Sense and Sensibility (1811), Jane Austen's fIrst published novel, looks at the contrast between reason and emotion in the persons of two of the three Dashwood sisters Elinor and Marianne.

Austen's Mansfield Park (1814), in which meek, poor Fanny Price wins through simple virtue both the love and hand of country heir Edmund Bertram.

Emma (1816), in which Austen's well-to-do heroine plays matchmaker for a lower-class friend-until she realizes that she is herself In love with the man her friend has chosen.

Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (1818), Austen's posthumously-published novels, that are respectively a sly parody of the overly romantic Gothic novel and her examination of the transformation of the world by means of the Royal Navy.

Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels (1814) Scott was a contemporary and an admirer of Austen's work, and the Waverley novels-like Austen's, published anonymously-make an Interesting contrast with her...