The Dashwood sisters - 19-year-old Elinor and Marianne, aged 17 - are left poor and homeless by their father's death. Although kind relatives provide a roof over their heads, one way out of this misfortune is for both girls to marry well. However, impetuous Marianne and cautious Elinor find themselves having to choose between passionate romance and observing the rules of polite society. Through risky liaisons, misunderstandings and illness, two very different individuals discover, in their own ways, that a mixture of sense and sensibility is the solution.