Sense and Sensibility

<p>Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters Elinor (age 19) and Marianne (age 16½) as they come of age. They have an older half-brother John and a younger sister Margaret (age 13).</p><p> </p><p>The novel follows the three Dashwood sisters as they must move with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up Norland Park. Because Norland is passed down to John the product of Mr. Dashwood's first marriage and his young son the four Dashwood women need to look for a new home. They have the opportunity to rent a modest home Barton Cottage on the property of a distant relative Sir John Middleton. There Elinor and Marianne experience love romance and heartbreak. The novel is set in South West England London and Sussex probably between 1792 and 1797.</p><p> </p><p>The novel which sold out its first print run of 750 copies in the middle of 1813 marked a success for its author. It had a second print run later that year. It was the first Austen title to be republished in England after her death and the first illustrated Austen book produced in Britain in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series of 1833. The novel has been in continuous publication since 1811 and has many times been illustrated excerpted abridged and adapted for stage film and television.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>About Jane Austen</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels which interpret critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her use of biting irony along with her realism humour and social commentary have long earned her acclaim among critics scholars and popular audiences alike.</p><p> </p><p>With the publications of Sense and Sensibility (1811) Pride and Prejudice (1813) Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816) she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion both published posthumously in 1818 and began another eventually titled Sanditon but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript a short epistolary novel Lady Susan and another unfinished novel The Watsons. Her six full-length novels have rarely been out of print although they were published anonymously and brought her moderate success and little fame during her lifetime.</p><p> </p><p>A significant transition in her posthumous reputation occurred in 1833 when her novels were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set. They gradually gained wider acclaim and popular readership. In 1869 fifty-two years after her death her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience.</p><p> </p><p>Austen has inspired a large number of critical essays and literary anthologies. Her novels have inspired many films from 1940's Pride and Prejudice to more recent productions like Sense and Sensibility (1995) Emma (1996) Mansfield Park (1999) Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Love & Friendship (2016). (wikipedia.org)</p><p> </p>