Nobody else seems to like him. I got into an argument about it with a teacher once. We watched the movie version for Movie Night and the whole time my roommates kept asking me what in the world I saw in this guy. Marianne puts it quite nicely herself.
"That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue."
The guy's got a lot of passion. He's charming and bright and everything a Marianne could possibly want. They share a passion for literature, for music, for life. He is absolutely captivating to her.
When he was present she had no eyes for any one else. Every thing he did, was right. Every thing he said, was clever.
But his faults are by no means small. He ruined a girl's future and lost his fortune because of it. He abandoned love for money. He regretted it...
[...]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.
Call me a fool, but I don't write him (and maybe guys like him) off. Past mistakes do not always require an unhappy future when dealt with properly. Mr. Willoughby didn't deal with it properly and was unhappy because of it. I've seen the Mariannes in my life lose their Willoughbys. I can forgive those guys. I really can. We all know that things work out very well for Marianne. While at first every reader wants him to be miserable forever, we know deep down that Mr. John Willoughby a good guy. He may have passed up the best, but he deserves some happiness. And I hope he finds it.
Good call, Brooke.
ReplyDeletePlenty of us (rather belatedly, usually) have realized that at some point or anoher we really did not make the best choice of those available (I should have studied literature - but I was too gungho about go to lawschool and the best way to get there to do it)
Still, we try darned hard to get over it and make the best of it and be happy anyway (turns out now I can have a relatively intelligent conversation with my husband about all thing political philosophy). And we should let Mr. Willoughby do the same.
Marianne DID turn out just fine - and found a man to balance her penchant for overly-passionate pursuits. Mr. Willoughby settled for money - but it allowed for a rather comfortable (if less passionate) middle age. Everyone has priorities - the simple fact that they happen to not be our own should never be grounds for dismissal - or disapproval.
Thank you for giving me Willoughby's side! I had never thought about it like that before! I watched the movie again and your comments totally changed the way I thought about him.
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