Sense and Sensibility- Sensible and carefully controlled Elinor Dashwood, and her impetuous, and unrestrained sister Marianne, are two of the most enduring heroines in the history of literature. Jane Austen's masterful tale tells of their quest for a life of love and happiness, delightfully bringing to light the qualities both girls must possess in order to gain the men they're best suited to. Pride and Prejudice - 'It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife' So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners - one of the most popular novels of all time - that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of 18th century drawing room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian Georgre Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the 'most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author's works,' and Eudora Welty in the 20th century described it as 'irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be.' Mansfield Park- When Fanny Price comes to live with her well-to-do cousins at Mansfield Park; the modest, retiring ten-year-old is treated condescendingly by members of the Bartram family. A poor relation, dependent on the goodwill of her aristocratic relatives, the sweet, sensitive, and frequently ignored Fanny nevertheless eventually develops into the ethical center of the family. Trouble begins with the arrival of Mary Crawford and her brother Henry. Their sophisticated London tastes, and penchant for flirtatious activities, shatter the tranquility of the Bartram home, creating social havoc and precipitating a crisis in the family. But Fanny always clever, graceful, and pleasant-provides a bulwark of moral strength, eventually winning her family's complete acceptance (and the love of her cousin Edmund).
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