When Mr. Dashwood dies, his wife and three daughters – Elinor, Marianne and Margaret– are left with an inheritance consisting of only £500 a year, with the bulk of the estate of Norland Park left to his son John from a previous marriage. John and his greedy, snobbish wife Fanny immediately install themselves in the large house; Fanny invites her brother Edward Ferrars to stay with them. She frets about the budding friendship between Edward and Elinor and does everything she can to prevent it from developing.
达什伍德先生去世后，妻子及三个女儿每年只得到五百镑当作生活费用。而达什伍德先生所有的房地产则留给了儿子约翰，后来因为他的贪婪及苛薄的妻子芬妮一再怂恿之下，约翰放弃遵守遗嘱。所以达什伍德太太只好带着三个女儿爱琳娜、玛丽安及玛格丽特准备寻找便宜的住处。但在她们搬家之前，芬妮的弟弟爱德华来来访她们，并对爱琳娜产生好感。爱琳娜自觉她爱上爱德华，却极力隐藏自己的感情。后来爱德华在离开之前，答应会去爱琳娜新住的地方拜访她们。

Sir John Middleton, a cousin of the widowed Mrs. Dashwood, offers her a small cottage house on his estate, Barton Park in Devonshire. She and her daughters move in, and are frequent guests at Barton Park. Marianne meets the older Colonel Brandon, who falls in love with her at first sight. Competing with him for her affections is the dashing but deceitful John Willoughby, whom Marianne falls in love with. On the morning she expects him to propose marriage to her, he instead leaves hurriedly for London. Unbeknownst to the Dashwood family, Brandon’s ward Beth, illegitimate daughter of his former love Eliza, is pregnant with Willoughby’s child, and Willoughby’s aunt Lady Allen has disinherited him upon discovering this.
达什伍德太太的亲戚米德尔顿爵士提供她们一间位在巴顿公园德文郡的房子当作新的住所，于是她们便正式搬进这里。玛丽安在这里认识布兰登上校，于上校则立刻爱上她了。不过与他竞争的是狡诈的约翰威洛比，他也掳获玛丽安的心。但是威洛比后来却突然表示要前往伦敦，紧接着就失去了踪影。

Sir John’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, invites her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, to visit. They bring with them the impoverished Lucy Steele. Lucy confides in Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged secretly for five years, thus dashing Elinor’s hopes of a future with him. Mrs. Jennings takes Lucy, Elinor, and Marianne to London, where they meet Willoughby at a ball. He barely acknowledges their acquaintance, and they learn he is engaged to the extremely wealthy Miss Grey; Marianne is inconsolable. The clandestine engagement of Edward and Lucy also comes to light. Edward’s mother demands that he break off the engagement. When he refuses, his fortune is taken from him and given to his younger brother Robert.
房东约翰爵士及他的岳母詹宁斯太太，爱琳娜、玛丽安及一名叫露茜的女子前往伦敦参加宴会。露茜则在宴会对爱琳娜说，她和爱德华已经秘密定婚5年了，并冲击爱琳娜想要与爱德华结婚的希望。而玛丽安则在一场舞会中得知威洛比早已与一名富家女格瑞小姐订婚的事实。虽然爱德华的母亲想要爱德华取消婚约，但遭到爱德华的拒绝，于是立刻被母亲取消继承权，由弟弟罗伯获得继承权；没想到露茜反而嫁给拥有继承权的罗伯。
On their way home to Devonshire, Elinor and Marianne stop for the night at the country estate of the Palmers, who live near Willoughby. Marianne cannot resist going to see Willoughby's estate and walks a long way in a torrential rain to do so. As a result, she becomes seriously ill and is nursed back to health by Elinor after being rescued by Colonel Brandon. After Marianne recovers, the sisters return home. They learn that Miss Steele has become Mrs. Ferrars and assume that she is married to Edward. However, he arrives to explain that Miss Steele has unexpectedly wed Robert Ferrars and is thus released from his engagement. Edward proposes to Elinor and becomes a vicar, whilst Marianne falls in love with and marries Colonel Brandon.
在回德文郡的路上，爱琳娜与玛丽安在帕尔默斯的庄园过夜，就位在威洛比的庄园附近。玛丽安因为看到威洛比的庄园而触景伤情，于是伤心地在雨中的原野淋雨走了5英里的路，因此得到了一种具有传染性的热病，并受到布来登上校的照顾。玛丽安恢复健康后，姐妹俩终于返家。他们认为露茜已经与爱德华结婚，后来在爱德华的解释之下，她们才得知露茜竟然是与罗伯结婚，爱德华早已与露茜解除了婚约。爱德华在爱琳娜建议之下，成为一位牧师，最后两人在一起，而玛丽安后来也爱上并嫁给布兰登上校。