As is true of most Jane Austen novels, Sense and Sensibility is a novel of manners, meaning that it focuses primarily on characters’ subtle behaviors (or “manners”) that signal their particular positions within a rigid social hierarchy. Austen hopes that readers will notice all of the subtle (and not-so-subtle) social dynamics at play between the various characters, including the strategies that the unmarried female characters use in order to secure financially advantageous marriages.
The Steele sisters (Lucy and Anne) are examples of women who are constantly strategizing to move from middle-class to upper-class positions by building relationships with wealthier men. Despite the Steele sisters' best efforts, other characters are able to see through their performance of manners—Elinor and Marianne comment on their brazen discussions of men, and Edward notes how he is embarrassed by Lucy’s poor writing abilities (since she is uneducated).
Austen wrote Sense and Sensibility in a particular literary moment, just as Classicism—literature centered on notions of balance and reason—was making way for Romanticism—literature centered on imagination and emotionality. This tension is, arguably, at the center of the novel itself, with Elinor embodying Classicist ideals (“sense,” or restraint and rationality) and Marianne Romantic ones (“sensibility,” or spontaneity and emotional freedom).
Sense and Sensibility also falls into the genre of the “coming of age” novel as, over the course of the book, both main characters—Elinor and Marianne—mature by changing deeply-held patterns that have held them back. Elinor must let go of her restraint and rationality, learning to feel and express her emotions. Marianne, on the other hand, learns to become more restrained and pragmatic, as seen in her decision to marry Colonel Brandon, who is steady and reliable rather than passionate and charming.
