Love is in the air when Valentine’s Day rolls around and we can thank our dear Jane for providing some of the most timeless love stories ever written. We are drawn in again and again whether in books, films, or plays by her stories of love and longing; miscommunications and misinterpretations; provocations and disparagements. Hopeful lovers must conquer despondency, despair, jealousy, and anger; human frailties that must be overcome by our heroes and heroines before they find true love. Their plights have touched our hearts for over two centuries.
As readers we are drawn to our favorite couple in the same way we are drawn to our preferred novel in the canon or our favorite film version. Everyone has an opinion, and no one is reluctant to share it. Favorite novel and favorite couple may seem to be one and the same, but I believe the choice to be more nuanced. Knowing that I risk importuning many of my fellow Janeites, I have rated her romantic couples in terms of the degree to which they achieved the most transcendent love, the one that burns brighter than all the rest.
Sense and Sensibility brings together Elenor and Edward as star-crossed lovers who meet when widowed Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters have been ousted from their family home by the heir to the estate, John Dashwood and his wife, Fanny. The reprehensible couple contrived to impoverish the family and ensure that Fanny’s brother, Edward, didn’t pursue a romantic interest in Elenor because, thanks to them, she was now impoverished, while he stood to inherit his mother’s fortune. The young couple was naturally drawn to each other; his shy introversion was matched by her gentle forbearance, but his integrity didn’t allow him to follow his heart. Aside from his family’s objections there was another impediment which arose when Elenor learned he was secretly engaged to someone else and became entrapped into silence by her new confidant, Lucy Steele. Added to this was the stress of managing her younger sister, Marianne’s, imprudent choices as she pursued a romantic attachment to John Willoughby. When all was revealed, Edward was disinherited by his mother but later rescued by the offer of a living as a clergyman by Colonel Brandon and was finally free to marry Elenor. Were they happy together? Absolutely. Even Marianne’s marriage to Colonel Brandon had every chance at happiness once she came to her senses about the reality of her prospects with John Willoughby. Nevertheless, the only real romantic fire occurred between Marianne and Willoughby. Does this represent transcendent love? For me, not so much, but they have my best wishes for marital bliss.
In Northanger Abbey, we are introduced to young Catherine Moreland as an inexperienced teenager sent off with family friends to broaden her horizons as she experienced new and exciting entertainments available in Bath. There she met Henry Tilney when she attended her first ball, and he arranged for an introduction so he could invite her to dance. A flirtation ensued and their courtship was encouraged by his father, General Tilney, based on the mistaken notion that Catherine was an heiress. Her greatest desire was the goodwill and approbation of Henry and his sister, Isabella, and her fondest dreams were realized when they invited her to visit their home, Northanger Abbey. Catherine’s core sense of integrity and honesty coupled with her innocence, naivete, and love of gothic novels, lifted her hopes and then dashed them when she was sent packing, unescorted, to find her way home after the general discovered he had been misled about her prospective wealth. When Henry followed her to ensure she made the journey safely, they became engaged despite his father’s disapproval. Eventually they married and I’m certain theirs was a happy union even though I believe it would likely take a little time for Catherine to mature into a proper wife and life partner. I’ve never been sure if her regard for him was greater than his for her and whether they became a match of equals in the end. Certainly no one would envy her such an awful father-in-law, but who wouldn’t want to marry charming Henry?
Dear Emma was allowed to live life on her own terms and at a young age had taken charge of her father’s household along with matchmaking as a hobby. She was quite content and had no serious thoughts on marriage, for, as she told her friend, Harriet, “I have none of the inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing! But I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I should be a fool to change such a situation as mine. Fortune I do not want, employment I do not want; consequence I do not want.” Her wakeup call came when she realized she might lose her dearest friend and faithful counselor, Mr. Knightly, to her new friend, Harriet, after interfering with a proposal to Harriet from Robert Martin, followed by an effort to mismatch Harriet with Mr. Elton. The threat to her complacent world order of losing Mr. Knightly finally awakened the longing for a love match of her own with the one man whom she valued above all others. And who wouldn’t want to marry Mr. Knightly? Would his willingness to move to Hartfield so as not to indispose her father and continue to patiently guide her towards becoming a less self-centered person spark a passionate romance? The attraction is certainly there as he confesses, “I love to look at her; and I will add this praise, that I do not think her personally vain. Considering how very handsome she is, she appears to be little occupied with it.” Their age difference and his “older brother” perspective may mean it will take a while for them to find a balance and be on equal footing. No doubt it will require give and take on both sides. Happily married? Yes. Incandescently happy? Not so much.
