13 h 26 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if guarding your heart hurts as much as giving it away?
When their father dies, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood lose their home and most of their income. Elinor keeps her worries quiet and counts the cost of every choice. Marianne trusts strong feelings. In Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, both sisters face love with little money and much to learn.
Shy, gentle Edward Ferrars draws Elinor’s attention, while charming John Willoughby sweeps into Marianne’s life. Around them, relatives guard their fortunes, neighbours offer kindness, and gossips watch every move. Through dinners, dances and private hopes, Austen asks how women can choose wisely when their freedom depends so heavily on money and men.
What you’ll discover
- Two sisters, different hearts Follow Elinor’s quiet restraint and Marianne’s openness as each faces the risks of love.
- Romance under watchful eyes Enter a small community where dinners and outings give neighbours plenty to discuss.
- The price of dependence See how family fortunes and property narrow the choices available to the Dashwood women.
- Kindness beside sharp elbows Meet generous neighbours, greedy relatives and a matchmaking widow with little respect for privacy.
- More than heart against head Discover why Austen lets both sisters hope and hurt, rather than simply choosing a winner.
Is it for you?
This summary suits anyone who likes stories about family, money and the risks of loving too fast or too slowly. It is good for first-time Austen readers and for those who want a refresher. If you want fast action, you may find the pace gentle.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A father dies and the money goes
- Two sisters, two ways of feeling
- Edward Ferrars and a quiet attachment
- A small cottage in Devon
- Willoughby sweeps Marianne away
- Manners, gossip and the cost of openness
- London brings hope and strain
- Sense and sensibility are not enemies
- How Austen tells the story
Who’s who
- Elinor DashwoodThe elder sister, steady and watchful, who hides her own feelings in order to protect her mother and sisters.
- Marianne DashwoodThe younger sister, gifted, romantic and open, who believes strong feeling should never be hidden or tamed.
- Mrs DashwoodThe sisters' warm, generous mother, who shares Marianne's love of feeling and often needs Elinor to count the cost.
- Edward FerrarsFanny's shy and gentle brother, who wants a quiet life while his family expects wealth and rank from him.
- Colonel BrandonA grave, kind older neighbour at Barton who quietly admires Marianne and carries a sorrow he rarely speaks about.
- John WilloughbyA charming and dashing young man who rescues Marianne and shares all her tastes in poetry and music.
- Fanny DashwoodJohn's wife, a cold and calculating woman who wants to keep every pound of the family fortune for herself.
- Mrs JenningsA cheerful, gossiping widow who loves matchmaking and takes the sisters under her wing, though she has little sense of privacy.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Sentido y sensibilidad
by Jane Austen· 1811
Two sisters face love and disappointment after losing their home.
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Language: Español
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 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.
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The author
Jane Austen
1775–1817 · English novelist
Jane Austen was an English novelist born in Steventon, Hampshire, in 1775. She lived in Bath, Southampton and Chawton, and died in Winchester in 1817. Her novels included Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion appeared after her death.
“The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex.”
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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.
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