"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!" ― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen tells the tale of the two Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. They are personifications of good sense and sensibility, respectively. Despite their divergent dispositions, the two women undergo similar experiences as they lose the men they love. The sisters learn that sense must combine with sensibility if personal happiness is to be found in a society where status and wealth dictates the rules of love.