When we meet Fanny Price and her cousin, Edmund, in Mansfield Park, they are anything but equals. She arrived as a young girl of nine and became reliant on him as the only member of the family to show her any kindness. Whatever romantic spark there was between them was a long time in coming. His first experience with romance began when he became enamored with Mary Crawford, a beautiful, accomplished and lively young woman who, despite her concern about his avowed calling as a clergyman, returned his affections. She came to visit a close relative along with her brother, Henry, who in turn attracted the interest and attentions of Edmund’s sisters. Sitting on the sidelines for all this romantic intrigue was Fanny, the confidante of all while safeguarding her own growing feelings for Edmund. We never quite know when Fanny’s feelings turned from gratitude and admiration to love, nor is it clear when Edmund overcame his infatuation for Mary and turned his heart towards Fanny. They were certainly far more compatible, and she was more than happy to become a clergyman’s wife. Jane Austen gave us a hint when she wrote, “With so much true merit and true love, and no want of fortune or friends, the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as earthly happiness can be – Equally formed for domestic life, and attached to country pleasures, their home was the home of affection and comfort.” I have some Janeite scholars to thank for recently pointing out in a group discussion the sly double entendre that “country pleasures” infers, and, based on that I believe their love life was sparked with passion. Country pleasures indeed!
What? How can it be? Inconceivable! How can Pride and Prejudice rate as the number 2 pick on my list? It was an admittedly close call because there is no more beloved a couple than Lizzy and her Darcy, whose relationship has spawned numerous films and thousands of fan fiction novels. She is absolutely my favorite heroine with her independence, pert opinions, humor, and honesty. However, theirs was a rocky road to romance fraught with false impressions, misguided proposals, and social impediments getting in the way. He was the reluctant lover, resisting for as long as he could before falling under her spell, unbeknownst to her. She was the recalcitrant arbiter of alleged injustices blamed on him for perceived insults, and his interference with her sister, Jane’s, marital hopes, while succumbing to falsehoods from a duplicitous lothario named Wickham. Then, of course, there was the dreadful “ungentlemanlike “proposal by Darcy, followed by his long letter to explain and justify his behavior. Each of them was eventually forced to come to grips with their own prideful behavior in misjudging the other and cautiously admit their true feelings for each other while fears of rejection hovered for both. In the end they were a perfect match for each other. He was an introvert and socially awkward while she delighted in society which provided a platform for her witty observations and playful manners. Once those obstacles were overcome, of course they were incandescently happy; of that there can be no doubt. Lizzy and Darcy are enshrined in our hearts and how could it be otherwise?
I implore you to hear me out. Unlike Lizzy and Darcy, Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth fell in love immediately when she was 19 and he was just beginning his naval career. They would have married were it not for the objections of her father and a dear family friend who interfered. He went on the travel the world and made his fortune while she resigned herself to the authority of her family while she pined for her lost love. When they met again eight years later, he was aloof and bitter, and she dreaded the prospect of having to watch from the sidelines as he pursued the younger sisters of her brother-in-law, whom she considered to be unworthy of him. Her love never wavered while his had turned into resentment. However, once circumstances brought them together, his feelings begin to thaw and he finally realized he was at risk of losing her again, this time to another suitor, one who was to inherit her father’s estate. As a last resort he wrote her the world’s greatest love letter of all time and expressed emotions she had been longing to hear, confirming their love had transcended time, and was as strong then as it had been when they first met. That is why I gave them the number one slot. To fall in love and then wait eight years to find each other again and finally rekindle those deeply held feelings, the sparks must have burst into flame once they finally married, and the embers still burn brightly for us two centuries later; not to mention that he rescued her from her dreadful family. I see them as incandescently happy but feel free to disagree.
As for Jane, although she remained single her entire life, there is some evidence that she once fell in love, not the youthful flirtation with Tom Lefroy, but with a kindred spirit who touched her heart during a summer at the seashore and he might have won her if he hadn’t passed away shortly after they met. We’ll never know but I suspect Cassandra did, and probably burned the letters that would have revealed what Jane was like when she truly fell in love. Oh well. We have the books that she considered her children and we have her love stories, while Cassandra thought it best to leave our thoughts about Jane’s love life to our imaginations. It was very discreet of Cassandra, but oh how I wish she hadn’t been quite so thorough in protecting her sister’s private life.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
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