Sense and Sensibility was the first Jane Austen published. Though she initially called it Elinor and Marianne, Austen jettisoned both the title and the epistolary mode in which it was originally written, but kept the essential theme: the necessity of finding a workable middle ground between passion and reason. The story revolves around the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Whereas the former is a sensible, rational creature, her younger sister is wildly romantic--a characteristic that offers Austen plenty of scope for both satire and compassion. Commenting on Edward Ferrars, a potential suitor for Elinor's hand, Marianne admits that while she "loves him tenderly," she finds him disappointing as a possible lover for her sister.

Soon however, Marianne meets a man who measures up to her ideal: Mr. Willoughby, a new neighbor. So swept away by passion is Marianne that her behavior begins to border on the scandalous. Then Willoughby abandons her; meanwhile, Elinor's growing affection for Edward suffers a check when he admits he is secretly engaged to a childhood sweetheart. How each of the sisters reacts to their romantic misfortunes, and the lessons they draw before coming finally to the requisite happy ending forms the heart of the novel. Though Marianne's disregard for social conventions and willingness to consider the world well-lost for love may appeal to modern readers, it is Elinor whom Austen herself most evidently admired; a truly happy marriage, she shows us, exists only where sense and sensibility meet and mix in proper measure.

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　　【翻译】

理智与情感是第一次出版的简奥斯丁。虽然她最初称它为Elinor和玛丽安，但奥斯丁的标题和书信方式最初是，但保持了基本主题：激情和理性之间寻找一个可行的中间地带的必要性。故事围绕达什伍德姐妹，埃莉诺和玛丽安。前者是明智的，理性的人，她的妹妹是疯狂的浪漫——一个提供的特性为讽刺和同情的奥斯丁许多范围。评论爱德华Ferrars，为埃利诺的潜在的追求者，玛丽安承认，她“温柔地爱他，”她发现他令人失望的是他妹妹的一个可能的情人。

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然而不久，玛丽安遇到一个人符合她的理想：威洛比先生，一个新邻居。所以激动地冲到玛丽安她的行为开始边境上的丑闻。然后威洛比抛弃了她;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。两个姐妹反应他们的浪漫的不幸，他们画之前，最后皆大欢喜的核心形式的小说的教训。虽然玛丽安无视社会公约并愿意考虑失去爱情的世界可能会吸引现代的读者是谁，埃莉诺奥斯丁自己最显然对;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。