SenseandSensibilitywasthefirstnovelJaneAustenpublished.ThoughsheinitiallycalleditElinorandMarianne,Austenjettisonedboththetitleandtheepistolarymodeinwhichitwasoriginallywritten,butkepttheessentialtheme：thenecessityoffindingaworkablemiddlegroundbetweenpassionandreason.ThestoryrevolvesaroundtheDashwoodsisters,ElinorandMarianne.Whereastheformerisasensible,rationalcreature,heryoungersisteriswildlyromantic——acharacteristicthatoffersAustenplentyofscopeforbothsatireandcompassion.CommentingonEdwardFerraris,apotentialsuitorforElinor'shand,Marianneadmitsthatwhileshe"loveshimtenderly,"shefindshimdisappointingasapossibleloverforhersister.

　　Soonhowever,Mariannemeetsamanwhomeasuresuptoherideal：Mr.Willoughby,anewneighbor.SosweptawaybypassionisMariannethatherbehaviorbeginstoborderonthescandalous.ThenWilloughbyabandonsher；Meanwhile,Elinor'sgrowingaffectionforEdwardsuffersacheckwhenheadmitsheissecretlyengagedtoachildhoodsweetheart.Howeachofthesistersreactstotheirromanticmisfortunes,andthelessonstheydrawbeforecomingfinallytotherequisitehappyendingformstheheartofthenovel.ThoughMarianne'sdisregardforsocialconventionsandwillingnesstoconsidertheworldwell-lostforlovemayappealtomodernreaders,itisElinorwhomAustenherselfmostevidentlyadmired；atrulyhappymarriage,sheshowsus,existsonlywheresenseandsensibilitymeetandmixinpropermeasure.

　　《理智与情感》是简奥斯汀出版的第一本小说.虽然她最初称之为埃利诺哈马和玛丽安,但奥斯汀放弃了最初的书面标题和书信方式,但保持了基本主题：在激情与理性之间必须找到一种可行的中间地带.故事围绕Dashwood姐妹,埃利诺和玛丽安,前者是明智的,理性的人,她的妹妹是疯狂浪漫的——这个人物,它给了奥斯汀大量的机会来进行讽刺和同情.评论爱德华法拉利,一个潜在的埃利诺的追求者,玛丽安坦承,虽然她“爱他的温柔,”她认为他令人失望的是他可能的爱人是她的妹妹.

　　然而不久,一名男子符合玛丽安的理想标准：威洛比,一个新的邻居.所以激动地冲到玛丽安对她说,她的行为开始跨越边界的丑闻.然而威洛比放弃了她;与此同时,埃利诺对爱德华日益增长的感情经受了考验,他承认他秘密与童年的心上人定终身了.两个姐妹反应他们的浪漫的不幸,并吸取经验教训,她们终于在未来皆大欢喜的核心形式的小说.虽然玛丽安无视社会公约,想要让现代读者知道世界上的失去爱情也可发生在他们身上,埃利诺明显是奥斯丁本人最钦佩的;一个真正幸福的婚姻,她告诉我们,只有理性与感性满足并以适当的方式混合时才存在.