Let's face it -- at sometime or another haven't we all played the sidekick or the lovelorn soul (or worst of all, both!) who just doesn't get it that no matter hard he or she tries, the situation is going to come out badly? We should as we mature leave that behind us but some never do. I'm sure Jane Austen must have seen examples of this in her own social circles to give such an accurate portrait of a certain type of person.