Abstract This thesis begins with examining the British-German confluence of sentimental literature in the late eighteenth-century, and how it was realised either by direct reading of original texts or indirect reception of translations. On the basis of translation theories, this thesis selects the first English translation (1773) of Wieland's Geschichte des Agathon and the first German translation (1774) of Mackenzie's The Man of Feeling for case studies, so as to illustrate how the imbalance of power between Britain and Germany during that period influenced translators' strategies and why the German writers of the new generation, for instance, Gotthold Lessing, used British literature as an ideological tool for rejuvenating the German native literature. The eighteenth century also witnessed the popularity of sentimental literature, which, however, was soon to be ridiculed and parodied by emerging writers. Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers was a typical case for this aesthetic oscillation. Precisely against this social and cultural context, Jane Austen grew up and developed her unique writing style. Through close reading, parody theories and narrative analysis, this thesis endeavours to prove that the influence of Die Leiden desjungen Werthers on Jane Austen's writing prevailed from her short juvenile works, for instance Love and Freindship, to her mature novels including Sense and Sensibility. Throughout her literary career from adolescence to adulthood, Jane Austen never stopped considering the dynamic relationship between sense and sensibility, which were simultaneously antithetical and integral to each other.