When two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, and their mother are left to the financial mercies of John Dashwood and his wife, they find themselves in drastically reduced circumstances.

Unable to find a new home in Sussex, they move to Devon, leaving behind Elinor's admirer Edward Ferrars. Though Elinor is sorrowful, she conceals her feelings of attachment from prying society. Marianne, impulsive and open in her emotions, falls passionately in love with the dashing, roguish John Willoughby. Although they differ widely in temperament, both sisters must face great sorrows in their affairs of the heart - and use their own strengths to overcome them.

Sparkling with wit and irony, Sense and Sensibility is more than a simple contrast between heart and head; it is a critical exploration of the society that demands of individuals both honesty and duplicity.