Anghraine

kungfunurse said:

Hiya! So I’m re-reading S&S (as one does) and I’ve got a couple of questions. 1) Do you think Mr. Palmer is on the autistic spectrum? The way he misses most social cues and whatnot - idk. And 2) Would it have been normal at the time for Marianne to go months without hearing from Willoughby and still not suspect that he’s lost interest, or was this another example of her being lost in fantasy? Thanks!!

I replied:

1) I honestly don’t know. I haven’t read S&S in a long time, so it’s hard to say. I’ll keep an eye out next time, though!

2) Willoughby couldn’t write openly to Marianne without raising very serious general expectations, so that’s probably how she justifies his silence to herself.

As a sidenote, this is why Darcy hand-delivers his letter to Elizabeth—it would be exceptionally awkward for her if he sent a letter. It’s also significant that the Gardiners wonder if he’s going to send a letter/note after Elizabeth when they leave Pemberley—they’re guessing that Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship has advanced much further than it really has.