Which novel was originally titled 'Elinor and Marianne'?

The novel originally titled “Elinor and Marianne” was published as Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen’s early draft was probably written in the 1790s, when she was still a young woman, and it may have begun as an epistolary novel told through letters.

The working title focused on the two eldest Dashwood sisters: Elinor represents judgment and restraint, while Marianne is associated with emotional sensitivity and romantic idealism. Austen later reshaped the manuscript into continuous prose and replaced the sisters’ names with the broader thematic title Sense and Sensibility.

The finished novel was published anonymously in London on 30 October 1811, with “By a Lady” on its title page. It follows the Dashwood family after the death of Mr. Dashwood, when inheritance customs force the widow and her daughters to leave their home.

A common mix-up is confusing this early title with Austen’s other novels. Northanger Abbey, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice all have distinct publication histories, but none was originally titled “Elinor and Marianne.”