I thought this passage at the end of the last chapter was really well done. It has a feel of Realism that seems way ahead of its time. What do you think?
Willoughby could not hear of her marriage without a pang; and his punishment was soon afterwards complete, in the voluntary forgiveness of Mrs. Smith, who, by stating his marriage with a woman of character as the source of her clemency, gave him reason for believing that had he behaved with honour towards Marianne he might at once have been happy and rich. That his repentance of misconduct, which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted; nor that he long thought of Colonel Brandon with envy, and of Marianne with regret. But that he was for ever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on- for he did neither. He lived to exert, and frequently to enjoy himself. His wife was not always out of humour, nor his home always uncomfortable; and in his breed of horses and dogs, and in sporting of every kind, he found no inconsiderable degree of domestic felicity.
For Marianne, however, in spite of his incivility in surviving her loss, he always retained that decided regard which interested him in every thing that befell her, and made her his secret standard of perfection in woman; and many a rising beauty would be slighted by him in after-days as bearing no comparison with Mrs. Brandon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Yeah, there is more of a modern realism to it. The passage implies that he'll always think of her as "The One," and more specifically, "The One that Got Away," to use some modern cliches. In some romances it would have meant that they were destined to be together, but it didn't happen.
Also realistic to portray him as the kind of man who would count himself happy for the material things he married for.
"But that he was for ever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on."
Definitely not that kind of guy.
But that he was for ever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on- for he did neither. He lived to exert, and frequently to enjoy himself.
Yeah, I loved that, too. It would've been more romantic, of course, if Willoughby had lived in misery and died a broken man because of his transgressions and loss of love. Jane knows who this guy is, though, and isn't going to play that game.
Post a Comment