The Misses Dashwood are not so bad as this!

First, of course Elinor likes Mrs. Jennings better after MJ has defended someone Elinor thinks well of! It's human nature, and loyalty. I know that I tend to think better of people who speak well of my friends, and to think worse of people who speak ill of them.

Second, have you never had to spend large amounts of time with people who, though worthy, have little in common with you? Have you never had to spend time with people who do not share your interests or values? As worthy as those acquantances may be, there is hardly a one of us, I suspect, who would not prefer to spend a lesser amount of time with them. Is it really elitism to wish to spend time with those who share our interests?

To your other charge, that the Dashwoods seek refinement as a way to belong to an elite set of people, what evidence do you have for that? I will grant you that Marianne is an elitist, since she looks down on those who do not share her tastes or her dramatic sensibilities, but where do you find that Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood seek refinement to elevate themselves into a circle of refined people? Can they not read and think and draw and employ themselves for the sole purpose of self-betterment and as a way to entertain themselves?