Love in Sense And Sensibility Essay

There are many typical love stories in the world, all of them having different themes. The book Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, is indeed a story of love and sorrow. I have read many love stories before, but this one caught my attention. The three Dashwood sisters show an amazing amount of courage, passion and romance throughout the novel. There was definitely some drama stirring up in about every chapter, which kept the book flowing and made me want to read more.

As predicted with the title, sense and sensibility are portrayed throughout the novel by the two eldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Elinor is the oldest and is also said to be the wisest. She doesn't jump in to anything that she isn't sure of, and is more kept to her self. Elinor is the sense part of the book. Elinor's younger sister, Marianne, is the sensibility part of the book because she has a wild passion for almost anything and everything, and unlike Elinor, jumps into things before she is sure of it. Marianne does not hide her feelings, while Elinor would rather keep them locked up inside most of the time.

Elinor meets Edward Ferrars in the beginning of the book, and says she likes and esteems him. This makes Marianne displeased because she thinks Elinor should more than esteem him. Once the Dashwood family moves to Barton Cottage, Edward is just a dream to Elinor for the time being. In the mean time, Marianne meets Willoughby. Marianne falls deeply for Willoughby, and her sensibility starts showing. In the end Willoughby engages and marries somebody else, and Marianne is devastated. Then Colonel Brandon comes into the picture and ends up marrying Marianne. Elinor's dreams come true when Edward arrives to see her. They end up getting married and living happily ever after.

I mentioned the word drama earlier, and that is very true at what happens throughout the romantic novel. Marianne is in love with Willoughby, but is devastated when she finds out that he is to marry some one else. Elinor is in some what of the same situation, because she also finds out that Edward has been secretly engaged to another woman. Elinor is also unhappy about the situation, but does not let anyone know about her emotions. Willoughby does end up with another woman, but Edward does not marry someone else, but instead marries Elinor.

I personally liked the book, even though there was a great amount of jumping back and fourth to different things. The theme and story line of the book kept me wanting to read more, and in the end I was glad the two eldest sisters ended up happy. Austen explains her title well throughout the book using Elinor and Marianne. I believe anyone would enjoy reading this book.