In her first novel Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen reveals the struggle of two sisters who stumble upon happiness in a manner they did not expect. Marianne, the youngest of the two sisters personifies the romantic ideals of the ninetieth century; whereas, her elder sibling, Eleanor, exemplifies the rational components of the enlightenment. Marianne, whose views seem a bit too extreme for society, eventually enters into a more practical union with Colonial Brandon. Eleanor, though realistic in her views, marries for love (an irrational move). Evidently, the author utilizes Eleanor's decision to marry for love and not money to depict the shift in society from sense to sensibility.

Jane Austen portrays both the Mss. Dashwood as willful individuals who offset one another with their opposite attitudes and expectations of how to attain happiness. Marianne's outspoken and romantic personality illustrates what Austen envisions to be the poetic trend of...