Courtney H., 12th Grade: Comparison and Contrast of George Wickham and John Willoughby
Jane Austen, a sly wordsmith, has concocted some of history’s most saccharine of love stories. Her stories include dashing men, beautiful, outspoken women, and the promise that love will conquer against all odds. Two of her characters in particular, John Willoughby, from Sense and Sensibility, and George Wickham from Pride and Prejudice, are arguably two of her more interesting characters. Wickham and Willoughby share a similar namesake; they also mislead their love interests. That is where their commonalities end however, in nearly every other facet of their personas, these two men have very different outlooks on love and happiness.
Both Willoughby and Wickham actively pursue young ladies through the course of the book and wrongfully mislead them. Willoughby truly loves Marianne, but on the morning that she expects him to propose to her, he makes flight to London without any reasoning as to why. Unbeknownst to Marianne and the rest of her family, Willoughby fathered an illegitimate child with the ward of a friend of Marianne’s family. Facing disinheritance, he goes to London to find a pretty bird with a mass of wealth behind her. Wickham however, goes from woman to woman based on their wealth. He does not love any of the women that he courts. Willoughby loves Marianne, but felt it was necessary to marry for money rather than love, whereas to Wickham, money was everything. After Willoughby refuses Marianne, she becomes despondent and neglects her health. When she reaches the point of death, Willoughby reaches out to Elinor, Marianne’s eldest sister, and confesses that his love was genuine and expresses his sincere regret that he was unfair to Marianne. Wickham was very surely forced into a marriage with Lydia Bennet by Mr. Darcy in order to keep the Bennet name intact. He did not at any point confess true love or regret for his actions.
I enjoyed both Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I feel though, that Jane Austen is a bit too descriptive and wordy in her writing. Austen chooses somewhat controversial topics, like marrying below one’s class, and expounds upon them. She crafts beautiful stories of love and breaking against gender stereotypes of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed both of Austen’s works and am looking to read Sense and Sensibility.