense here. They are simply comfortable, and they find reasons for staying so.
Fanny soon moves into Norland as its mistress, and the widow and her daughters become guests in their own home. Mrs Dashwood is so hurt that she wants to leave at once, but she has nowhere to go. The family must find a new home, and the search for it sets the plot moving.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Who’s who
- Elinor Dashwood
- The elder Dashwood sister quietly guards her feelings and offers practical support to her mother and sisters.
- Marianne Dashwood
- Elinor's romantic younger sister prizes passionate feeling and shares Willoughby's enthusiasm for poetry and music.
- Mrs Dashwood
- The sisters' affectionate mother shares Marianne's emotional warmth and relies on Elinor's practical judgment.
- Edward Ferrars
- Fanny's shy, gentle brother forms a quiet attachment to Elinor despite his family's ambitious expectations.
- Colonel Brandon
- A reserved, kindly neighbour at Barton admires Marianne but lacks Willoughby's youthful charm.
- John Willoughby
- A handsome young man rescues Marianne after an accident and delights her with their shared tastes.
- Fanny Dashwood
- The wife of the sisters' half-brother John protects her household's wealth at their expense.
- Mrs Jennings
- A sociable widow befriends the Dashwood sisters and enthusiastically speculates about their romantic attachments.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 121,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 8 h 5 min
- Listening time13 h 25 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Verstand und Gefühl
What is Sense and Sensibility about?
It follows two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who lose their home and most of their money when their father dies. They move to a cottage in Devon and face love, gossip and disappointment in very different ways.
Who is Elinor and who is Marianne in Sense and Sensibility?
Elinor is the elder sister and stands for sense, meaning self control and careful thought. Marianne is the younger and stands for sensibility, meaning strong, open feeling. Austen shows that each has strengths and each needs something from the other.
What does sensibility mean in the title?
In Austen's time sensibility meant a quick, strong response to feeling, beauty and sorrow, and a readiness to show it. It was fashionable in poems and novels. Austen gently questions it by showing what such openness can cost.
When was Sense and Sensibility written and is it a true story?
It is fiction. Austen published it in 1811, after drafting an early version years earlier. It is set in the England of her own day, among the country gentry, and the characters are invented.
Is Sense and Sensibility hard to read?
The story is clear, the humour is sharp, and most readers find it easy to follow.