“’A woman of seven and twenty,’ said Marianne, after pausing a moment, ‘can never hope to feel or inspire affection again.’”
Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 8
Thank goodness Jane did not believe this!
Category Archives: Love
To wish was to hope
“She new that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect. She tried to explain the real state of the case to her sister.
’I do not attempt to deny,’ said she, ‘that I think very highly of him—that I greatly esteem, that I like him.’”
Elinor confronting the expectations of Mrs. Dashwood and Marianne
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 4
But really, isn’t that the state of women in general? We hope and expect so much, as Darcy reminds us.
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Filed under Elinor, Expectations, Love, Marianne, Sense and Sensibility, Sense vs. Sensibility
I require so much!
“I could not be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point
coincide with my own. He must enter into all my feelings; the same
books, the same music must charm us both. . . .
Mama, the more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I
shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!”
Marianne
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 3
Charity Wakefield as Marianne Dashwood. ©BBC 2007 for Masterpiece™
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Filed under Love, Marianne, Men, Sense and Sensibility
Once
"They say everybody is in love once in their lives."
Emma reflecting on her feelings for Frank Churchill-of course, at this point, she doesn’t really know what love is.
Emma, volume 2, chapter 13
Coming in a little over a week (March 23) — our next installment of Masterpiece’s Complete Jane Austen Season. Love this version of Emma with Kate Beckinsale.
Image ©ITV plc (Granada International) for Masterpiece™
Filed under Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Frank Churchill, Love
Too excellent creature!
“I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F.W.”
Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne, in the Musgrove’s room at the White Hart in Bath
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11
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Filed under Anne Elliot, Capt. Wentworth, Love, Men, Persuasion, Proposals
I have loved none but you
“Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes?”
Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne, in the Musgrove’s room at the White Hart in Bath
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11
Rupert Penry-Jones as Wentworth. Image via TVscoop.
Filed under Anne Elliot, Capt. Wentworth, Love, Persuasion, Proposals
You pierce my soul
I don’t know how it is that we haven’t featured Captain Wentworth’s letter here yet. <swoon…> Happy Monday, dear readers!
“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.”
Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne, in the Musgrove’s room at the White Hart in Bath
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11
Icon from Heather, from the first icon contest at Jane Austen Today. Click here to vote in the current contest. Voting ends Wednesday, but you can vote once a day until then.
Filed under Anne Elliot, Capt. Wentworth, Love, Persuasion, Proposals
The misery of being bound without Love
“The unpleasantness of appearing fickle is certainly great-but if you think you want Punishment for past Illusions, there it is-and nothing can compare to the misery of being bound without Love, bound to one, & preferring another. That is a Punishment which you do not deserve.”
letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]
Filed under Austen family, Letters, Love, Marriage, niece Fanny Knight, Uncertainty in love
Another Man
“It is very true that you never may attach another Man, his equal altogether, but if that other Man has the power of attaching you more, he will be in your eyes the most perfect.”
letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]
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Filed under Austen family, Letters, Love, Men, niece Fanny Knight
A possible Evil
“I am at present more impressed with the possible Evil that may arise to You from engaging yourself to him-in word or mind-than with anything else. When I consider how few young Men you have yet seen much of-how capable you are (yes, I do still think you very capable) of being really in love-and how full of temptation the next 6 or 7 years of your Life will probably be-(it is the very period of Life for the strongest attachments to be formed)-I cannot wish you with your present very cool feelings to devote yourself in honour to him.”
letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]
I think they quoted this nearly directly in Miss Austen Regrets. Olivia Williams as Jane Austen.
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Filed under Austen family, Letters, Love, Marriage, Men, niece Fanny Knight
The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman (May, 2012)
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith