Chapter 1
The opening character sketches of Elinor and Marianne set up the thematic opposition that the entire novel will test.
Read in Books4Free →Theme: Sense versus Sensibility
From Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The central debate of the novel: whether emotional indulgence or self-regulation produces happiness, virtue, and survival in a hostile social world.
Chapter 16
Marianne's grief over Willoughby's departure—deliberately fed and indulged: 'she would have thought herself very inexcusable had she been able to sleep at all the first night after parting from Willoughby.'
Read in Books4Free →Chapter 46
Marianne's recovery and famous resolution to 'govern my feelings... by religion, by reason, by constant employment'—the apparent victory of sense, though much debated by critics.
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